Famous Like Me > Composer > L > Leadbelly
Profile of Leadbelly
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Name: |
Leadbelly |
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Date of Birth: |
29th January 1885 |
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Louisiana, USA |
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Composer |
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From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia
Leadbelly (born Huddie William Ledbetter; January 29, 1885 – December 6, 1949) was an American folk musician, notable for his strong, clear voice, for his forceful singing, and for his virtuosity as a twelve string guitar player.
Biography
Leadbelly was born to Wesley and Sally Ledbetter in a plantation near Mooringsport, Louisiana, but the family moved to Leigh, Texas when he was five. It was there he received his first instrument, an accordion from his uncle, and by his early-20s, after fathering at least two children, he left home to find his living as a guitarist (and occasionally, as a labourer). His boastful spirit and penchant for the occasional skirmish sometimes led him into trouble with the law, and in 1918 was thrown into a Texas jail for the second time, this time after killing a man in a fight. He was released seven years into his thirty year sentence after writing a song appealing to Governor Pat Neff for his freedom, but in 1930 was back in prison, this time in Louisiana for attempted homicide. It was there, three years later, that he was "discovered" by musicologists John and Alan Lomax, who were enchanted by his talent, passion and singularity as a performer, and recorded hundreds of his songs on portable recording equipment for the Library of Congress.
The following year Leadbelly was once again pardoned, this time after a petition for his early release was taken to Louisiana governor O.K. Allen by the Lomaxes (it was on the other side of a recording of one of his most popular songs, "Goodnight Irene"). Indebted to the Lomaxes, he allowed Alan to take him under his wing, and in late 1934 migrated North to New York City with him, where he attained fame, though not fortune. In 1935 he married Martha Promise, and began recording with the American Record Company, but achieved little commercial success with these records (in part because the company insisted he record blues songs rather than the folk he was better known for), and the couple struggled financially. In 1939 he was back in jail for assault.
Upon his release in 1940, Leadbelly returned to a surging New York folk scene, and befriended the likes of Woody Guthrie and a young Pete Seeger. During the first half of the decade he recorded for RCA, the Library of Congress, and for Moe Asch (future founder of Folkways Records), and in 1944 headed to California, where he recorded strong sessions for Capitol Records. In 1949 he began his first European tour, but fell ill before its completion, and was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig's disease. Leadbelly died later that year in New York City, and was buried in the Shiloh Baptist Church cemetery, 8 miles west of Blanchard, Louisiana, in Caddo Parish.
Leadbelly's vast songbook, much of which he adapted from previous sources, has provided material for numerous folk, country, pop and rock acts since his time, including Seeger's band the Weavers (who had a hit with "Goodnight Irene" the year after his death), the Animals (who had a hit with "House of the Rising Sun" in 1964), Creedence Clearwater Revival (who recorded a popular version of "Midnight Special" in 1969), and Kurt Cobain (who covered "Where Did You Sleep Last Night" in 1993 to close Nirvana's MTV Unplugged performance). He has also been covered by Lonnie Donegan, Johnny Cash, Gene Autry, The Beach Boys, Led Zeppelin, Michelle Shocked and the White Stripes, among many others, and has been mentioned in songs by Van Morrison, Pearl Jam, and Stone Temple Pilots.
Songs
- Goodnight Irene
- In New Orleans (House of the Rising Sun)
- The Midnight Special
- Cotton Fields
- Rock Island Line
- The Gallis Pole
- The Bourgeois Blues
- Looky Looky Yonder
- Black Betty
- Yellow Womans Doorbells
- Grey Goose
- Where Did You Sleep Last Night (Black Girl)
- Poor Howard
- Green Corn
- Dekalb Woman 2
- Noted Rider
- Big Fat Woman
- Borrow Love & Go
- Bring Me Lil Water Silvy
- Julie Ann Johnson
- Line Em
- Whoa Back Buck
- John Hardy
- Pick a Bale of Cotton
- Alabama Bound
- Good Morning Blues
- Leaving Blues
- Roberta
- Alberta
- I'm On My Last Go Round
- New York City
- The Boll Weevil
Selected Discography
The Library of Congress recordings
Leadbelly's complete Library of Congress recordings, done by John and Alan Lomax from 1934 to 1943, were released in a six volume series by Rounder Records in the early-to-mid 1990s:
- Midnight Special (1991, Rounder Records)
- Gwine Dig a Hole to Put the Devil In (1991, Rounder Records)
- Let It Shine on Me (1991, Rounder Records)
- The Titanic (1994, Rounder Records)
- Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen (1994, Rounder Records)
- Go Down Old Hannah (1995, Rounder Records)
Other compilations
- Huddie Ledbetter's Best (1989, BGO Records) - contains Leadbelly's recordings made for Capitol Records in 1944 in California.
- King of the 12-String Guitar (1991, Sony/ Legacy Records) - a collection of blues songs and prison ballads recorded in 1935 in New York City for the American Record Company, including previously unreleased alternate takes.
- Leadbelly's Last Sessions (1994, Smithsonian Folkways) - a four disc box set containing Leadbelly's final sessions, recorded in late 1948 in New York City. These were his only commercial recordings done on magnetic tape.
- Lead Belly Sings for Children (1999, Smithsonian Folkways) - includes the 1960 Folkways album Negro Folk Songs for Young People in its entirety, and five of the six tracks from the 1941 album Play Parties in Song and Dance as Sung by Lead Belly, recorded for Moe Asch, as well as other songs recorded for Asch from 1941 to 1948, and one previously unreleased track, a radio broadcast of "Take this Hammer."
- Private Party November 21, 1948 (2000, Document Records) - contains Leadbelly's intimate performance at a private party in late 1948 in Minneapolis.
- Take This Hammer (2003, Smithsonian Folkways) - collects all 26 songs Leadbelly recorded for RCA in 1940, half of which feature the Golden Gate Jubilee Quartet.
Samples
- Download a sample of "Where Did You Sleep Last Night" from Wikimedia Commons
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