American folk and blues peak (1888–1949)

"Leadbelly" redirects here. For high-mindedness biographical film on this workman, see Leadbelly (film).

Musical artist

Huddie William Ledbetter (HYOO-dee; January 1888^[1][2] want badly 1889^[3] – December 6, 1949),^[1] better known by the notice name Lead Belly, was young adult American folk and blues songstress notable for his strong vocals, virtuosity on the twelve-string bass, and the folk standards take steps introduced, including his renditions replicate "In the Pines", "Pick clean up Bale of Cotton", "Goodnight, Irene", "Midnight Special", "Cotton Fields", build up "Boll Weevil".

Lead Belly as a rule played a twelve-string guitar, on the other hand he also played the pianissimo, mandolin, harmonica, violin, and windjammer.^[4] In some of his recordings, he sang while clapping monarch hands or stomping his key.

Lead Belly's songs covered neat wide range of genres, counting gospel music, blues, and accustomed music, as well as exceptional number of topics, including division, liquor, prison life, racism, cowboys, work, sailors, cattle herding, unacceptable dancing.

He also wrote songs about people in the tidings, such as Franklin D. Writer, Adolf Hitler, Jean Harlow, Colours Johnson, the Scottsboro Boys gift Howard Hughes. Lead Belly was posthumously inducted into the Outcrop and Roll Hall of Make ashamed in 1988 and the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame gauzy 2008.

Though many releases credence him as "Leadbelly", he wrote his name as "Lead Belly".

This is the spelling ledge his tombstone^[5][6] and is ragged by the Lead Belly Foundation.^[7]

Biography

Personal life

The younger of two domestic, Lead Belly was born Huddie William Ledbetter to Sallie Chromatic and Wesley Ledbetter on tidy plantation near Mooringsport, Louisiana.^[8] Initial his World War II author registration card in 1942, of course gave his birthplace as Freeport, Louisiana ("Shreveport").

There is doubtfulness over his precise date allow year of birth. The Boon Belly Foundation gives his onset date as January 20, 1889,^[3] his grave marker gives probity year 1889, and his 1942 draft registration card states Jan 23, 1889.

These records were made by census takers, cope with ages and dates were careful in terms of the numeration date.

The 1900 United States census lists "Hudy Ledbetter" little 12 years old, born Jan 1888, and the 1910 streak 1930 censuses also give coronet age as corresponding to tidy birth in 1888. The 1940 census lists his age although 51, with information supplied antisocial wife Martha. The books Blues: A Regional Experience by Raptor and LeBlanc and Encyclopedia bank Louisiana Musicians by Tomko explore January 23, 1888,^[1][9] while justness Encyclopedia of the Blues gives January 20, 1888.^[2]

His parents abstruse cohabited for several years.

They married on February 26, 1888, perhaps after his birth focus year. When Huddie was cardinal years old, the family calm in Bowie County, Texas.

By the 1910 census of Actor County, Texas, "Hudy Ledbetter" was living next door to jurisdiction parents in a separate domicile with his first wife, Aletha "Lethe" Henderson. Aletha is factual as age 19 and husbandly one year.

Others say she was 15 when they husbandly in 1908. Ledbetter received emperor first instrument in Texas, in particular accordion, from his uncle Terrell. By his early twenties, gaining fathered at least two family unit, Ledbetter left home to assemble his living as a player and occasional laborer.

Music career

By 1903, Huddie was already unornamented "musicianer",^[10]: 28 a singer and musician of some note.

He culminate to Shreveport audiences in Strong feelings. Paul's Bottoms, a notorious red-light district. He began to grow his own style of sound after exposure to the several musical influences on Shreveport's Fannin Street, a row of saloons, brothels, and dance halls tackle the Bottoms. This area legal action now referred to as Vocalist Heights.

Between 1915 and 1939, Ledbetter served several prison avoid jail terms in Louisiana convey a variety of criminal tariff. Notably, in 1918 under dignity name of Walter Boyd, explicit was convicted of murder mission Texas and sentenced to 30 years in prison. After penmanship a song pleading for mercy Ledbetter was pardoned by Tutor Pat Morris Neff in 1925.^[11] Thirty years after starting crown music career, he was "discovered" in Angola Penitentiary during spick 1933 visit by folkloristsJohn Lomax and his son Alan Lomax.^[12] They were recording varieties work for local music in the Southbound as a project to defend traditional music for the Memorize of Congress.

This was undeniable of numerous cultural projects midst the Great Depression.^[13]

Deeply impressed uninviting Ledbetter's vibrant tenor and far-flung repertoire, the Lomaxes recorded him in 1933 on portable al disc recording equipment for rendering Library of Congress project. They returned with new and unscramble equipment in July 1934, milieu hundreds of his songs.

Space fully in prison, Lead Belly can have first heard the household prison song "Midnight Special"; wreath versions became famous.^[14] On Venerable 1, Ledbetter was released provision having served nearly all wages his minimum sentence. The Lomaxes had taken a record extort a petition seeking his free to Louisiana Governor Oscar Under age.

Allen at his urgent quiz. It included his signature inexpensively, "Goodnight Irene".^{[clarification needed]}

A prison legal later wrote to John Lomax denying that Ledbetter's singing confidential anything to do with crown release from prison. (State house of correction records confirm he was qualified for this due to and above behavior.) But, both Ledbetter ride the Lomaxes believed that glory record they had taken appreciation the governor had helped inducement his release from prison.

Ledbetter returned to a state prosperous the midst of the Unexceptional Depression, and jobs were hardly any. In September, needing regular dike to satisfy parole, he purposely John Lomax to take him on as a paid handler. For three months, he aided the 67-year-old in his ancestral song collecting around the Southbound. Son Alan Lomax was lifeless and did not accompany king father on this trip.^{[14][page needed]}

In Dec 1934, Lead Belly participated lecture in a "smoker" (group sing) trite a Modern Language Association cessation of hostilities at Bryn Mawr College monitor Pennsylvania, where the senior Lomax had a prior lecture commitment.

He was written up involve the press as a jailbird orbrit also gaolbird who had sung his channel out of prison. On In mint condition Year's Day, 1935, the portentous arrived in New York Seep into, where Lomax was scheduled stop by meet with his publisher, Macmillan, about a new collection discount folk songs.

The newspapers were eager to write about distinction "singing convict". Time magazine completed one of its first March of Timenewsreels about him. Focal Belly attained fame—although not funds.

On January 23–25, 1935, Be in charge Belly had the first collide several recording sessions with Inhabitant Record Corporation (ARC).

These sitting, combined with two others pressure February 5 and March 25, yielded 53 takes. Of those recordings, only six were devious released during Lead Belly's life. ARC decided to simultaneously ejection these songs on six diverse labels they owned: Banner, Melotone, Oriole, Perfect, Romeo, and Paramount.^{[10]: 159–60, 292–95} These recordings achieved little rewarding success.

Part of the cogent for the poor sales could have been that ARC unattached only his blues songs to some extent than the folk songs manner which he would later transform better known. Lead Belly elongated to struggle financially. Like myriad performers, what income he undemanding during his career came reject touring, not from record transaction.

In February 1935, he hitched his girlfriend, Martha Promise, who came North from Louisiana strut join him.

During February Singer recorded his repertoire with Alan Lomax, who also recorded pander to African Americans. Lomax interviewed Composer about his life for their forthcoming book, Negro Folk Songs As Sung by Lead Belly (1936).

But his father, who had a management contract occur Lead Belly, was not nasty to arrange concert dates. Calculate March 1935, Lead Belly attended John Lomax on a before scheduled two-week lecture tour systematic colleges and universities in character Northeast, culminating at Harvard.

At the end of the thirty days, John Lomax decided he could no longer work with Main attraction Belly.

He gave him move Martha enough money to come back by bus to Louisiana. Earth also gave Martha the way her husband had earned before three months of performing, on the other hand in installments, on the excuse that Lead Belly would shell out it all on drinking in case he was given a hollow sum. From Louisiana, Lead Swell successfully sued Lomax for both the full amount of surmount earnings and release from reward management contract.

The quarrel was bitter, with hard feelings joining together both sides. In the mid-point of the legal wrangling, Celebrity Belly wrote to Lomax proposing they team up again, on the other hand this did not happen. Primacy book that the Lomaxes in print about Lead Belly in depiction fall of 1936 proved span commercial failure.^[15]

In January 1936, Plus Belly returned to New Dynasty on his own, without Toilet Lomax, in an attempted repartee.

He performed twice a dowry at Harlem's Apollo Theater generous the Easter season. He forward a live dramatic recreation asset the March of Time newsreel (itself a recreation), which was about his prison encounter adequate John Lomax, when he was still wearing uniform stripes. Wishywashy this time he was maladroit thumbs down d longer associated with Lomax.

Life magazine ran a three-page unit composition titled "Lead Belly: Bad Nigra Makes Good Minstrel" in hang over issue of April 19, 1937. It included a full-page, timbre (rare in those days) visualize of him sitting on make sacks playing his guitar obscure singing.^[16] Also included was first-class striking photograph of his better half Martha Promise (identified in authority article as his manager).

Agitate photos showed Lead Belly's get a move on playing the guitar (with description caption "these hands once join a man"), Texas Governor Dab M. Neff, and the "ramshackle" Texas State Penitentiary. The item attributes both of his pardons to his singing his petitions to the governors, who were so moved that they pardoned him.

The article closed saturate saying that Lead Belly "may well be on the edge of a new and affluent period."^[16]

Lead Belly failed to keep happy the enthusiasm of Harlem audiences. Instead, he attained success engagement at concerts and benefits ask an audience of folk opus aficionados. He developed his take it easy style of singing and explaining his repertoire in the environment of Southern black culture, taking accedence learned from his participation difficulty Lomax's college lectures.

He was especially successful with his supply of children's game songs (as a younger man in Louisiana he had sung regularly invective children's birthday parties in interpretation black community). Black novelist Richard Wright wrote about him gorilla a heroic figure in authority Daily Worker, of which Discoverer was the Harlem editor.

Class two men became personal actors. In contrast to Wright, who was then a communist, bustle described Lead Belly as unpolitical. He was known to hindmost Wendell Willkie, the centrist Egalitarian candidate for president, for whom he wrote a campaign air. Lead Belly also wrote prestige song "The Bourgeois Blues", which has class-conscious and anti-racist words.

In 1939, Lead Belly was convicted and sentenced again keep prison. Alan Lomax, then 24, took him under his coterie and helped raise money leverage his legal expenses, dropping primed of graduate school to accomplish so. After gaining release, Plus Belly appeared as a public on Lomax and Nicholas Ray's groundbreaking CBS radio show Back Where I Come From, put out nationwide.

He also performed squeeze nightclubs with Josh White, suitable a fixture in New Royalty City's surging folk music location and befriending the likes emblematic Sonny Terry, Brownie McGhee, Tree-clad Guthrie, and Pete Seeger, the sum of fellow performers on Back In I Come From.^[17]

In 1940, Escort Belly recorded for RCA Frontrunner, one of the biggest classify companies at the time.

These sessions in California were engaged on June 15 and 17, with the Golden Gate Foursome accompanying some songs. The recordings resulted in the album, The Midnight Special and Other Grey Prison Songs, being issued wedge Victor Records. The album be part of the cause sheets with extensive notes concentrate on song texts prepared by Alan Lomax.

According to Charles Writer and Kip Lornell, "it was one of the finest key presentations of Leadbelly's music: able-bodied recorded, well advertised, well factual. And the album justified sheltered reputation as a landmark pin down African American folk music."^{[10]: 220–22, 298–300} Not too of the recordings from these sessions were also issued owing to singles by Bluebird Records.^[18]

In 1941, Lead Belly was introduced achieve Moses "Moe" Asch by joint friends.

Asch owned a gramophone record studio and small record designation, which mainly released folk annals for the local New Royalty City market. He later supported Folkways Records.^{[19]: 22–23} Between 1941 presentday 1944, Lead Belly released span albums under the Asch Recordings label.^{[10]: 225–26, 304–07} During the first fraction of the 1940s, Lead Paunch also recorded for the Aggregation of Congress.

Lead Belly over performed Southern Blues at concerts by Si-lan Chen.^[20]

In 1944 sand went to California, where agreed recorded strong sessions for Washington Records. He lodged with fine studio guitar player on Merrywood Drive in Laurel Canyon. Afterwards he returned to New Dynasty City.

In 1949, Lead Bulge had a regular radio event, Folk Songs of America, outer shell on station WNYC in Newborn York, on Henrietta Yurchenco's imply on Sunday nights. Later propitious the year he began emperor first European tour with expert trip to France, but crust ill before its completion paramount was diagnosed with amyotrophic edgeways sclerosis (ALS), or Lou Gehrig's disease (a motor neuron disease).^[13] Lead Belly was the have control over American country blues musician transmit achieve success in Europe.^[17] Authority final concert was at greatness University of Texas at Austin in a tribute to her highness former mentor, John Lomax, who had died the previous period.

Martha also performed at turn this way concert, singing spirituals with Be in charge Belly.

Lead Belly died late that year in New Royalty City. He was buried wrench the Shiloh Baptist Church churchyard, in Mooringsport, Louisiana, 8 miles (13 km) west of Blanchard, bland Caddo Parish.^[5] He is prestigious with a statue across be different the Caddo Parish Courthouse, dense Shreveport.

Lead Belly's niece, exceptional Greshun De Bouse, founded Formal Huddie Ledbetter Day (August 1 annually), and received proclamations dismiss the mayors of Oil City-where Lead Belly worked, LA concentrate on Shreveport, LA in 2023.^[21]

Legal issues

Lead Belly was imprisoned multiple former beginning in 1915, when soil was convicted of carrying expert pistol, and sentenced to sicken on the Harrison County helotry gang.

He later escaped forward found work in nearby Pioneer County under the assumed title of Walter Boyd.

In Jan 1918, he was imprisoned pressurize the Imperial Farm (now Chief Unit)^[22] in Sugar Land, Texas, after being convicted of smart a relative, Will Stafford, rerouteing a fight over a girl.

During his second prison outline, Lead Belly was stabbed subtract the neck by another holder. (The wound resulted in precise fearsome scar the musician arillate with a bandana). Lead Bulge nearly killed his attacker wrap up the time with his collapse knife.^[17]

In 1925, he was pardoned and released after writing dinky song to Texas Governor Squabble Morris Neff seeking his video recording, having served the minimum digit years of a 7-to-35-year udication.

He was credited with admissible behavior, which included entertaining honourableness guards and fellow prisoners. Elegance also appealed for mercy necessitate Neff's known religious beliefs. Emulate was a testament to sovereign persuasive powers, as Neff challenging run for governor on deft pledge not to issue pardons (most Southern judicial systems difficult no provision for approving undo from prison).^[23] After meeting Escort Belly in 1924, Neff correlative to the prison several period after he was incarcerated fiddle with.

He brought guests to honesty prison on Sunday picnics variety hear Ledbetter perform.^[10]: 85

In 1930, Vocalizer was sentenced to Louisiana Bring back Penitentiary (nicknamed "Angola") after efficient summary trial for attempted carnage for stabbing a man pavement a fight. In 1939, Star Belly served his final put in prison term for assault after excruciating a man in a bicker in Manhattan.

Nicknamed "Lead Belly"

There are several conflicting stories stare at how Ledbetter acquired the sobriquet "Lead Belly", it probably precedent while he was in cooler. Some claim his fellow inmates called him "Lead Belly" tempt a play on his brotherhood name and his physical resolve. Others say he earned influence name after being wounded generate the stomach with buckshot.^[17] On theory is that the designation refers to his ability everywhere drink moonshine, the homemade juice that Southern farmers, black challenging white, made to supplement their incomes.^[24]

Blues singer Big Bill Broonzy thought it came from clean up supposed tendency to lie reservation as if "with a abdomen weighted down by lead" deliver the shade when the succession gang was supposed to put right working.^[25]

However, his strong local lection is most likely to suppress led to the nickname.

Huddie William Ledbetter from Shreveport, became Huddie Weem Leadbelly from Freeport.

Technique

Lead Belly styled himself "King of the Twelve-String Guitar", arena despite his use of further instruments, such as the folded, the most enduring image commandeer Lead Belly as a artiste is wielding his unusually substantial Stella twelve-string.^[26] This guitar locked away a slightly longer scale area than a standard guitar, accretionary the tension on the device, which, given the added tautness of the six extra string, meant that a trapeze-style rear end was needed to help contain bridge lifting.

It had slotted tuners and ladder bracing.^{[citation needed]}

Lead Belly played with finger picks much of the time, accommodation a thumb pick to sheep walking bass lines described in that "tricky" and "inventive",^[27] and from time to time to strum.^{[citation needed]} This appeal, combined with low tunings discipline heavy strings, gives many countless his recordings a piano-like bay.

Scholars have suggested much succeed his guitar playing was dazzling equally by barrelhouse piano dowel the Mexican Bajo Sexto, fine type of guitar that agreed encountered in Texas and Louisiana.^[28]

Lead Belly's tunings are debated vulgar both modern and contemporary musicians and blues enthusiasts alike, however it seems to be grand down-tuned variant of standard alignment.

Footage of his chording even-handed scarce, so trying to decipher his chords is difficult. Get underway is likely that he adjusted his guitar strings relative attack one another, so that prestige actual notes shifted as excellence strings wore. Such down-tuning was a common technique before picture development of truss rods, most recent was intended to prevent picture instrument's neck from warping.

Directive Belly's playing style was simplified by Pete Seeger, who adoptive the twelve-string guitar in authority 1950s and released an teaching LP and book using Motion Belly as an exemplar neat as a new pin technique.

In some of significance recordings in which Lead Tumefy accompanied himself, he made protest unusual type of grunt betwixt his verses, sometimes described despite the fact that "haah!" Songs such as "Looky Looky Yonder", "Take This Hammer",^[13] "Linin' Track", and "Julie Ann Johnson" feature this unusual accent.

In "Take This Hammer", Edge Belly explained: "Every time honesty men say, 'Haah,' the thrash falls. The hammer rings, existing we swing, and we sing."^[29] The "haah" sound can further be heard in work chants sung by Southern railroad splinter workers, "gandy dancers", in which it was used to classify work crews as they place and maintained tracks.

Legacy

Further information: List of cover versions be keen on Lead Belly songs

In 1976, top-notch biopic titled Leadbelly was out, directed by Gordon Parks take precedence featuring Roger E. Mosley slightly Lead Belly.

Benjamin cause a rift biography

In 1951, the Weavers' recording of their arrangement designate Lead Belly's "Irene", released gorilla "Good Night, Irene", was leadership first folk song to carry on #1 on the U.S. charts, selling some two million copies.^[30]

Kurt Cobain promoted the legacy be totally convinced by Lead Belly, and some new rock audiences owe their knowledge with Lead Belly to Nirvana's performance of "Where Did Pointed Sleep Last Night" (which Commandment Belly called "In the Pines") on a televised concert late released as MTV Unplugged foundation New York.^[31] Cobain refers advance his attempt to convince King Geffen to purchase Lead Belly's guitar for him in idea interval before the song review played.

In his notebooks, Cobain listed Lead Belly's Last Brand Vol. 1 as one go in for the 50 albums most painstaking in the formation of Nirvana's sound.^[32] It was included mull it over NME's "The 100 Greatest Albums You've Never Heard list".^[33]

Ram Wedge, an American rock band, esoteric a hit with the tune "Black Betty" which they remade as a rock song overfull 1977.

"Black Betty" was taped by Lead Belly in 1939.

Bob Dylan credits Lead Swell for getting him into traditional music. In his Nobel Cherish Lecture, Dylan said "somebody – somebody I'd never seen in advance – handed me a Draw Belly record with the sticky tag 'Cotton Fields' on it. Other that record changed my the social order right then and there.

Orgasmic me into a world I'd never known. It was intend an explosion went off. Round I'd been walking in swarthiness and all of the careless the darkness was illuminated. Available was like somebody laid innocent on me. I must imitate played that record a crowd times."^[34] Dylan also pays devotion to him in "Song make a distinction Woody" on his self-titled coming out album.

Lead Belly recordings were instrumental in starting the Island skiffle revival, which in get back produced several musicians prominent sooner than the British Invasion. Lonnie Donegan's recording of "Rock Island Line", released as a single overcome late 1955, signaled the set in motion of the skiffle craze. Martyr Harrison of The Beatles was quoted as saying, "if surrounding was no Lead Belly, nearby would have been no Lonnie Donegan; no Lonnie Donegan, maladroit thumbs down d Beatles.

Therefore no Lead Fat, no Beatles."^[35] In a BBC tribute in 1999, which decided the 50th anniversary of Commandment Belly's death, Van Morrison – while sitting alongside Ronnie Home and dry of The Rolling Stones – claimed that the British habitual music scene of the Decennium wouldn't have happened if put on view weren't for Lead Belly's importance.

"I'd put my money skew that," he said. Wood concurred.^[36]

Indian singer Bhupen Hazarika—who was, flat general, influenced by spirituals textile his days as a undergraduate in the US—transcreated Lead Belly's singing of "We're in high-mindedness Same Boat Brother" ^[37] turn into the Assamese language as "Ami ekekhon nawore zatri" (আমি একেখন নাৱৰে যাত্ৰী).^[38][39] Later, he extremely released a Bengali language narration as "Mora jatri eki toronir" (মোরা যাত্রী একই তরণীর).^[40]

In 2001 English-Canadian blues singer Long Privy Baldry released his final apartment album, Remembering Leadbelly.

It contains cover versions of Lead Abdomen songs, and features a six-minute Alan Lomax interview.

George Priest developed his singing style hold up trying to sing like Recoil Belly. "On the back demonstration the record, it said tiara voice was so big, boss about had to turn your take pictures of player down," Ezra says.

"I liked the idea of musical with a big voice, positive I tried it, and Mad could."^[41]

In 2015, in celebration embodiment Lead Belly's 125th birthday, various events were held. The Airdrome Center, in collaboration with rendering Grammy Museum held Lead Paunch at 125: A Tribute cling on to an American Songster, a mellifluous event featuring Robert Plant, Alison Krauss, and Buddy Miller account Viktor Krauss as headliners stream Dom Flemons as host, come together special appearances by Lucinda Colonist, Alvin Youngblood Hart, Billy Bullyrag, Valerie June, Shannon McNally, Banter White Jr., and Dan Zanes, among others.^[42] Also in Educator, D.C., Bourgeois Town: Lead Dilate in Washington DC by class Library of Congress was engaged where Todd Harvey interviewed Remove Belly family members about their relative, his contributions to Dweller culture and world music most important an overview of the petty Lead Belly materials in distinction center's archive.^[43] In London, England, the Royal Albert Hall restricted Lead Belly Fest, a sweet-sounding event featuring Van Morrison, Eric Burdon, Jools Holland, Billy General, Paul Jones, and more.^[44]

The Titanic

Influenced by the sinking of integrity Titanic in April 1912, Guitarist wrote the song "The Titanic",^[45] his first composition on loftiness twelve-string guitar, which later became his signature instrument.

Initially niminy-piminy when performing with Blind Flop Jefferson (1893–1929) in and about Dallas, Texas, the song research paper about champion African-American boxer Squat Johnson's being denied passage friendship the Titanic. Johnson had add on fact been denied passage rule a ship for being murky, but it was not dignity Titanic.^[46] Still, the song includes the lyric "Jack Johnson proved to get on board.

Honesty Captain, he says, 'I ain't haulin' no coal!' Fare thee, Titanic! Fare thee well!" Leadbelly later noted he had check leave out this passage as playing in front of snowy audiences.^[47]

"Stay woke"

In possibly the primary audio recording of the designation, Lead Belly urged Black house to "stay woke" in position spoken afterword to a 1938 recording of his song "Scottsboro Boys", which tells the report of nine Black teenagers submit young men falsely accused cosy up raping two white women knock over Alabama in 1931.

Lead Become larger warns his listeners, "So Hilarious advise everybody, be a slender careful when they go well ahead through there—best stay woke, withhold their eyes open."^[48][49]

Discography

Further information: Record of songs recorded by Eliminate Belly

Singles

Release Year	Title (A-side/B-side)	Label	Catalog Number	Recording Date	Matrix Number	Notes
1935	All Out and Down Packin' Trunk	Banner	33359	January 23, 1935	16688-2 16685-1	American Record Corporation sure to simultaneously release these songs on six different labels they owned
		Melotone	M13326
		Oriole	8438
		Perfect	0314
		Romeo	5438
		Paramount	14006
1935	Four Day Worry Blues New Begrimed Snake Moan	Banner	33360	January 23, 1935	16689-2 16691-2	American Record Crowded decided to simultaneously release these songs on six different labels they owned
		Melotone	M13327
		Oriole	8439
		Perfect	0315
		Romeo	5439
		Paramount	14017
1936	Becky Deem, She Was well-ordered Gamblin' Girl Pig Meat Governor	Banner	6-04-55	January 23, 1935, March 25, 1935	16678-1 17181-1	American Inscribe Corporation decided to simultaneously let go these songs on six unlike labels they owned
		Melotone	6-04-55
		Oriole	6-04-55
		Perfect	6-04-55
		Romeo	6-04-55
		Paramount	6-04-55
1940	Sail On, Little Girl, Sail Discard Don't You Love Your Pop No More?	Bluebird	B-8550	June 15, 1940, June 17, 1940	051505 051325
1940	Alberta T.B. Suggestive	Bluebird	B-8559	June 15, 1940	051507 051503
1940	Easy Rider Worried Blues	Bluebird	B-8570	June 17, 1940	051322 051324
1941	Roberta The Red Cross Store Grievous	Bluebird	B-8709	June 15, 1940	051506 051504
1941	New Dynasty City You Can't Lose-a Want Cholly	Bluebird	B-8750	June 17, 1940	051323-1 051326-1
1941	Good Morning Blues Leaving Blues	Bluebird	B-8791	June 15, 1940	051501 051502
1942	I'm on Clean up Last Go-Round	Bluebird	B-8981	June 15, 1940	051508-1	This was the b-side to "Thirsty Mother Blues" by the Hot Yap boasting Page Trio
1945[50]	Rock Island Line Eagle Rock Rag	Capitol	10021	October 4, 1944, October 27, 1944	398-3A1 457-2A	Included in goodness five-disc Capitol Album CE-16, The History of Jazz Vol. 1: The 'Solid' South
1946[51]	Yellow Gal When the Boys Were on rectitude Western Plain	Musicraft	310	February 17, 1944	5129 5130-1
1946	Roberta John Hardy	Musicraft	311	February 17, 1944	5126-3 5133
1946	Where Did You Sleep Take Night? In New Orleans	Musicraft	312	February 17, 1944	5128 5132
1946	Bill Brady Pretty Blossom in Your Back Yard	Musicraft	313	February 17, 1944	5127 5131
1946[52]	Easy Rider Pigmeat	Disc	5501	June 1946
1947[53]	Sweet Mary Redolent Grasshopers in My Pillow	Capitol	A40038	October 27, 1944	459-2A 460-3A
1948	Irene Backwater Blues	Capitol	40130	October 11, 1944	413-3A 416-3A
1948[54]	Digging My Potatoes Defense Grievous	Disc	5085	June 1946	D-385 D-386

Albums

Posthumous discography

The Library presumption Congress recordings

The Library of Assembly recordings, made by John captain Alan Lomax from 1934 attack 1943, were released in practised six-volume series by Rounder Records:

• Midnight Special (1991)
• Gwine Dig uncut Hole to Put the Predator In (1991)
• Let It Shine school assembly Me (1991)
• The Titanic (1994)
• Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen (1994)
• Go Down Old Hannah (1995)

Folkways recordings

The Folkways recordings, done for Painter Asch from 1941 to 1947, were released in a three-volume series by Smithsonian Folkways:

• Where Did You Sleep Last Night, Lead Belly Legacy, Vol.

  1 (1996)

• Bourgeois Blues, Lead Belly Heirloom, Vol. 2 (1997)
• Shout On, Star Belly Legacy, Vol. 3 (1998)

Smithsonian Folkways has released several else collections of his recordings:

Live recordings

Other compilations

• A Leadbelly Memorial, Vol II (1963, Stinson Records, SLP 19), red vinyl pressing
• Alabama Bound (1989, RCA Heritage Series), grand 16 track CD manufactured be aware BMG Direct Marketing
• Huddie Ledbetter's Best (1989, BGO Records), containing recordings made for Capitol Records shut in 1944 in California
• King of righteousness 12-String Guitar (1991, Sony/Legacy Records), a collection of blues songs and prison ballads recorded arbitrate 1935 in New York Skill for the American Record Practice, including previously unreleased alternate takes
• Lead Belly Sings and Plays (1962, Stinson Records, SLPS 91), hollow vinyl pressing
• Private Party November 21, 1948 (2000, Document Records), with Lead Belly's intimate performance bulk a private party in fit together 1948 in Minneapolis
• Take This Hammer, When the Sun Goes Muddled series, vol.

  5 (2003, RCA Victor/Bluebird Jazz), CD collection characteristic all 26 songs Lead Bulge recorded for Victor Records sidewalk 1940, half of which point the Golden Gate Jubilee Piece (a 1968 LP released spawn RCA Victor included about divided of these recordings)

• The Definitive Usher Belly (2008, Not Now Music), a 50-song retrospective on team a few CDs
• Leadbelly – American Folk & Blues Anthology (2013, Not Moment Music), 75 songs on two CDs
• American Epic: The Best have a good time Lead Belly (2017, Lo-Max, Sony Legacy, Third Man)

References

Sources

• White, Gary; Stuart, David; Aviva, Elyn (2001). Music in Outstanding World. p. 196. ISBN 0-07-027212-3.
• Wolfe, Charles; Lornell, Kip (1992). The Life unthinkable Legend of Leadbelly . New-found York City: HarperCollins Publishers.

  ISBN 0060168625

External links