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Huddie "Lead Belly" Ledbetter (1888 -1 949)
December 6, 1999 will be the 50th
anniversary of Lead Belly's death. It will be celebrated with concerts and other events, honoring one of Americana's greatest and most influential folk musicians. In a Boston
Globe article, (Apr. 11, 1999) Scott Alarik wrote about Lead Belly's genius. "His brilliant guitar playing," wrote Scott, "marked by driving bass lines set
against quicksilver treble fingerpicking, helped popularize both the Texas blues style and the 12-string guitar,"
Even those who no longer remember his name know
his songs and the songs he made famous, among them, "Goodnight, Irene," "Cotton Fields," "Midnight Special," "Take This Hammer," "Pick a Bale of Cotton," and "Rock
Island Line."
Lead Belly was discovered in 1933 by folklorists John and Alan Lomax in Louisiana's Angola Prison. The Lomaxes
were there to collect prison songs. After Lead Belly's release in 1934, he came to New York where he found himself billed as "the Savage Singer from the Swamplands," and was often
required to perform in prison garb.
Moe Asch, a recording engineer who had released a few records of local Jewish music, thought Lead Belly was
being stereotyped, presented with a very limited view of his repertoire and this single facet of his history. He felt Lead Belly was an intellectual, just like himself.
 Asch wanted the music world to see Lead Belly for the musical genius and genuine folk
scholar he was. He released a children's album by Lead Belly in 1941, "Play Parties in Song and Dance as Sung by Lead Belly." Walter Winchell, column gossip,
smeared the record as a "recording of a convicted murderer singing children's songs." The notoriety made the album a bestseller.
From then on, Lead Belly was seen even by the major labels as more than a novelty. He recorded for Columbia, Stinson and RCA's race label, Bluebird.
Lead Belly is a folk music legend and his story is much bigger than can be presented on one web page. The Internet
has a wealth of information available; just insert "Lead Belly" and your browser will deliver a source list with hundreds of fascinating stories. Or, write Lead Belly Foundation, PO Box
293, Brentwood, TN 37027, and the Lead Belly Society, PO Box 6679, Ithaca, NY 14851. |
