Description
3 cd set with slipcase
To say the least, folk and blues singer Huddie (pronounced HYEW-dee) Ledbetter had a colourful and troubled life, killing a relative, severely injuring another man in a knife fight, escaping a chain gang while bullets flew, and serving many years in prison, where half his neck was severely slashed by another inmate. Because of the efforts of folklorist John Lomax and his son Alan, Ledbedder, whose professional name was Lead Belly, spent far less time incarcerated than he might have. The two also made aluminium field recordings of Huddie in 1934, about 50 songs, and repeated the process in a real studio the following year. Ledbetter’s blues was favored by ARC Records over the original folk music that post-mortem would become famous. This initial attempt resulted in five 78 shellac disc sides; none of these records sold well. In early 1939, just before his marriage and a street fight (mentioned above) that yet again sent him to jail, a somewhat reticent Huddie was persuaded back into a recording studio, this time at Musicraft. a session were some of the tracks ended up on an album called Negro Sinful Tunes. He continued to record up to his death in December of 1949. His fame increased almost immediately after his death and many of his songs are now classic standard folk songs. When the folk revival hit in the late ’50s, its practitioners frequently covered other songs associated with Lead Belly in arrangements that recalled his. This triple cd box set is a great testament to the continuing influence of Lead Belly on contemporary music.
Track list:
1. Irene (Goodnight Irene)
2. The Bourgeois Blues
3. Fannin Street
4. Midnight Special
5. Sail On, Little Girl Sail On
6. Black Girl (Where Did You Sleep Last Night)
7. Pick A Bale Of Cotton
8. Red Cross Store Blues
9. Grasshopper In My Pillow
10. Old Riley
11. Scottsboro Boys
12. Out On The Western Plains
13. Ham And Eggs
14. Hitler Song (Mr. Hitler)
15. Ain’t It A Shame To Go Fishing On Sunday
16. The Gallis Pole
17. Bring Me A Little Water, Silvy
18. Sweet Jenny Lee
19. Relax Your Mind
20. Linin’ Track (Can’t You Line ‘Em)
21. Diggin My Potatoes
22. Silver City Bound
23. Ain’t Going Down To The Well No More
24. Black Betty
25. Good, Good, Good (Talking, Preaching) / We Shall Walk Through The Valley
26. Rock Island Line
27. Boll Weevil
28. Sukey Jump
29. How Long, How Long Blues
30. Grey Goose
31. Cotton Fields
32. Take This Hammer
33. Keep Your Hands Off Her
34. The Titanic
35. House Of The Rising Sun
36. Eagle Rock Rag
37. John Henry
38. Old Man
39. Jean Harlow
40. Laura
41. Backwater Blues
42. Corn Bread Rough
43. Linin’ Track (Can’t You Line ‘Em)
44. Didn’t Old John Cross The Water
45. Easy Rider
46. T.B. Blues
47. Outskirts Of Town
48. Yes I Was Standing In The Bottom
49. Everytime I Go Out
50. Ain’t You Glad (The Blood Done Signed My Name)
51. John Hardy
52. We Shall Be Free
53. Fiddlers Dream
54. It’s Tight Like That
55. Mother’s Blues (Little Children Blues)
56. Take This Hammer
57. Diggin’ My Potatoes
58. Nobody Knows You When You’re Down And Out
59. Blind Lemmon
60. When A Man’s A Long Way From Home
61. Shorty George
62. Stewball
63. I’m On My Last Go-Round
64. Ella Speed
65. Go Down, Old Hannah
66. Springtime In The Rockies
67. Where Did You Sleep Last Night
68. Rock Island Line
69. On A Monday
70. Jim Crow Blues
71. Whoa, Back, Buck
72. De Kalb Blues
73. Poor Howard / Green Corn
74. They Hung Hin On The Cross
75. Irene (Goodnight Irene)