Together with Woody Guthrie, Hudie Ledbetter, better known as Leadbelly, is considered a founding father of the American folk music movement. The “king of the 12-string guitar” was born in Shreveport, Louisiana in the year of 1888. By age 12 he was playing “professionally” in the Shreveport red light district. By age 20 he had already served several terms in prison. Legend has it that the folklorists John and Alan Lomax recorded Leadbelly in prison, and attached a phonograph record of Leadbelly’s Irene Goodnight to his parole petition – which indeed was granted in 1934 by Louisiana governor Oscar K. Allen. Such is the legend for what it’s worth.
Certainly, Leadbelly’s powerful voice and 12 string guitar style were charismatic. Rooted in the blues, Leadbelly’s repertoire included ragtime, traditional folk songs, and the pop music of his time. He penned, or is credited with writing such folk favorites as Midnight Special, Pick a Bale of Cotton, Rock Island Line, Irene Goodnight, and a host of other spirituals and blues songs. Thanks to the Lomaxes, many Leadbelly recordings are immortalized in the Library of Congress. Click below to hear two Leadbelly songs, which were recorded only last week somewhere outside the Louisiana prison walls (fortunately), and which are not to be found in the Library of Congress (also fortunately).
Pick a Bale of Cotton
Midnight Special
An Occasional Story or Magazine 
Sure, the blues are basic, and lie underneath most jazz, rock, and folk. Kisses sweeter than wine is an interesting Leadbelly treatment of a traditional British folksong.
hey thank you I had forgotten all about Leadbelly! The blues are definitely a major influence on my music, which some say is a surprise!
TY for the Leadbelly history bit! He is totally a classic. Also, the 2 renditions of his music are fabulous. Love this, Bumba!
Thank you, Resa!
So Leadbelly would be 130 years old this year. The fact that we are talking about him and listening to his songs is remarkable. I can’t think about one thing in my life that anyone would still talk about 130 years after I was born. Thanks for sharing the story.
Sometimes I’ve wondered why the wisdom of past ages gets lost, forgotten. Pyramids buried in the sands for thousands of years. How can people be so stupid as to forget how to measure and build things? But then I can’t go back much more than 130 years on my family tree either. But don’t despair. The Great Pyramid is uncovered. We still have Homer, the Bible, Shakespeare, Doestoyevsky, and Folk music, which sometimes goes a ways back. Cheers!
I often howled the MIDNIGHT SPECIAL (or Joliet Bound) – though I’ve never been in prison, but: I sometimes felt alike…
Hello, Frizz. How lovely to find you here. Greetings! Please excuse the barging in, Stephen. Happy spring greetings to you both. Also reminded me that long ago I had a Leadbelly album. Wonder where that went.
Yes, it’s good to see old Frizz again. Happy Easter and Happy Passover ( I couldn’t pass over the opportunity to say that).
Yes my friend, these songs call to us all – or at least to us lucky ones. Keep howling! Good to see you back with us common folk on wordpress. Cheers!
Reblogged this on Opher's World and commented:
Leadbelly had quite a life of murder and rape. There was another side to him. But I guess they were hard times.
The Bourgoise Blues really does it for me.
The Bourgeois Blues is my favourite. He told it like it was. That took some guts back then!
I wish I’d been at that party – but I got to see Son House, Bukka White, Big Joe Williams and Skip James – I can’t complain!
Years ago, my now deceased father told me that when he was a student at New York University (about 1936) one of his professors invited a bunch of students to his apartment where an old black man had a guitar and played some songs. It was Leadbelly. Unfortunately, my father’s musical knowledge did not extend much beyond The Caissons Go Rolling Along, so I never did learn more about that evening.
Huh. They talk about the “rent parties” the folkies used to have. Interesting era. Harlem Renaissance, Peace movement….
Leadbelly is a classic. Love the blues!
Leadbelly was the master.