Leadbelly
...also known as Huddie Ledbetter. I discovered Leadbelly's music while in college and working at the public library. To its credit, the Santa Cruz Public Library at that time had a very good vinyl collection, including lots of early folk and jazz music. For a while there, I was way into early folk and field recordings - and I still just love the sound of them. In addition to the music itself, which is often phenomenal and unique, it just sounds like history to me. I'm always floored when I hear a good field recording.
At that time, I came across the amazing recordings of Leadbelly from John Lomax and his son, Alan Lomax, that they had recorded for the Library of Congress in the 1930s. (Thank you, Library of Congress! And thank you Rounder Records for making this stuff available.)
Back when I discovered the vinyl records, I recorded a lot of it to cassette tape, and unfortunately lost some of them over time. I recently discovered that you could download a lot of these recordings from iTunes. Phew!
The Library of Congress recordings not only contain some great early recordings - including much better versions of songs that became his signature songs later - but also contained conversations that Huddie and Alan Lomax had about the blues, the origins and terminology of the songs, and about Huddie's life.
These conversations are as much a pleasure to listen to as are the songs. Where else will you hear phrases like 'sookie jump'? Often times Huddie will sing a little snippet of a song to illustrate a point, and these snippets themselves are some of the most surprising and satisfying pieces of music you'll ever hear. Huddie can sing a line like 'one dollar bill, baby, won't buy you no shoes' like nobody's business.
I was listening to some of his music this morning and marveling once again at the richness of these recordings and the music. Somewhere in the past, I picked up bits and pieces of lore about Huddie and his music:
- He played 12-string guitar, but tuned both strings to the same pitch, in order to get a louder sound. This was mainly to compete with the strength of his voice. When you listen to these early recordings, you can hear the mike distorting regularly due to the sheer volume of his voice. With a little effort, you can imagine what it might sound like live and in person.
- From the accounts I've read, there is a lot of debate about some of the facts of his life. For example, the entry in Wikipedia claims that his release from a Louisiana prison was due to good behavior. Huddie believed that it was due to his song, 'Governor O.K. Allen', an appeal to be pardoned; others more cynically believe that the Lomaxes persuaded the Governor to release Huddie because he was such a goldmine of songs. I imagine the truth is somewhere in there; I don't know where it is, but I love all of it.
- While he started out playing blues and barrelhouse tunes from his youth, Huddie later pulled his songs from what was happening around him, resulting in songs like 'The Roosevelt Song', 'Turn Yo Radio On', and 'Scottsboro Boys'. These are fascinating to listen to, because Huddie captured a contemporary phenomenon, a moment in time, which in many cases became pieces of history. It's history being told in the present tense.
I've read some negative things about Huddie - his rough early life, how he was frustrated toward the end of his life with his level of success, the truth in some of the claims he made. These may be true or they may be not. Like all great artists, that all falls away when he starts singing. Damn, it's good music.
