Blues Search Engine: Leadbelly

Huddie William Ledbetter, (January, 1888 – December 6, 1949) was an American folk and blues musician, notable for his clear and forceful singing, his virtuosity on the twelve string guitar, and the rich songbook of folk standards he introduced. He is best known as Leadbelly or Lead Belly. Although he most commonly played the twelve string, he could also play the piano, mandolin, harmonica, violin, concertina, and accordion. In some of his recordings, such as in one of his versions of the folk ballad John Hardy, he performs on the accordion instead of the guitar. In other recordings he just sings while clapping his hands or stomping his foot. The topics of Lead Belly's music covered a wide range of subjects, including gospel songs; blues songs about women, liquor and racism; and folk songs about cowboys, prison, work, sailors, cattle herding and dancing. He also wrote songs concerning the newsmakers of the day, such as President Franklin Roosevelt, Adolf Hitler, Jean Harlow, the Scottsboro Boys and multi-millionaire Howard Hughes. Lead Belly was born to Wesley and Sallie Ledbetter as Huddie William Ledbetter in a plantation near Mooringsport, Louisiana, but the family moved to Leigh, Texas, when he was five. By 1903, Lead Belly was already a musicianer, a singer and guitarist of some note. He performed for nearby Shreveport, Louisiana audiences in St. Paul's Bottoms, a notorious red-light district in the city. Lead Belly began to develop his own style of music after exposure to a variety of musical influences on Shreveport's Fannin Street, a row of saloons, brothels, and dance halls in the Bottoms. In January 1918 he was thrown into prison after killing a man. He was incarcerated in Sugar Land, Texas and it is there that he got the inspiration for the song Midnight Special. It is said that he was released two years into his 35-year sentence after writing a song appealing to Governor Pat Morris Neff for his freedom. Lead Belly had swayed Governor Neff by appealing to his strong religious values. That, in combination with good behavior, was Lead Belly's ticket out of jail. In 1930, Lead Belly was back in prison, this time in Louisiana for attempted homicide. It was there, three years later, that he was "discovered" by musicologists John and Alan Lomax, who were enchanted by his talent, passion and singularity as a performer, and recorded hundreds of his songs on portable recording equipment for the Library of Congress. The following year Lead Belly was once again pardoned, this time after a petition for his early release was taken to Louisiana Governor O.K. Allen by the Lomaxes. The petition was on the other side of a recording of one of his most popular songs, Goodnight Irene. But records show he was released due to good behavior, and mention nothing of the song. Lead Belly allowed Alan Lomax to take him under his wing, and in late 1934 migrated to New York City with him, where he attained fame, though not fortune. In 1939 he was back in jail for assault. In 1940, Lead Belly returned to a surging New York folk scene. He has inflenced artists such as Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, Brownie McGee, Sonny Terry. That many of his songs carried a blues spirit can be traced back to his days with Blind Lemon Jefferson. Leadbetter was the first American country blues musician to see success in Europe. In 1949 he began his first European tour with a trip to France, but fell ill before its completion, and was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Lead Belly died later that year in New York City, and was buried in the Shiloh Baptist Church, Louisiana, in Caddo Parish. (quoted from wikipedia.org)