Today we celebrate another of the blues pioneers. A fascinating and volatile character known as Lead Belly. He died on this day in 1949. In his 61 years he lived an action packed life of musical brilliance and crime that would leave any normal person’s head spinning. This is a story that needs to be told.
Huddie William Ledbetter was born on a plantation in Mooringsport, Louisiana on January 12, 1888. Some reports indicate 1889 but this can be traced to draft registration of 1942 where he inexplicably dropped his age by a year. Ledbetter began his career as a musician early. As a 15 year old he was playing guitar in the red light district of Shreveport. By the time he was 19 he had moved to Texas with his family and subsequently married his first wife, 15 year old, Aletha. The couple resided next to his parents. The problem was, work was scarce and over the years he had fathered at least two children. He was forced to leave home and work as a combination of a guitarist and occasional labourer. The first of Ledbetter’s many prison sentences was in 1915 for simply carrying a pistol. He spent some time on the Harrison County chain gang before escaping. He fled to Bowie County where he lived under an assumed name of Walter Boyd. In January of 1918 he was sent to prison for the murder of a relative named Will Stafford in a fight over a woman. While in prison he got in a vicious row with another inmate and ended up with a stab wound in the neck that left a wicked scar. He served seven years of what was a 35 year sentence before being released in part for good behavior and, more notably because he was known for entertaining his fellow prisoners. He was actually pardoned because he wrote a song for the Governor Pat Morris Neff. Neff had a soft spot for Lead Belly. He would often bring guests to the prison for Sunday picnics and ask Lead Belly to perform for the attendees. You would think this new lease on life would have scared Ledbetter straight but there were two more violent acts that saw him jailed for attempted murder and assault.
Somehow through all of this Lead Belly was able to carve out a career in music. This was not easy, due to the fact he obviously had a bad reputation, and he was challenged by prolonged bouts in prison. On the positive side he was a captivating performer who had a gift for writing original material about timely topics. His library covers styles from gospel to blues and discusses women, politics, religion, racism and all stops in between. He could play and he could write. A major break in his life occurred when he took a job with John Lomax as a driver. John Lomax is a noted musicologist and folklorist who worked to preserve American folk music. Those of you who recall my post about ‘House of the Rising Sun’ may remember his role in bringing versions of that song through generations of performers. So Lead Belly spent three months driving around with Lomax. During that time he absorbed everything he saw and heard. Lomax and Lead Belly had originally met during one of his earlier prison stays while the latter was performing to the Governor’s invitees. John and his son Alan were captivated, and when the opportunity arose they arranged to record literally hundreds of his songs on the high end recording equipment that they owned. It is widely thought that the Lomax’s had a hand in getting Leadbelly his pardon. Late in 1934 John Lomax spoke about Lead Belly while in New York City as part of a lecture series. This event was widely attended and due to Lomax’s reputation people were intrigued about his accounts of the singing convict. Within a week Lomax and Lead Belly were back in the Big Apple talking about publishing rights for his library. Newspapers wanted to share the story and Time Magazine wrote a feature article. The early part of 1935 was very eventful. It combined more recording, a book written by Lomax called ‘Negro Folk Songs As Sung By Lead Belly’, interviews and concert performances. Lead Belly even married a Louisiana girl named Martha Promise who joined them on their tour. Unfortunately, things soured and Lomax and Lead Belly parted ways by the end of March. Lead Belly’s drinking was a huge concern and Lomax feared for his ability to handle his own money. He gave Martha a third of what he was owed and sent them back home to Louisiana. The remainder would be sent in installments. This did not sit well with the performer and he sued for the full amount and the right to be released from his management contract. Such a shame.
While reading about Lead Belly’s life I encountered several side stories that were way too much to get into in a post that I try to keep to approximately 1000 words. I urge you to explore this fascinating character’s life. You won’t be disappointed. I will speak to his range of influence shortly but in this paragraph I want to share a bit that speaks to the fact he was a product of his time. As mentioned Lead Belly’s rise to modest prominence was based on the fact he was promoted as a bad black man trying to get back on the straight and narrow. This pattern would continue as the 1930s went on. In 1937 Lead Belly was featured in a three page article titled (now get this);
Lead Belly: Bad Nigger Makes Good Minstrel. “
Life Magazine
This was complete with a full page colour photo of the man himself. A series of additional photos included Martha, who was portrayed as his manager and a close up of his hands playing a guitar with the caption “these hands once killed a man”. Fortunately, the article concluded with a ray of sunshine;
“He…may well be on the brink of a new and prosperous period.”
Life Magazine
This article failed to give rise to any additional success in the form of record sales. For the most part his success came in the form of his adaptability when performing live. By the very nature of his past association with the Lomax’s he was introduced to what would now be considered a ‘leftist’ folk music culture. Three significant connections he made here were an association with the black novelist, Richard Wright, folk singer/songwriter extraordinaire, Woody Guthrie, and a re-acquaintance with Alan Lomax who facilitated his connection with industry insiders through more recordings and tours.
The saddest part is, just as everything was starting to really take off for Lead Belly in the late 1940s, as he was himself in his late ‘50s he was struck down with ALS. This insidious disease would take Lead Belly’s life on this day in 1949.
Let it be noted that Lead Belly performed his final concert early in 1949 where he sang many of his folk, blues and gospel songs with Martha accompanying him. He dedicated this swan song performance to his mentor, John Lomax who died the previous year. As much as their professional relationship ended badly, Lead Belly knew that it was Lomax who gave him the opportunities he was able to channel. He never forgot.
Speaking of ‘never forgotten’, Lead Belly holds a place of prominent folklore in the music world. His legacy is spread far and wide. The list of artists who have covered Lead Belly or paid tribute to him in their own songs is so vast I couldn’t do it justice. Again, check it out. It is truly jaw dropping. Before I sign off I want to do three things. Two brief stories and a couple of cover versions (chosen from literally thousands).
One artist who helped to bring LeadBelly to prominence was Kurt Cobain of Nirvana. Cobain was a huge Lead Belly fan and he once famously lobbied the head of his record label, David Geffen to buy him Lead Belly’s guitar. This was a preamble to ‘Where Did You Sleep Last Night’; one of Lead Belly’s most covered songs. This can be seen on the famous MTV Unplugged in New York.
As noted, Leadbelly had a great ability to write songs in many styles, about many topics. He wrote a song about the sinking of the Titanic. The song had a twist though. He managed to connect it to racism. Here is how the story goes…He had heard that African American boxer Jack Johnson was denied passage on the ocean liner due to the fact he was black. The essence of the story is true, but it did not happen on the Titanic. He was denied passage on a ship though, and his skin colour was the reason. Horrible to know that this happened, but given the racial atrocities we see to this day, it is believable and sickening all at the same time. Lead Belly captured it in this passage:
Jack Johnson tried to get on board
Titanic – Lead Belly
The Captain, he says, I ain’t haulin’ no coal!
Fare thee, Titanic! Fare thee, well!
Leadbetter left this verse out of performances when he played to mostly white audiences. A strange form of self-censorship that also speaks to the times.
For today’s cover versions I will focus on two versions; the first being an unlikely tribute to one of Lead Belly’s most famous songs, by Abba. The upbeat and moderate disco style speaks to the adaptability of the man’s music.
The second is perhaps the most famous cover of a Lead Belly song by the classic rock hit machine, Creedence Clearwater Revival. Here they are doing their famous country/blues/rock rendition of Midnight Special. Enjoy!
Ted Tocks Covers 
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