January 25, 2021

20,000 vinyl LPs 268: Leadbelly's Last Sessions ~ Volume Two

 ~       
photo by James Chapelle 
photo of album cover by Styrous®


A couple of days ago was the birthday of Huddie Ledbetter, AKA Lead Belly. He was born on January 23, 1888, on a plantation near Mooringsport, Louisiana. He was an American folk and blues singer, musician and songwriter notable for his strong vocals and virtuosity on the twelve-string guitar. He also played the piano, mandolin, harmonica, violin, and windjammer, a type of accordion.  
 
 
 
He was also known for the folk standards he introduced, including his renditions of Goodnight, Irene, Midnight Special, Cotton Fields, and Boll Weevil.      
 
Lead Belly's songs covered a wide range of genres and topics including gospel music; blues about women, liquor, prison life, and racism; and folk songs about cowboys, prison, work, sailors, cattle herding, and dancing. He also wrote songs about people in the news, such as Franklin D. Roosevelt, Adolf Hitler, Jean Harlow, Jack Johnson, the Scottsboro Boys and Howard Hughes. Lead Belly was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988 and the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame in 2008.          
 
He sang a great cover of the House Of The Rising Sun, however, it sounds nothing like the Eric Burdon & The Animals version.     
 
In 2015, Lead Belly: The Smithsonian Folkways Collection, was released. It is a five-disc set that is the first comprehensive overview of this monumental, sprawling career. The compilation, a follow-up to a 2012 Grammy-winning Woody Guthrie boxed set, includes 108 songs (most taken from the Folkways archives), 16 of them previously unreleased. One of the discs comes from a series of radio shows that Lead Belly made for WNYC in the 1940s, which have seldom been heard since. Mr. Guthrie recommended him for the show, telling the producer that of all the living folk singers he’d ever seen, “Lead Belly is ahead of them all.”                 
 
This is the two record set that was recorded (with Vol 1) over 3 nights in September/October 1948 in the New York City apartment of Frederic Ramsey Jr. Apart for a few minor edits, the sessions are presented as recorded, including Leadbelly's introductions and general between-song chat. It was Lead Belly's only commercial recordings on magnetic tape. The set includes a booklet with liner notes by Ramsey.  


photos by James Chapelle 
photo of album booklet by Styrous®







photos by James Chapelle 
photo of album booklet by Styrous®






photos by James Chapelle 
photo of album booklet by Styrous®














photos by James Chapelle 
photo of album booklet by Styrous®







vinyl LP record labels, side 1 & 2
photos by Styrous®





vinyl LP record labels, side 3 & 4
photos by Styrous®



   
Tracklist:

Side 1:

A1     Midnight Special    
A2     Boll Weevil Blues    
A3     Careless Love    
A4     Easy Rider    
A5     Cry For Me    
A6     Ain't Going' Drink No More    
A7     Birmingham Jail    
A8     Old Riley    
A9     Julie Ann Johnson    
A10   It's Tight Like That    

Side 2:

B1     4, 5, And 9    
B2     Good Morning Babe    
B3     Jail House Blues    
B4     Well You Know I Had To Do It    
B5     Irene    
B6     Story Of The 25 Cent Dude    
B7     How Come You Do Me Like You Do Do Do    
B8     Hello Central, Give Me Long Distance Phone    
B9     The Hesitation Blues    
B10    I'll Be Down On The Last Bread Wagon    

Side 3:

C1     Springtime In The Rockies    
C2     Chinatown    
C3     Rock Island Line    
C4     Backwater Blues    
C5     Sweet Mary    
C6     Irene    
C7     Easy, Mr Tom    
C8     In The Evening When The Sun Goes Down    
C9     I'm Alone Because I Love You    
C10   House Of The Rising Sun    
C11   Mary Don't You Weep And Don't You Moan

Side 4:

D1     Talk About Fannin Street    
D2     Fannin Street    
D3     Sugared Beer    
D4     Didn't Old John Cross The Water    
D5     Nobody Knows When You're Down And Out    
D6     Bully Of The Town    
D7     Sweet Jenny Lee    
D8     Yellow Gal    
D9     He Was The Man    
D10   We're In The Same Boat, Brother    
D11   Leaving Blues    

Companies, etc.

    Copyright (c) – Folkways Records & Service Corp.
    Pressed By – Plastylite

Credits:

    Liner Notes – Frederic Ramsey Jr.
    Liner Notes [Production Notes] – Moses Asch
    Photography By – James Chapelle
    Vocals – Martha Ledbetter (tracks: C5, C6, C10, C11, D10)
    Vocals, Guitar – Huddie Ledbetter

Notes:

Recorded (with Vol 1) over 3 nights in September/October 1948 in the NYC apartment of Frederic Ramsey Jr. Apart for a few minor edits, the sessions are presented as recorded, including Leadbelly's often illuminating introductions and general between-song chat.
Includes leaflet "Leadbelly's Last Sessions" on black background and inlay folder "Leadbelly's Last Sessions" for FP 2941 and FP 2942 (on white background).

FP 242 on spine of box
FP 2942 on labels
 
Barcode and Other Identifiers

   Matrix / Runout (Side A runout etched, [Plastylite Ear] stamped): FA2942Ax ⨀ MK [Plastylite Ear]
   Matrix / Runout (Side B runout stamped, 2942B 3T etched): FP 242 B [Plastylite Ear] PB 3D1 2942B 3T
   Matrix / Runout (Side C runout stamped, 3T etched): FP2942 C [Plastylite Ear] PD 3D20 3T
   Matrix / Runout (Side D runout stamped): [Plastylite Ear] FR2942 D PB
 
Leadbelly ‎– Leadbelly's Last Sessions Volume Two
Label: Folkways Records ‎– FP 242, Folkways Records ‎– FP 2942
Format: Box Set, Album 2 × Vinyl, LP
Country: US
Released: 1953
Genre: Blues, Folk, World, & Country
Style: Country Blues, Folk
 
 

         
Viewfinder links:        
        
The Animals        
Lead Belly         
Eric Burdon               
Woody Guthrie        
Jean Harlow        
Adolph Hitler        
Howard Hughes        
        
Net links:        
        
Folkways ~ Lead Belly's Last Sessions         
NY Times ~ Lead Belly Has a Smithsonian Moment        
Washington Post ~ Lead Belly, from sharecropper & prisoner to iconic voice    
        
YouTube links:         
        
 Huddie Ledbetter ~     
      Boll Weevil Blues         
      Easy Rider          
      Midnight Special        
      
      
      
 
         
"No white man ever had the blues."  
                     ~ Lead Belly
        
         
        
        
        
        
Styrous® ~ Sunday, January 25, 2020       
       
















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