~
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:
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
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
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:
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
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
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
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:
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 ~
"No white man ever had the blues."
~ Lead Belly
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