Like a folklore project come to life, beloved of The Weavers, Woody Guthrie and all the prime movers I the early Leftist folk scene, Leadbelly wasn't 'discovered' or recorded until he was in his forties. Huddie Ledbetter had been in prison, where he wrote hundreds of songs, and arranged scores of now folk classics, then semi-forgotten songs from his rural childhood. The majority of these songs come from the last ten years of his life. This amazing CD features 13 of the 26 tracks cut at the classic 1941 sessions, but also give an overview of Leadbelly's vast range of song and style; folk, country blues, woman blues, prison songs (laments, hollers, field songs), & even children's songs. Most feature a solo Leadbelly with his twelve string guitar, playing slide and even tap dancing (!), but he is also heard accompanied by the likes of Sonny Terry on harmonica, Woody Guthrie on guitar & vocals and the Golden Gate vocal quartet on others. 28 tracks of pure genius are on offer... how can you turn that down? One of the very lynchpins of how we listen to music now, Leadbelly is cited as an inspiration by artists as disparate as Pete Seeger, Lonnie Donegan, and Billy Childish..and with the current interest in folk and roots music, the Leadbelly moment is here once more - check him out!
|
