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Lead Belly

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

Lead Belly's real name was Huddie Ledbetter. He was born around 1889 on a plantation near Mooringsport, Louisiana, and grew up in Texas. His uncle gave him an accordion, but he became known above all as a singer with a twelve-string guitar. As a teenager he was already playing in the bars and dance halls of Shreveport. His life was rough: he was in prison several times, including for manslaughter. In 1933 the folklorists John Lomax and his son Alan discovered him in Angola prison in Louisiana, where they were recording folk music for the Library of Congress.

Music and breakthrough

After his release in 1934 he travelled with John Lomax and in 1935 came to New York. The newspapers wrote about the convict who had sung his way to freedom, a story that was not true but sold well. His first commercial records sold poorly. He eventually found his audience among folk enthusiasts: he played with Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee. In 1940 he recorded The Midnight Special and Other Southern Prison Songs for RCA Victor, and in the 1940s he made records for Moses Asch, the later founder of Folkways. He died in 1949.

Influence

Lead Belly sang gospel, blues, work songs, children's songs and ballads about imprisonment, cotton picking and racism. Many of those songs became standards: Goodnight, Irene, Midnight Special, Cotton Fields, Black Betty, Rock Island Line and In the Pines, also known as Where Did You Sleep Last Night. Through the folk revival they reached later generations of rock and pop musicians. In this way he became a link between the old Black folk music of the South and the pop music that came later.

Listening

Listening tip. Listen to Where Did You Sleep Last Night by Lead Belly and notice the twelve-string guitar, which sounds fuller and rougher than an ordinary guitar. Hear how his voice shoots up at the end of the lines and hangs there. Then put Nirvana's 1993 version next to it.

Discography

Studio albums

In School of Rock

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Categories: Artists