Talent, Murder, Luck & The Blues: The Fascinating Story Of Lead Belly

In the early history of blues, before the likes of Howlin’ Wolf, Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker, Lightnin’ Hopkins and the commercial blues boom of the 1950s, the roots of the blues were forged and developed by the likes of Robert Johnson, Blind Lemon Jefferson, and of course the journeyman Leadbelly.

With his formidable presence and appearance, almost like a ‘hobo-ish’ 21st century UFC athlete, with a scar on his face like a black ‘Tony Montana’ and an equally aggressive, brutal and violent streak much like the Pacino film character, with songs that echoed the pain and dismay of his life, Leadbelly took to the blues scene because of his natural gift when it came to mastering musical instruments and the early influence of the roots of music in early black American culture.

However, his songs had an inner melancholy and darkness because of the tumultuous nature of his life, which was far from ‘easy come, easy go’ like the lyrics of the J.J. Cale song ‘Anyway The Wind Blows’, with even Cale stating that he was significantly influenced by the early music of Leadbelly and the blues.

By the time Kurt Cobain played ‘Where Did You Sleep Last Night’ in Nirvana’s critically acclaimed MTV Unplugged concert in the early ‘90s, all smug and perhaps nursing a smack trip and hangover, wearing that light green coat and smoking a cigarette, in an iconic concert that had more covers than band originals, it was almost a century since Leadbelly wrote the song but it served as a stark reminder of how music transcends generations, and lives on long after their conception, just as legendary Doors frontman Jim Morrison wrote in his poetry book ‘nothing else survives, but poetry and songs’

It’s an intriguing story in the history of blues music and one of controversial underpinnings when it comes to the bluesman Huddie ‘Lead Belly’ Ledbetter.

Leadbelly’s influence spans artists across the spectrum of rock and roll, grunge, pop and of course the blues, well accounted for as the ’30s turned into the ’50s and ’60s and the early beginnings of the rock and roll movement. But the blues of Leadbelly and his contemporaries gave birth to what we now know as rock and roll.

Born on January 20, 1889, in Mooringsport, Louisiana (near Shreveport). Lead Belly was the only child of Wesley and Sally Ledbetter.

Leadbelly gravitated to music as a child and as a young man he was introduced to the guitar by his Uncle Terrell Ledbetter and from that moment on his musical genius was very apparent.

He mastered the guitar and just about any instrument he laid his hands on. He learned to play the accordion, mandolin and piano, which gave him a wide knowledge of various musical instruments and rhythm.

Huddie quit school when he was in the 8th grade and became a popular musician as a 14 year old singing in “sukey jumps” and “juke joints” on weekends.

As recounted on the official Lead Belly website:

He later became known as the king of the twelve-string guitar and “Stella” as he affectionately called his guitar became his ticket to life and his freedom. Leadbelly was passionate about his love of music. It was his way of expressing what was written on his heart and soul. This love of music led him to leave his father’s farm at an early age to pursue his music. Huddie traveled the southwest playing his guitar and working as a laborer when he had to.

Leadbelly had everything, a powerful voice, mastery of instruments and immense knowledge of music, however, things took a grim turn for him soon.

In a twist of fate, after getting into a heated argument in 1918, Leadbelly fought and killed a man and was sentenced to thirty years to be served in the state prison in Huntsville, Texas.

But in 1925, seven years into his prison sentence, Leadbelly appealed to then Texas governor Pat Neff by writing a song and pleading for a pardon to be released.

Neff, who had promised in his election campaign never to pardon any prisoner, went against his word and pardoned Leadbelly, setting him free.

With new impetus and a second chance, Leadbelly soon hit the road armed with a wide repertoire of songs he perfected in the Huntsville prison.

He toured all over the south, but again, taking the stage as the center of attention playing his songs, drew a lot of envy from certain sections of the crowd.

”When I play, the women would come around to listen and their men would get angry.” — Leadbelly

In 1930, after a fight at a party, which was commonplace in the Jim Crow south he was sentenced to another prison term, this time in the infamous Angola Farm prison plantation in Louisiana.

But again by a stroke of luck, he was discovered by folklorists John and Alan Lomax, who were recording prison songs for the Library of Congress.

John Lomax and his son Allen, brought Leadbelly to New York where he played on college campuses like Harvard, Priceton, NYU and bars and clubs where he was received with great acclaim.

As recounted on NPR:

The musicologist John Lomax really did “discover” Lead Belly in the infamous Angola prison in Louisiana — but that Lomax also carefully crafted and exploited Lead Belly’s image as a dangerous criminal.

“He took Lead Belly up to the East and to New York to present to a lot of the folklorists and scholars as this sort of primitive savage from Louisiana. You know, the newspapers cried out, “Sweet savage from the swamplands, here to play a few concerts for you between murders,’” Place says. “It was kind of like the guy coming back and presenting King Kong” (considering Leadbelly’s appearance)

And it gave Lead Belly a career. He probably would not have had a career like that if Lomax hadn’t discovered him(in Angola Lousiana); he might have stayed in the South and never been known to any of us.

Leadbelly then relocated to New York and finally got the recognition and acclaim that he deserved, well into his later years leaving all of the scars of his prison terms and the past behind.

As recounted on the official Leadbelly website:

Shortly thereafter Lead Belly relocated to New York, where he forged a reputation on the folk circuit, making personal appearances, recording for a variety of labels and doing radio work. In the early 40s he performed with Josh White, Sonny Terry, Brownie McGhee and Woody Guthrie.

In 1948 Lead Belly cut, with the aid of the newly invented long playing record, what would later become known as his Last Sessions, a definitive document of The Life and Music of the King of the Twelve-String Guitar.

Lead Belly enjoyed national recognition as a blues and folk musician and singer. Lead Belly felt his music and talent were gifts from God. His songs could not be put into one category. He wrote children’s songs, field songs, ballads, square dance songs, prison songs, folk songs, and blues.

Lead Belly was a man whose life, like that of any other man, had its ups and downs. Good or bad, Lead Belly told the world about those things through his songs.

Lead Belly’s fame and success continued to increase until he fell ill while on a European Tour.

Tests revealed that he suffered from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (Lou Gehrig’s disease) in 1949. This disease destroyed all the muscles in his body giving him little opportunity to fully play the guitar without pain.

He died on December 6,1949 and never got to fully enjoy the fruits of his music.

Lead Belly’s song catalog is consisted of well over 500 songs. The most famous were Midnight Special, Cotton Fields, Boll Weevil, Kisses Sweeter than Wine, Rock Island Line, and many, many more.

After Lead Belly’s death, the Weavers, a folk quartet sent “Good Night, Irene” to #1 on the charts, which became the most famous song in his repertoire. That song sold a million copies and was recorded also six months later by Pete Seeger.

His music still has a great influence on some of the greatest artists both black and white. Artists like The Beetles, The Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton, Little Richard,have all expressed their early studies of music to Lead Belly’s records.

Today Lead Belly is remembered not only as a musical giant but a legend in his own right throughout the world. He is remembered as the “King of the 12-String Guitar.” Many of his songs can be found in the Library of Congress, where generations to come can listen and enjoy them.

In what is a fascinating story in blues folklore and history, Leadbelly’s recordings of over 500 songs remain a gargantuan feat and achievement and one that firmly places Leadbelly in the history books and in the stories of the early beginnings of modern music.

Today, you can find the Leadbelly classics on Spotify and in vinyl record stores, and when you put a Leadbelly song on, you can almost feel the melancholy seeping through in his voice and lyrics.

It’s a story that reflects the nature of what the blues represents.

And Leadbelly will be remembered for what he gave to the world through his music despite his contentious and difficult life experiences.

This is the story of the blues journeyman Huddie ‘Leadbelly’ Ledbetter.

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