Leadbelly
From WWR
Huddie William Ledbetter, or as he was better known, "Leadbelly" was born on a plantation in Louisianna in 1888 (or 1885), the only child of Wes and Sally Ledbetter. He learned to play the accordion and the guitar from his uncle Terrel. After fathering two children, by the age of 20 he had started a life of wandering. He met up with blues singer Blind Lemon Jefferson, and they roamed around the Dallas blues scene together until 1917, when Huddie was jailed for assault.
He earned the nickname Leadbelly while in prison, a tribute to his physical toughness. He was in and out of prison for much of the rest of his life. On at least one occasion, he escaped, and claimed to have outrun the dogs sent to chase him down. Another time, as he was caught escaping, he attempted to drown himself in a nearby lake rather than return to prison. He alternated between the hard labor of prison chain gangs, and the life of the travelling musician, with the hard drinking and brawling that seemed to always lead him back to jail. He survived on the outside for a while under the alias "Walter Boyd", but his violent temper landed him back in jail under that name. He was later pardoned by the Governor as Walter, but when arrested on another charge, the police were able to put a more complete history together, and further pardons were denied.
Leadbelly continued to play in prison, when he could, and he often became a favorite of the guards. For a while, he slipped the attention of the record company scouts scouring the South for talent to feed the booming black "race records" market. His former companion Blind Lemon was now a major seller, and the "Country Blues" had become very popular. Then in 1933, he was "discovered" by folklorist John Lomax, who was astounded by his enormous repertoire (he claimed to know some 500 songs), intense vocal style accompanied by his booming 12 string guitar, and his commanding physical presence. Lomax managed to secure his release, but always kept a wary eye on Leadbelly. Lomax arranged Leadbelly's performances, and tried to keep him out of trouble, but Leadbelly was again arrested for assault, and served a fourth prison term.
He was released in 1940, and moved to New York to join a boom in folk music during and after WWII. He was joined by the likes of Woody Guthrie, Brownie McGhee, Pete Seeger, and The Golden Gate Quartet. Woody Guthrie, then relatively unknown, was taken in by Leadbelly, and lived in his apartment for some time. The apartment became a magnet for singers and musicians, who would hold all-night jam sessions there. Leadbelly began to appear on radio frequently, particularly on WNYC. He made recordings with RCA, with the Golden Gate Quartet as backup, and for the Library of Congress, under the supervision of John Lomax's son Alan. Moe Asch, who founded "Folkways Records", began to record him, and produced the most of his records.
Neither Leadbelly nor Asch ever made much money from these recordings, though, and by 1944 Leadbelly was restless. He travelled to Hollywood, and then on to France, where jazz had become popular, in early 1949. While in Paris, persistent muscle problems led to a diagnosis of Lous Gehrig's disease - amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Within months, he succumbed to the disease, on December 6, 1949. Six months later, his trademark song "Goodnight Irene", which he had learned from his uncle Bob Ledbetter, became a nationwide number one hit for The Weavers. His style, and many of his songs, went on to inspire a generation of folk singers.
