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Country Blues => Weenie Campbell Main Forum => Topic started by: frankie on August 16, 2004, 09:50:35 AM
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Perhaps it should be in another thread, but what are folks favorite Leadbelly CDs? I have a couple basic compilations (the one on Columbia and some other thing, plus the private party recording from 1948). I seem to recall a thumbs up for the later Library of Congress material.
I'm not sure that I've heard one CD in particular that I'd call my favorite.? I have the Rounder releases of the LoC material.? It's not complete, but it's great.? A lot of incredible material - sheesh, what a voice.? Funny thing about LB - he seems to really dig 'F' position - he plays Roberta and Midnight Special out of F on the LoC recordings - later he played it out of D and I think the arrangement isn't quite as interesting.? Probably should have sprung for the complete LoC on Document...? oh, well.? I also have Last Sessions - playing and singing is ok to good throughout, but the audio quality is outstanding, plus you get to hear him talk a lot.? One big hole in my fledgling LB collection (the guy made a LOT of records!) is from the period of time that he did a bunch of recordings for Moe Asch.? Those are on the Leadbelly Legacy volumes put out by Smithsonian/Folkways.? Ari's favorite is the session with the Golden Gate Singers.? Haven't heard that one yet, though.
You'd probably enjoy reading The Life and Legend of Leadbelly by Charles Wolfe and Kip Lornell.? Lots of de-mystifying, well-written...? read it in about a day and a half...? couldn't put it down!
Frank, have you heard Alvin Youngblood Hart do this on Down In the Alley?? He does a really nice version too, alvinized but very belly.
Haven't heard it - yet!
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Agree about the LoC stuff, it's my favorite of his. There's some good stuff on the Last Session CDs, I would consider it an important document if not his best musical moment. I love that Private Party release on Document; it's not a great performance, but the whole idea of it is pretty bizarre. The duet of Goodnight Irene with a child is pretty heartbreaking.
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A short clip of Leadbelly performing "Jump Down Turn Around (Pick a Bale of Cotton)" has been circulating for many years, and shows up in at least one blues documentary (Bluesland?). It's a pretty tame, obviously staged, performance, but it's a live look at Leadbelly's singing and playing.
Also, Gordon Parks Sr ("Shaft") made a "Leadbelly" drama-less-mentary in 1976. Haven't seen it. A review by Delta Snakester Al Handa can be found here: http://www.netmagic.net/~snake/feature/movies.htm.
Cheers,
Jed
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A short clip of Leadbelly performing "Jump Down Turn Around (Pick a Bale of Cotton)" has been circulating for many years, and shows up in at least one blues documentary (Bluesland?). It's a pretty tame, obviously staged, performance, but it's a live look at Leadbelly's singing and playing.
There are some others as well, which are on some of the video material offered through Stefan Grossman. Take This Hammer is one of the tunes. Can't recall the others.
Also, Gordon Parks Sr ("Shaft") made a "Leadbelly" drama-less-mentary in 1976. Haven't seen it. A review by Delta Snakester Al Handa can be found here: http://www.netmagic.net/~snake/feature/movies.htm.
I had taped this off late night TV at some point. It wasn't bad actually. Must see if I still have it.
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A short clip of Leadbelly performing "Jump Down Turn Around (Pick a Bale of Cotton)" has been circulating for many years, and shows up in at least one blues documentary.
There are some others as well, which are on some of the video material offered through Stefan Grossman. Take This Hammer is one of the tunes. Can't recall the others.
There are a couple of short clips of Goodnight Irene which look like they were filmed at a party and a staged, yet somehow totally surreal film of him playing The Grey Goose.? The staged stuff was pieced together almost frame-by-frame by Pete Seeger - given that, I think the results are damn near amazing and clearly convey Leadbelly's power as a performer...? well worth seeking out.? What a treat to be able to see Leadbelly in action, even if only briefly.?
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There are a couple of short clips of Goodnight Irene which look like they were filmed at a party and a staged
If you mean the clip where his hair is dyed black, he is singing to his, much younger, (hence his dyed hair) bride at their wedding party. It seems an awkward moment at the end of the song when he grabs her roughly by the jaw to make her smile for the camera?
I think there are a couple other clips on Harry Lewman's instructional video, but I can't remember which at the moment. Definitely "Pick a Bale of Cotton". Also in Harry's transcription book, No Stranger to the Blues, he references a Columbia recording, King of the 12-String Guitar, which I tried to get Quimper to order but they apparently lost my order or just took it as a suggestion, so I wasn't able to get it, or several others, at PT. Columbia seems to have the early ARC sessions from 1935 on various CDs. You might check Harry's site (http://www.hlmusic.com/) for lots of info. From there I just linked toThe Leadbelly Web (http://cycad.com/cgi-bin/Leadbelly/index.html) which has the discography from the Lornell book and a list of CDs (from which I notice King of the 12-String Guitar is now a Sony/Legacy issue). Maybe we ought to invite Harry to join the discussions here?
All for now,
Barbecue John C.
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If you mean the clip where his hair is dyed black, he is singing to his, much younger, (hence his dyed hair) bride at their wedding party. It seems an awkward moment at the end of the song when he grabs her roughly by the jaw to make her smile for the camera?
Martha was undoubtedly a *very* patient woman.? Volume 1 of Last Sessions is all acapella...? at one point Martha tries tentatively singing a tune that I know as Washington Phillips' "What Are They Doing in Heaven Today?", listed on the CD as "I Am Thinking of a Friend".? LB starts kinda encouraging her...? then starts telling her she's "holding back".? I suppose he thought he was being supportive, but it's clear that Martha resents his intrusion & criticism and she clams up.? LB gets apologetic, but it's too late, the moment is gone.? Listening to it, I really feel for Martha, who attempts to maintain her composure & dignity even though she must have felt pretty uncomfortable.? As a more than occasional dumbass spouse with a habit of rectal-cranial inversion, I can easily put myself in LB's shoes, but man...? I wouldn't ever want a moment like that immortalized, although I'm sure Kim would like the evidence!? It would definitely make a splendid entry into a "box of dread" - you know...? those shoeboxes in the closet with pictures & maybe (gasp) cassettes, or even worse, MOVIES of you when you were younger and, to put it gently, less wise...
Maybe we ought to invite Harry to join the discussions here?
The more, the merrier...
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In my opinion, Gordon Parks' "Leadbelly" film is a travesty, just a terrible film in every conceivable way.? Most annoyingly, Leadbelly's music is not featured at all.? Instead, we hear some guy from the 70s with a just a tiny modicum of Leadbelly's talent and not even a hint of Leadbelly's sound or style, playing songs that Leadbelly recorded.? While I've heard many people argue for the re-recording of Leadbelly's songs for the purposes of the film (due to the improved sound quality of the re-recordings), anyone watching the movie who has never heard Leadbelly is bound to wonder why they bothered making a film about this unremarkable musician.? Oh, how I dread the upcoming Robert Johnson film (I should note that I am not a fan of biopics; Peter Watkins brilliant "Edvard Munch" being the only exception I can think of).
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... King of the 12-String Guitar, which I tried to get Quimper to order but they apparently lost my order or just took it as a suggestion, so I wasn't able to get it, or several others, at PT. Columbia seems to have the early ARC sessions from 1935 on various CDs.
Wax, just FYI, King of the 12-String is now on the Juke (http://weeniecampbell.com/juke) if you want to check it out.
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Good call on Shorty George, UB - great song!? There's a 12-string explosion on the juke right now...? I req'd a bunch of Leadbelly, too, then the juke spontaneously followed up with Willie Baker.? Weird!
That durned request limit...? quick - somebody request "Billy Goat Blues" by John Byrd!?
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Good call on Shorty George, UB - great song! There's a 12-string explosion on the juke right now... I req'd a bunch of Leadbelly, too, then the juke spontaneously followed up with Willie Baker. Weird!
That durned request limit... quick - somebody request "Billy Goat Blues" by John Byrd! <g>
AH, that was you on the Leadbelly button. Thought it was Waxy. :) Shorty George is a fun one. A little Lemony at times.
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It was almost me. Shorty George is the tune I really wanted to hear and I tuned in right after it played. Dang! I'll just have to request it again when I get back from the gym. Thanks for the tip on King of the 12-string Guitar bein' on the juke UB.
All for now.
Barbecue John C.
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AH, that was you on the Leadbelly button.
Even though it seems like I've got a lot of Leadbelly to sift through, I'm amazed by how much I haven't heard yet. The guy was a really deep well. Is there any of his unaccompanied singing on "King of the 12-String"? If not, that's kind of a shame... Go Down Old Hannah... my oh my...
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No, there's no unaccompanied vocal on King of the 12 string. I think I have some elsewhere, will have to dig it up. There may be some on the private party recording but I can't remember.
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Thanks waxwing for letting me know about this forum and thread. ?
As to favorite Lead Belly recordings: ?I think my favorite is a Folkways compilation that was titled: "Leadbelly Sings Folk Songs". ?It was songs that Asch probably picked from a wide variety of recordings he had done. ?Some songs had been recorded as an ensemble with Woody Guthrie, Cisco Huston. ?Others were duos with Leadbelly and Sonny Terry. ?The record also included the solo hollers of Linin Track and Good-Good-Good.?With a few modifications, it is still in print on the Smithsonian/Folkways label as the same title.
I have noticed that the favorite Lead Belly recording of many people is the very first one they heard.?If you have never heard his voice or style, it can make a very strong first impression.
The interplay of Martha and Lead Belly that was previously discussed reminded me of a very odd tape of my own recordings. ?On a Valentine's day in 1978, when I was married and 28 years old, my wife walked into my little studio while I was recording. ?She demanded to know the meaning of a note she found crumpled up in the waste basket. ?
What she was doing going through the wastebasket trash I never did find out. ?The note said: ?I will be your concubine if you will be my valentine". ?It was not in my handwriting or hers. ?At the time there was a very cute young lady living across the hall from us. ?I am being totally honest when I say I never fooled around or even made a pass at her, but I would have had I not been married. ?
My wife demanded to know the details of the note. ?I told her with total honesty that I had no idea where the note came from or who wrote it. ?There had been a cleaning lady in our home that day, and I suggested that it may have been hers or she may have found it in the hall. ?I really did not know. ?My wife was not the totally trusting kind, and she kept up her questioning until she realized my story was not going to change. ?
I have always wondered myself where the note came from, hoping that it had been the cute lady across the hall. ?Anyhow.. I did not have the presence of mind to turn off the recorder when my wife walked in, so I have the entire exchange recorded for all posterity. ?
As to Shorty George: ?I have always felt that it was not one of Lead Belly's best. ?The melody is too mechanical feeling for me, but the guitar part is really fun to play. ?I transcribed it for the Lead Belly songbook that was published by TRO/Folkways Recordings. ?
Harry
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Welcome to the board Harry!
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Favorite Leadbelly compilation: Library of Congress recordings on Rounder
Favorite Leadbell photograph: this one, from the Library of Congress collection:
(https://weeniecampbell.com/yabbse/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fmemory.loc.gov%2Fmusic%2Fgottlieb%2F13000%2F13500%2F13551r.jpg&hash=1ff224700600b25ab3053b37904aa9d1e6e68c59)
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HarryL
I haven't come across this folkways leadbelly song book. I have had a copy of Oak publications "12 string guitar as played by leadbelly" since my teens in the 60s It does have Shorty George. Does that make you either Jerry Silverman or Julius Lester. I got a 12 string guitar when I was 15 and at the same time came across a Leadbelly album. In my early 20's I spent some time sick sometimes confined to bed so I used the time to realy study Huddie's guitar technique mainly from the Library of congress recordings on Electra. I haveout his technique of working the strings with the thumb and finger pick and utilising the elasticity of the strings to creat the rhythmic drive and control the length of the notes. You can do amazing things with this that I don't hear anyone else doing on guitar. I also sing with a strong bluesy voice.
I have made music my career as a performer and piano teacher/ session musician in Sydney Australia. I mainly sing and play blues piano. I do a percentage of pre-war blues along with later blues styles, soul, country and gospel, and featuring New Orleans sounds of Fats Domino. Prof Longhair , Smiley Lewisetc. I noticed a few years back that the majority of songs I do come from Louisianna and I think results thats from getting into singingand playing like leadbelly at an early age.
I think this website is amazing. It has so much of the music and blues personalities that I love. I leave the stream on through my soundsytem a lot of the time. I'm in heaven. I have only just discovered this stream through my Audion application that accesses 5,000 streams at a time via shoutcast. I look forward to chatting with other likeminded blues lovers and players.
yayayas.
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Welcome to the Forum Yayayas.... glad you found us!
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Welcome to the board, yayayas - I think that's Harry Lewman, author of a book of Lead Belly songs/tablature called No Stranger to the Blues. ?Not sure it's still in print, but I did find a couple of used copies listed on Amazon. ?Maybe Harry still has a couple copies?
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Hi yayayas,
Sorry for the delay in responding.
I too, learned a lot from the Pete Seeger book, published by Oak back in the 1960's. The songbook that I did was recently published by TRO/Folkways Music Publishers. I did the transcriptions for the book, and helped do its layout. TRO is Lead Belly's music publisher.
The transcriptions are in tablature and standard notation. You might find it fun to play piano using the note for note guitar transcriptions that I did. I do sell the songbook on my webiste:
www.hlmusic.com I have a few customers in Australia.
I am glad to hear that you are still playing. I am probably about your age, and now I suppose we are the older generation. Lead Belly and his music have been inspirations to all kinds of artists and people, and just plain folk, but what I like best is that his music seems to speak to those who have had some unusual problems in their lives.
Harry
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Here's a new CD release available on Roots & Rhtythm http://www.rootsandrhythm.com/roots/New_Releases/latest_092404.htm (http://www.rootsandrhythm.com/roots/New_Releases/latest_092404.htm):
LEAD BELLY "Live" - New York 1947/ Austin, Texas 1949
Document DOCD 5676 $15.98
21 track collection. The first four sides were recorded live in 1947 at New York
Town Hall in September 1947 where Leadbelly is accompanied by the Bunk Johnson
band (Johnson, Jimmy Archy, Omer Simeon, Danny Barker, etc) and the remainder
recorded at the University Of Texas, Austin in June, 1949 just six months before
his death and are some of the very last recordings of this giant.
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Hi HarryL
also sorry for my even greater delay - thank you for your reply
I AM interested in getting hold of your book.
You have a very interesting web site and I was greatly impressed with your renditions of the songs.
I have felt for some time like revisiting the Leadbelly songs I worked out while younger and transcribing them with greater accuracy. I have been thinking about it, You have done it! I dream of covering most of the library of congress recordings at least.
I noticed in the musical examples from your book you had chosen to write the standard notation in concert pitch. This was a question I had been pondering. I think I would prefer if it were written for the guitarist in his key. This would be more useful to me and I think other guitarists as the 12 string guitar as tuned by Leadbelly is a transposing instrument. Even the six string guitar is written an octave higher than sounded.
I'll let you know how I go. If I get your book I could cover songs you haven't done. I also noted you were doing many of my favorite pieces. I now perform many leadbelly songs with piano.There are some included on a cd of mine coon to be released.
I am doing a version of You Don't Know My Mind and they leave of any composer credits for this song in the booklet that came with the three disc Electra vinyl set. Do you have any recordings of this song with composer and/or publisher credits as I would like to include them on the track listings for royalty reasons. I am trying to finish text for cd by next week!
cheers
yayayas
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I picked up the Leadbelly Last Sessions set and have been listening to it non-stop for the past few days. I have to confess my initial exposure to Leadbelly was less than fruitful - the Columbia disc King of the 12-string Guitar has some great stuff on it but always seemed to me to have been run through the amazing Columbia pablum-izer. The sound, in short, starts out bad and gets worse after CEDAR is done with it. That plus an equally questionable compilation on Magnum did not have me dancin' when Leadbelly came on.
Last Sessions has changed all that and I'm a little surprised at the less than enthusiastic responses to it here. Frankly, it's blowing my mind. Wonderful singing and playing throughout, excellent sound, great texture on his voice, a tremendous variety of material. Wow. I'm coming to this late, I know, but really happy I picked this up. L of C recordings are next, and if they're better than this I'll be a very happy camper. Are the Documents and the Rounder discs the same thing? Recommend one over the other?
I did also pick up the Document 2-CD Essential Leadbelly since I found it cheap, which is also a great collection, although no documentation of when the tracks are from so I don't really know what I'm listening to.
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Last Sessions is good but not great (imho), although there are fine moments. The version of Easy Rider on there brings tears to my eyes. Lots of great songs, too, but Leadbelly displayed a lot more fire in some of his earlier material. You'll hear it on the LoC material. I picked up two volumes of recordings he made for Moses Asch: "Where Did You Sleep Last Night?" and "Bourgeois Blues". There's some fantastic material on those two as well.
For me, Last Sessions is notable for the fact that it was recorded on magnetic tape - the songs are longer and the audio quality is amazingly clear. Musically maybe not his best, but he'd set the bar pretty high by the time he recorded them. I suppose if I hadn't heard the LoC material first, I might have a different opinion.
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Hi Andrew,
I couldn't agree with you more about the Last Sessions. ?I really think they are wonderful. ?It's amazing that a guy with ALS could still play so strongly. ?I love his time and singing on the various takes of "Irene, Goodnight", and the one take of "Cry For Me" or "Mr. Tom Hughes' Town" is about as well as you will ever hear a twelve-string guitar played. ?I'm crazy about the unaccompanied songs on the first disc, too, like "I Ain't Going Down To The Well No More". It sounds like music from the dawn of time to me. ?
All best,
Johnm ?
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I agree - the unaccompanied material on Last Sessions is definitely top notch. It's quite an experience to hear something like Go Down Old Hannah, sung so intimately. Wonderful.
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Funny how synchronistic the weenie line can be: today we had a little excursion to a nearby state park for a little hike, and I brought the two Leadbelly CDs I mentioned above in the car to listen to. It is positively amazing to me the way my kids respond to Leadbelly's music - and honest, I never ever sat down and said "hey, this is something you'll like!" I just put it on once in a while and they become drawn to certain songs. They connect with him on some personal level that I haven't observed in any other music that I listen to...
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That is neat to hear how your kids connect with Leadbelly's music, Frank. I can't pretend to know why that would be so, but one thing that always strikes me when I hear him is how fully engaged he was by the act of singing. It always sounds like it is getting every ounce of his attention and energy, and as a result it has a quality for me of always existing in the present--it has great "nowness". It is a rare quality in a musician. One of the few musicians other than Leadbelly who I think had (has?) it to a comparable degree was Charley Patton.
All best,
Johnm
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I'm also a fan of Leadbelly's last sessions (and also not a fan of any of Columbia's releases). I only wish more artists had sat down and recorded 4 discs of practically every song they know (although, in truth, Leadbelly could have recorded probably 10 more discs at those sessions). The LoC recordings are my favorite, though I only have 3 volumes. Does anyone have the "Private Party" on Document? It's quite an amazing, uh, document, although the performances aren't perfect, the idea that he was invited over to play for a bunch of white people while they listen attentively and sing along is sort of mind-blowing (although the whole thing comes off as a little disturbing). Anyway, the highlight of the disc is him dueting on "Irene" with a little girl. I'll post it here later if no one's heard it.
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I did some work for a family who moved out here (Wisconsin) from the DC area. The wifes grandfather had been an influential civil rights judge in Washington during the 20's and 30's and friends with Allen Lomax. Apparently Lomax would bring his new talent around to the judges house when he returned from field recording trips, in an attempt to raise money. The judge had a machine that cut homeade records (I think that they were called Recordios) and during one occasion made a couple of records of Leadbelly. He had also made some records of Woodie Guthrie during another occasion.
Being a record collector and twelve string junkie, I was all over it, trying to find out what had become of the records. "Oh they're up in our attic somewhere." Try as I might, I could never persuade the fellow to dig through his attic to find them, apparently he didn't think that they were that important. He did manage to get me a tape of a tape. Leadbelly does a off the cuff version of Bourgeois Blues on one side, in which he mentions the judge by name. On the other record he sings a song to the judges son who's name is Sandy. The song goes, "His name is Sandy. Ain't he a dandy? He likes his candy. His name is Sandy." The whole while you can hear the kid squealing with glee in the backround.
Sandy's in his 70s now. He came over to my house for dinner when he was in town. He was pretty amazed that there were CDs of Leadbelly's music, as well as a biography. Still can't find those records.... Oh well.
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Hi Montgomery,
I have the Private Party disc on Document. It's very good, IMO, and in a way has similarities to the Last Sessions in that Leadbelly talks quite a bit introducing songs and such. Sound is not bad too for a home recording. It's quite something to hear him do an explosive version of Gallis Pole and think of those Minnesotans sitting around watching him do that (when their tastes no doubt ran more to "Irene" and sing-alongs). I like Jean Harlow and numerous others on this disc as well. Leadbelly sounds very relaxed on this recording and seems to me to be having fun. It would be great to have more recordings like this and Last Sessions of other CB players. Alas...
Todd, all I can say is !!!.
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Here's the mp3 of Irene w/ little girl as promised.
Also, I'm from Minneapolis originally (where the private party was), and I can't help but wonder where this actually took place.? It's impossible to imagine that in someone's house, possibly near mine, Leadbelly was playing.? Of course, it's hard these days to imagine anyone of note being hired to perform at someone's house.? He didn't even have a website!
It's also hard to imagine parents letting their kid sing "...I'll take morphine and die..." with a stranger.? Lots of old childrens songs seem to have morbid lyrics, but political correctness has pretty much wiped that out.
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I was consulting the Wolf & Lornell Leadbelly biography when I noticed a reference to the booklet A Tribute To Huddie Ledbetter (Jazz Music Books, London, April 1946). Wolf & Lornell quote various items from this (p. 240-2) but nothing of the lengthy personal rememberance by Mike Algeria, which in my opinion is honest and insightful:
Leadbelly As I Knew Him In New York
By Mike Algeria
MY ACQUAINTANCE WITH Leadbelly was rather slight. I knew him well enough to speak to and we knew each others' names. On the other hand I used to go at least two or three times a week to listen to him when he was holding down what I remember as his only really steady job?at the Village Vanguard, Max Gordon's place in Greenwich Village.
Huddie is, personally, a strange man; a combination of ferocity and folk-talent if we can believe what?s been written about him, and if we can believe him as we know him, a sweet old boy who wouldn't hurt a fly. He is a striking man, with his dark skin in contrast to his white hair, and as a singer of folk songs an absolute wonder. His repertoire seems to be inexhaustible and includes a great many folk songs of white origin as well as the more "native" Negro songs. Many of his most famous and most popular numbers are white in origin, such as Midnight Special, which I have heard sung by many white boys in the army, and the obviously English-derived Irene.
Huddie's effect on New York audiences varies greatly. At times the entire place is silent while he sings and on the choruses of his "group" songs everybody joins in with tremendous gusto. I think the most popular of these on which everybody joins is an originally white folk song that Huddie always used to dedicate to the boys in the service because of the last verse:
Well my Baby say she love me and my, Mama love me too
If my Baby don't love me, Then I know my Mama do,
and then on the chorus everybody would repeat after him
Well I know she do
Yeah I know she do
Yes I know she do
Well I know she do
and would sing about four or five choruses of this with the band helping him out and everybody singing with him. Another song that always got a huge response from this type of audience was Irene, which everyone got a kick out of singing with him
On the other hand, at times he has no effect on the audience whatsoever. In some instances where the crowd is especially uninterested and overly drunk, the talking and general noise is so loud he can't be heard at all. Nobody seems the least bit interested in whether he sings or what he's singing about. There are always a certain number of people interested in folksongs or who just happen to know and like Leadbelly that will try to keep things as quiet as possible so as to hear him, but at times there's just nothing to be done.
I never tire of hearing him myself and I think that he is much more effective in person than on record. His voice seems to come out much better and I suppose the fact that he is apparent personally has a lot to do with it. I think perhaps another reason is that he isn't restricted as to time, etc., and can interpolate his own spoken remarks with much more freedom. The Village Vanguard, that is to say Max Gordon, has a policy of letting the people play or sing whatever they want with no interference from the management. In this respect it far outdoes places like Cafe Society that have a "policy" in relation to individual performances. Leadbelly has his own ideas on what the public likes. He has always sung when I made a request, probably because he knows that I have a genuine interest in what he's singing.
I've talked with Huddie a great deal about one thing and another, he has a tremendous spur-of-the-moment imagination, such as when I asked after the condition of a mutual friend of ours in the hospital and Huddie told me that he had "De Bleedin' Ulcers and T.B. and that his wife was making a baby." About half of it was true but apparently the rest of it appealed to Huddie's imagination and he was mournful as hell about it. Didn't really give the guy much of a chance to live at all.
I remember buying him a drink once in a while and he invariably drank claret, I've never seen him at all under the influence of liquor and when I have bought him a drink he'd make a glass of claret last all night. When I last spoke to him, just before going into the army over a year ago, he told me that he and Martha had Sonny Terry living with them in New York. Sonny is almost blind. From the way Huddie spoke it didn't sound like Sonny was working at all at the time.
Huddie was at the time holding down a full-time job with Max Gordon and was singing at private parties and meetings on the side. He was in great demand at the Leftist meetings, union rallies and similar functions, and apparently at smaller parties too. Around Christmas last year he offered to sing for me a whole night for ten dollars at a party because he said "It's comin' near Christmas, and I need the money". He is quite proud of his playing ability and is always introduced, not as a singer, but as the "King of the twelve-string guitar players of the World."
He once boasted to me in his own gentle way of his ability as a concertina player, and promised to bring it along some night to play for me. He told me he had just bought a new one. I've never heard him speak of his records at all, not a word, and when they are mentioned he more or less passes them over. Most musicians tend to emphasise their recording activities, Huddie on the other hand seems to have forgotten that he ever made any records. I think that this is just another indication of his very modest character in the company of people he is not well acquainted with: he is proud of himself as I have said, but he prefers somebody else tell the world about it. (pages15-16)
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Interesting and insightful indeed, thanks for posting that Bunker.
Striking to me was the snippet that even the great Lead Belly was ignored sometimes in noisy bars. Very hard for me to imagine how a crowd could not be blown away by such a force. It should make some of us who play out feel a little better about that particular experience.
The vignette of some audiences sitting silently and singing with gusto on the chorus is in tune with those times and is a folky thing. I played Irene once at a folk club in NZ and exactly the same thing happened. I was just grateful for the interest, up to that point I had no idea if anyone was listening!
Imagine being able to hire the man to play at your Christmas party.
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I enjoyed this this evening.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TlszmjNhaVQ
I could drive to his grave from my house in 4 hours, anyone want to meet there and play?
Dave
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I can tell you what Leadbelly CD not to buy...
"King Of The 12-String Guitar" from Roots'N'Blues Records.
They usually put out great albums (Robert Johnson's Complete Recorded Works, Good Time Tonight- Big Bill Broonzy, Steppin' On The Blues- Lonnie Johnson, The Big 3 Trio, Etc.)
But I was very dissapointed in this collection.
But I WILL recommend to you "The Last Sessions" boxed set.
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I can tell you what Leadbelly CD not to buy...
"King Of The 12-String Guitar" from Roots'N'Blues Records.
I have to disagree. I think Leadbelly's 1935 commercial recordings are great. All killer & no filler in my opinion. Why were you disappointed M1928?
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I can tell you what Leadbelly CD not to buy...
"King Of The 12-String Guitar" from Roots'N'Blues Records.
I have to disagree. I think Leadbelly's 1935 commercial recordings are great. All killer & no filler in my opinion. Why were you disappointed M1928?
I just took out that album again, because I purchased it some years ago and haven't listened to it since.
I'm about half way through the album, and I can't imagine why I didn't enjoy it when I first purchased it...
It might have been because I didn't have as big of an appreciation for pre-war blues 4 years ago, I was more into R&B then.
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Just to add my two cents, the one part of Leadbelly's music I often don't enjoy, and that is present quite a bit on those ARC recordings, are his vocal interpolations between verses. In later years, when I think he was more at ease while recording and performing for his new audiences, they're fine, but they can be somewhat strident IMO on those earlier sides.
Chris
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Just to add my two cents, the one part of Leadbelly's music I often don't enjoy, and that is present quite a bit on those ARC recordings, are his vocal interpolations between verses. In later years, when I think he was more at ease while recording and performing for his new audiences, they're fine, but they can be somewhat strident IMO on those earlier sides.
Chris
Ack! That's what I didn't and still don't like about it!
But fortunately, they don't occur too often.
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So, I've been giving a listen to some Leadbelly recordings I have, thinking I really need to play more 12 string. There are about 4 songs that I've gotten interested in singing and was wondering which recordings of these songs folks thought were the most dynamic. They are, Where Did You Sleep Last Night, Shorty George, Thirty Days in the Workhouse and Mr. Tom Hughes' Town (Fannin Street). Yeah, that last could take me months, years maybe, to get decent, but I can never resist the tough ones.-G-
So I have a pretty nice version of WDYSLT in Lead Belly The Essential from Document, which has the really tender little questions between lines. No discography on that so I don't know which recording it is, but I seem to have the exact same recording on a two CD set called Leadbelly Bluesman on Fuel 2000 Records, put out in 2005 So I think this may be the definitive one.
Shorty George he recorded twice for ARC on Feb. 5 1935, twice for the LoC in March of '35 and then in a WNYC radio broadcast Feb. 27 1941. I have the first of the two LoC recordings (149-B) on Document DOCD 5593 The Remaining LoC Recordings, Vol. 3 - 1935, which makes me think this is not he best recording.
Thirty Days in the Workhouse he seems to have only recorded once, for the LoC in Feb. '35. This song has a real Texas Blues feel with a dead thumb bass and bendy licks in the treble. Somewhat atypical to this novices ears.
Mr. Tom Hughes' Town he recorded at Angola in July of '34, then on Sept. 27 '34 and again Oct. 1 '34, all for the LoC. I have the second of these (236-B-3) on DOCD 5591, The Remaining ARC and LoC Recordings, Vol. 1 and it's not great. Then he recorded it for ARC, Feb 5 '35, which I also have on DOCD 5591 and this one is pretty great, with the intro about wanting to go to Shreveport as a kid (where he stumbles over the part about having to wear long pants to go to town). The guitar and vocal are both pretty strong. Then he recorded it twice more for LoC, also in Feb '35. The next time he recorded it he called it Fannin Street, April 1 '39 for Musicraft and finally for another WNYC broadcast in the Fall of '42. (dangerous what you can do with a B&GR-G-)
So, particularly for Shorty George and Mr. Tom Hughes' Town, any favorite takes and the best current CD's to find them on?
Thanks
All for now.
John C.
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Hi John C:
Here's my non-answer to your question:
I skimmed through the discography in the Wolfe-Lornell bio, but I didn't see any other recordings mentioned of "Thirty Days in the Workhouse." However, it's 34 pages, so I may have missed something. (If there was ever a case for a searchable/sortable database, this is it.)
I picked up the JSP set "LeadBelly--Important Recordings" a while back. It contains both "Shorty George" and "Mr. Tom Hughes' Town." I'm not sure, but they are probably the same as the Document CD cuts.
I also have the three volumes (one CD each) of the Smithsonian-Folkways "Legacy" Lead Belly series. Good notes, as one would expect.
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Hi Wax,
Coincidentally I've been listening to a lot of McTell and Leadbelly, thinking I need to revisit my 12-string playing.
Here's a few comments:
Shorty George - I have this song on two discs. One is the Folkways recording, "Lead Belly Legacy Volume 1: Where Did You Sleep Last Night" (quite a short version, no pun intended). A far better version is the ARC version on the Columbia release, King of the Twelve-String Guitar. This version of Shorty George is ARC 16814-1. Great! Out of print? Easily found online I suspect.
Where Did You Sleep Last Night - I have the same version as you on The Essential Leadbelly. The version on the Where Did You Sleep Last Night CD goes by the perhaps more familiar title "In the Pines" and is a lesser version IMO. This song also appears as Black Gal somewhere. The version on the Essential CD you have is really nice IMO.
On my copy of The Essential, Track 16 on Disc 2 labelled Thirty Days in the Workhouse is actually In the Evening When the Sun Goes Down, performed with Sonny Terry no doubt. On yours, is he singing Thirty Days in the Workhouse or In the Evening? I have Thirty Days on the Last Sessions CD set (you really need to get this IMO). There it goes by the title Jail House Blues and is stupendously great.
Fannin Street: the danger of B&GR cuts both ways. :) It only goes to 1943. So presumably it's missing a bunch of the Folkways recordings (3 CDs) and the 4-disc Last Sessions, which are both pretty stellar, as well as the 1948 Private Party Minneapolis recording on DOCD 5664 discussed earlier in this thread, and the Leadbelly Live New York 1947 and Austin 1949 CD (DOCD 5676). Anyway, I have Fannin Street from the Folkways recordings Lead Belly Legacy Vol 2: Bourgeois Blues. It's an excellent version. It's also on the Last Sessions twice, once as Cry for Me, and once as Fannin Street. The take called Cry for Me is truly smokin'. Just buy the damn disc. ;D Seriously, there will be lots to learn from these recordings and you can hear the guitar quite nicely. Another version of Fannin Street that I like is on the Private Party disc mentioned above. Also very impressive.
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This song also appears as Black Gal somewhere.
Two versions recorded under this title, for Stinson 1944 (LP48) and Folkways 1947 (LP14).
As an amusing aside the Stinson version was recorded by a UK group named the Four Pennies who learnt it from a budget-priced reissue. They managed to get into the Top 20 on 29th October 1964! Am I full of useless information, or am I not? Did I hear someone mutter, "full of crap more like"? ;D
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As an amusing aside the Stinson version was recorded by a UK group named the Four Pennies who learnt it from a budget-priced reissue. They managed to get into the Top 20 on 29th October 1964! Am I full of useless information, or am I not? Did I hear someone mutter, "full of crap more like"? ;D
Highly unlikely!
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Am I full of useless information, or am I not? Did I hear someone mutter, "full of crap more like"?
When the rest of us Weenies get together without you so we can talk about you, we say "Bunker Hill is a fountain of fascinating arcana." ;D
Actually, I do find the information about the Four Pennies fascinating.
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When the rest of us Weenies get together without you so we can talk about you, we say "Bunker Hill is a fountain of fascinating arcana." ;D
Ha, ha just stuck in a timewarp. A group calling themselves Ram Jam took Leadbelly's Black Betty into the UK Top Ten 10 September 1977 and stayed in the charts for 12 weeks. A truly one hit wonder outfit, who probably had no clue what the song was all about.
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Ram Jam's 'Black Betty' is from 1977?? Wow, they were playing that during my junior high school dances in the 80s . . . I always thought it came out at that time . . . I remember hearing Leadbelly do it for the first time & being bowled over . . . he might be one of the most covered folk artists of all time. Songs that we all know through other bands that originated with him are staggering . . .Wasn't much of the 'Skiffle' repertoire based on Leadbelly tunes? He was absolutely amazing . . . I've heard several versions of 'Fannin' St./Mr. Tom Hughes' Town' (??) & they are some of the fastest & most rythmically impressive acoustic pieces I've ever heard.
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So, I take it you grok my enthusiasm about playing and singing these songs, CF.-G-G-
Thanks for the info all, keep it coming. And thanks for the info on the (doh!) post-war Lead, Andrew.
Hmm? A later version of Thirty Days called Jail House Blues? I noticed a pre-war version and wondered about that, what with all the other changed names. Looks like I better head to Down Home this weekend, see if they have the Last Sessions.
Yeah, A, my Essential has the same screw up.
All for now.
John C.
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Wax/John: I learned In the Pines recently on the twelve, it's quite straight forward, and if you search Youtube you'll find zillions of versions of it thanks to Kurt Cobain's recording of it. It's really amusing sifting through the various versions to see what you get..
Knowing your vocal range/timbre, I think In the Pines is a perfect choice for your 12-string rep!
Regards, Tom
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Thanks, Tom. I'm pretty much on my way with WDYSLN/BG/ITP.-G- That's why I picked it first, to let me ease into Leadbelly. Plus Gre has been asking me to learn it since she heard Suzy T. do her Peg Leg Howell inspired version.-G-
I'm part way into Shorty George, thanks to some tab by Harry Lewman, but I want to give one of those later versions a listen and see what I hear. Don't think I'm gonna find any tab for Thirty Days so that'll be a work out.-G-
All for now.
John C.
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Wax I'm very much looking forward to hearing play those dark, spooky and terrifying tunes at Port T next year. You certainly have the right guitar for it.
Meanwhile I'll see what I've got here and try to pick some winners, they're spread over several albums from different eras.
Best version of Where Did You Sleep Last Night I have is on the Ryko / Tradition CD Goodnight Irene which turns up in cheap bins all the time. Recorded in 1944 (the Stinson recording perhaps?) and unlike the other version I have (Smithsonian/Folkway Vol 1 where he seems to be 'phoning it in' for the academics) on the Ryko he starts real slow and moody, the runs are very clear and frequent, he interjects some nice little vocal asides, and it goes for 3:02. Lots of great gutsy stuff on this CD, a real bargain IMO.
Track 9 'I've A Pretty Flower' is an incredible blues jam with Lead and Josh White totally hammering it in a way that deserves including it in Johnm's thread about all-time great guitar duets. Awesome, powerful stuff that can teach us all a thing or two about playing blues with another guitarist.
Best version I have of Shorty George is from the Columbia Legacy early recordings. Once again it blows the version on Smithsonian Folkways Vol 1 out of the water for sheer energy and interest, though it doesn't have that dark quality I love in his sound that developed later, or maybe it was just the improved recording quality brought it out more.
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One thing to keep in mind about Leadbelly is he is discographically complicated. :D He recorded so much, and so much is available on different CDs. I should point out that the Wolfe/Lornell biography The Life and Legend of Leadbelly is invaluable for many reasons, not least of all the discography at the back. Highly recommended -- essential for Lead-heads -- and while I'm not sure it's currently available from the publisher, there are some cheap used copies available through Amazon right now.
Armed with that, you will also benefit from Chris Smith's section on Leadbelly in the Penguin Guide to Blues Recordings, in which he does his best to sort through the many Leadbelly recordings currently available and provides valuable info as usual, even if you don't agree with all of his comments. He notes that the Document CDs of the 1935-42 material for the LoC and ARC are generally better than the Rounder LoC discs. Apparently Document copied it from an early tape being prepared for a boxed LP set and the Rounder discs were done later, by which point the original recordings had deteriorated and transfers were iffy. So here's a case where Document clocks in with apparently better sound. Relatively speaking, of course. The book does not deal with the Leadbelly set from JSP that Stuart mentioned and about which I know nothing, discographically speaking. Nor would it deal with the recent release from World Arbiter, obviously, which includes some unreleased radio recordings.
I'll disagree with Rivers (I think) about the version of Where Did You Sleep Last Night on the Folkways Legacy Vol 1. I like it and don't feel like it's a phone-in. But to be honest, I'm not a huge fan of the song, so may not be a good judge. The Tradition disc Rivers refers to has now been superseded by a two-disc Tradition set which sounds appealing and gets the thumbs up from Smith in the Penguin Guide - it's the Tradition Masters, TCD 1086.
Since this thread started back in 2004, I've come a long way in my Leadbelly listening. I've even come to appreciate the King of the 12-String Guitar disc, quite a bit in fact, though I agree with Chris that the spoken/shouted bits in this ARC material make it hard to get into some of the time.
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Hi John C.,
I hope you'll consider some of Leadbelly's material played in the F position in standard tuning. It sits so beautifully on the instrument, and his bass runs are really flattering to the twelve-string. With his tuning, too, they generally end up being in good singing keys. I'm not nearly as strong on the discographical ins and outs of Leadbelly as many people here, but if you go to the Keys To The Highway section and check under tunes in F you'll find a good selection of songs from which to choose.
All best,
Johnm
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Here's the track list for the JSP set:
LaedBelly: Important Recordings 1934-1949
DISC 1: LEADBELLY & THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS:
1. Western Cowboy
2. Blind Lemon Blues
3. Midnight Special
4. Irene
5. C.C. Rider
6. Governor O.K. Allen
7. Julie Ann Johnson
8. I'm Sorry Mama
9. Take A Whiff On Me
10. Boll Weevil
11. Titanic, The
12. Green Corn
13. Po' Howard
14. De Kalb Blues
15. Frankie And Albert
16. Queen Mary
17. Hindenburg Disaster Pt. 1
18. Hindenburg Disaster Pt. 2
19. Leaving On The Morning Train Blues
20. Bourgeois Blue, The
DISC 2: LEADBELLY IN THE STUDIO:
1. Roberta Pt. 1
2. Roberta Pt. 2
3. Packin' Trunk Blues
4. C.C. Rider
5. Becky Deem, She Was A Gamblin' Girl
6. Honey, I'm All Out And Down
7. Four Day Worry Blues
8. You Can't Lose Me Charlie
9. New Black Snake Moan
10. Alberta
11. Baby, Don't You Love Me No More
12. Ox Drivin' Blues
13. Death Letter Blues Pt. 1
14. Death Letter Blues Pt. 2
15. Kansas City Papa
16. Red River Blues
17. Fort Worth And Dallas Blues
18. You Don't Know My Mind
19. Daddy I'm Coming Back To You
20. My Friend Blind Lemon
21. Mr. Tom Hughes' Town
22. Shorty George
23. Matchbox Blues
24. Yellow Jacket
25. T.B. Woman Blues
DISC 3: LEADBELLY IN THE STUDIO:
1. Pig Meat Papa
2. Bull Cow
3. My Baby Quit Me
4. Frankie And Albert Pt. 1
5. Frankie And Albert Pt. 2
6. Poor Howard / Green Corn
7. Gallis Pole, The
8. Pick A Bale Of Cotton
9. Whoa Back, Buck
10. Midnight Special
11. Rock Island Line
12. Good Morning Blues
13. T.B. Blues
14. Red Cross Store Blues
15. Sail On, Little Girl, Sail On
16. I'm On My Last Go-Round
17. New York City
18. Grey Goose
19. Stew Ball
20. Take This Hammer
21. Can't You Line 'Em
22. Ham An' Eggs
23. On A Monday
24. John Henry
25. How Long
26. Ain't You Glad
DISC 4: LEADBELLY - THE LAST YEARS:
1. John Hardy
2. Where Did You Sleep Last Night?
3. Pretty Flowers In Your Backyard
4. In New Orleans
5. Outskirts Of Town
6. Mother's Blues (Little Children Blues)
7. In The Evenin' When The Sun Goes Down
8. Jim Crow Blues
9. Mr. Hitler
10. Corn Bread Rough
11. Ella Speed
12. Rock Island Line
13. Tell Me Baby
14. Take This Hammer
15. Irene (Goodnight Irene)
16. On A Christmas Day
17. Backwater Blues
18. Eagle Rock Rag
19. Sweet Mary Blues
20. Grasshoppers In My Pillow
21. Diggin' My Potatoes
22. Defense Blues
23. Easy Rider
24. Pigmeat
25. Howard Hughes
26. Shine On Me
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Yep Waxwing, I wear my enthusiasm for Leadbelly on my sleeve! Also I was fairly corked on wine when I wrote that . . .!
There is/was an online discography of his recordings but I can't seem to find it right now but those interested might want to check out the Leadbelly Foundation:
http://www.leadbelly.org/index.html (http://www.leadbelly.org/index.html)
& the Leadbelly Society:
http://www.hlmusic.com/ledblsoc.htm (http://www.hlmusic.com/ledblsoc.htm)
Columbia's King of the Twelve String was my second Leadbelly record (my first was an LP of his 1944 recordings in Hollywood with a zitherist or, actually, another instrument in which, apparently, these recordings are some of the only ones in existance to feature the instrument . . . ?) & I've always liked it. I must say I don't understand others' dislike of Leadbelly's rants. My favourite is the introduction to 'Packin' Trunk' which I know by heart:
'This song was made about a man & a woman. This man wanted to marry the woman but she didn't want him. but she married anyhow, for the money that he had. & she thought she got every dollar that he had but she was mistaken. Now she got him pretty well bent, she got him standing with his head hanging down. She walked up to him & she said 'Papa what's the matter with you?' & this is what he told her:
I'm sitting down here wondering would a matchbox hold my clothes? (x3) [er something like that]
. . . a great tune all around . . . & a slide number.
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One thing to keep in mind about Leadbelly is he is discographically complicated. :D
Indeed he is, andrew. ;D I realize that I should not have disagreed with Riv. re. Where Did You Sleep Last Night since he was referring to the In the Pines version that I already said was a lesser version! Sheesh.
Please carry on... :P
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Columbia's King of the Twelve String was my second Leadbelly record (my first was an LP of his 1944 recordings in Hollywood with a zitherist or, actually, another instrument in which, apparently, these recordings are some of the only ones in existance to feature the instrument . . . ?)
The zitherist is actually a fellow named Paul Mason Howard playing the dolceola, according to the Penguin Guide.
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Hey andrew, we agree! I should have been clearer. Very lackluster compared to the '44 piece. Which is interesting in itself. I seem to be saying that a lot recently but it does tell you things about where Lead was at by that stage. Overexposed a little bit, too much strumming, not enough 12 string runs.
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The 1944 "Where Did You" is from a Musicraft session, one of Leadbelly's best commercial dates. Other sides from it were "John Hardy," "Roberta," "I've a Pretty Flower," "When the Boys were on the Western Plains [When I Was a Cowboy]," "Bill Brady" [Duncan and Brady], "Yellow Gal," and the ambiguously titled "In New Orleans," which is Leadbelly's recomposition of "Rising Sun," featuring an inspired guitar line. All of these have long been available on budget media -- heck, I first bought this set as an LP on the Sutton label in 1964, from a 77-cent budget bin at G C Murphy's -- and they're still available on CD. The perfs are usually superior to his other renditions of the same songs; as far as I know, this is the only time he ever recorded "In New Orleans" (he did a straight version of "Rising" once or twice, which is of no particular distinction) and it's worth picking up a budget CD just for that one, if you're not familiar with it.
Julius Lester tabbed several songs from the Musicraft set in "Folksinger's Guide to the 12-String Guitar as Played by Leadbelly."
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as far as I know, this is the only time he ever recorded "In New Orleans" (he did a straight version of "Rising" once or twice, which is of no particular distinction) and it's worth picking up a budget CD just for that one, if you're not familiar with it.
It's the happiest version of "Rising Sun" I've ever heard, that's for sure. Maybe I should say "sprightliest," but that word just looks weird.
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The 1944 "Where Did You" is from a Musicraft session, one of Leadbelly's best commercial dates. Other sides from it were "John Hardy," "Roberta," "I've a Pretty Flower," "When the Boys were on the Western Plains [When I Was a Cowboy]," "Bill Brady" [Duncan and Brady], "Yellow Gal," and the ambiguously titled "In New Orleans," which is Leadbelly's recomposition of "Rising Sun," featuring an inspired guitar line. All of these have long been available on budget media -- heck, I first bought this set as an LP on the Sutton label in 1964, from a 77-cent budget bin at G C Murphy's -- and they're still available on CD. The perfs are usually superior to his other renditions of the same songs; as far as I know, this is the only time he ever recorded "In New Orleans" (he did a straight version of "Rising" once or twice, which is of no particular distinction) and it's worth picking up a budget CD just for that one, if you're not familiar with it.
What do ya know, in 1965 it turned up in the UK on the budget label Presto (PRE689) under the title "The Great Leadbelly Accompanying Himself On The Guitar". The cover depicts an anonymous black face behind what are supposed to be prison bars. The price sticker on mine reads "FW Woolworth Putney Branch 12s 6d".
Those were the days of discovery. Long sigh...
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Lest we forget...I couldn't let this gem slip through the cracks:
http://www.otrcat.com/chamber-music-society-basin-p-2094.html
My apologies to the PWBG members (and to anyone else who may require one). (Thank / blame it on Elijah.)
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Thanks fpr all the suggestions, folks. I'm finally off to Down Home (El Cerrito, not Berkeley) to see if I can find the Last Sessions and any other versions of Shorty George and Fannin Street. I've also got that list of songs in F Johnm.
All for now.
John C.
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I have been listening to Document's Library of Congress vol 2, 3, 4 DOCD-5592, 5593, 5594 recently. These can be tough going soundwise. Real primitive recordings that include moving the mic back and forth between Leadbelly's guitar and mouth. The material is really phenomenal though. The version of Shorty George on 5593 that you refer to, Wax, is fairly hard listening and almost seems to me to be sped up slightly. His voice sounds higher to me. Anyway, the ARC recording is somewhat different. The guitar on this LoC recording is, to say the least, intense. Those bass runs are really fast. The ARC recording is somewhat more relaxed, though still a bass string workout. I'd also say that these discs are fairly blues heavy (though still lots of folk material), which is nice too. Light on the "Skip to My Lou" type of material.
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Yeah, I think that may be the hottest perf of Shorty George, despite the tough recording and missing half the intro. I heard a sample from take two of the same session on the Rounder site (Vol. 5 of the LoC - also on DOCD-5226, BTW) and even it seems a little less intense back. In the one we're talking about the 12 is pitched at C, I think, but in the other take, on Rounder, it seems to be pithed at B, so you could be right about the speed on the DOCD-5593. But the difference seems to be in the IV chord (F form). In the one he seems to be still playing runs, altho' more mid-rangy, and in the other its more a boom-chick with alternating bass. Would like to hear all 5 mins. of that other take, tho'. Maybe I can pick it up on emusic. 'Bout time I subscribed.
All for now.
John C.
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In the one we're talking about the 12 is pitched at C, I think, but in the other take, on Rounder, it seems to be pithed at B, so you could be right about the speed on the DOCD-5593.
The recordings used by Document were obtained from tapes, at least according to the Penguin Blues Guide, so it is certainly possible there were speed glitches. (Rounder used the same tapes if I recall correctly, which had deteriorated even more by that time.) The speed issue is slight for me but I still wonder if it's there. A semi-tone difference between takes could point to it indeed.
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The 1944 "Where Did You" is from a Musicraft session, one of Leadbelly's best commercial dates. Other sides from it were "John Hardy," "Roberta," "I've a Pretty Flower," "When the Boys were on the Western Plains [When I Was a Cowboy]," "Bill Brady" [Duncan and Brady], "Yellow Gal," and the ambiguously titled "In New Orleans," which is Leadbelly's recomposition of "Rising Sun," featuring an inspired guitar line. All of these have long been available on budget media -- heck, I first bought this set as an LP on the Sutton label in 1964, from a 77-cent budget bin at G C Murphy's -- and they're still available on CD. The perfs are usually superior to his other renditions of the same songs; as far as I know, this is the only time he ever recorded "In New Orleans" (he did a straight version of "Rising" once or twice, which is of no particular distinction) and it's worth picking up a budget CD just for that one, if you're not familiar with it.
Julius Lester tabbed several songs from the Musicraft set in "Folksinger's Guide to the 12-String Guitar as Played by Leadbelly."
Rivers' Lead Belly lyrics run has had me spinning Lead Belly on the home jukebox, and I just wanted to enthusiastically second Fictioneer's recommendation for these Musicraft sides. Truly fabulous. I think this is the probably the best Duncan and Brady that Lead Belly does, and you can say that about pretty much all the songs listed above. I have this session on Leadbelly Vol 3 1939-47 DOCD-5228.
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These are some of my favourites with Lead Belly:
(https://weeniecampbell.com/yabbse/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fecx.images-amazon.com%2Fimages%2FI%2F41ENX16A3RL._SL500_AA240_.jpg&hash=610ce00949d2a14a0f307b4f14c1b643d0f76ac0)
(https://weeniecampbell.com/yabbse/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fecx.images-amazon.com%2Fimages%2FI%2F51DFKSMEZ2L._SL500_AA240_.jpg&hash=30cacda5baaea9e645167d0dedd87aff6c8293be)
(https://weeniecampbell.com/yabbse/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fecx.images-amazon.com%2Fimages%2FI%2F4108Q9G41GL._SL500_AA240_.jpg&hash=f60da6c2e017a04e13cf07b13d2af6491b8120ce)
Here is an all new release on vinyl:
(https://weeniecampbell.com/yabbse/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fecx.images-amazon.com%2Fimages%2FI%2F51Vm-64XviL._SL500_AA240_.jpg&hash=15d349f637ad5ce95b80f576fe42cbdf7c6e9862)
A new box set coming up:
http://www.elderly.com/recordings/items/PROPER-CDBX148.htm
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I really like leadbelly`s 1935 recordings-what i`ve done is take "king of the 12 string..","1935" on travelling man and the old biograph lp(one side 1935 recordings the other a 1940 rec.with woody guthrie) and burn all the different takes from 1935 onto two discs-it`s brilliant."mr.Tom Hughes`town"(fannin`street)is amazing.
I also like the old capitol lp recorded with paul mason howard on" zither"-it gives the songs a unique,remarkable and very pleasing texture.
take care lyndvs.
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is that the ten-inch Capitol lp? (he asks across the years)
a friend's dad had that and the last sessions set. I loved listening to them when i was a wee lad - thirty odd years ago i guess. Dances With tears in his eyes was a stand out then and now.
I'm posting though, to ask if there is any way of figuring out what tracks are on the 'Definitive' 3 disc set from Catfish records.
http://www.amazon.com/Definitive-Leadbelly/dp/B00006373O
it has a great selection but no info on the individual songs.
thanks
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Hiya Gumbo,
No my copy is a 12 inch L.P..1962 It was issued.Not sure if there were other issues maybe on 10inch at some point?.
I`m also not sure if it`s been reissued on C.D..I`d love to replace my old vinyl(retire it anyway!).
I don`t have the definitive 3cd set but i believe there`s nothing new on it.I saw a thread about it on the Blindman`s Blues Forum
a while ago.I think the general opinion was that it was far from essential.I tried to find the thread earlier today but couldn`t.I`m sure it`s still there somewhere if you check it out.
Lyndvs.
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Here the tracklist and some notes for the Catfish set, grabbed off eBay.
Track Listing
DISC 1:
1. Grasshoppers in My Pillow
2. Tight Like That
3. C.C. Rider
4. Well You Know I Had to Do It
5. Alberta
6. Sweet Mary Blues
7. New Orleans
8. New York City
9. Baby, Don't You Love Me No More?
10. Thirty Days in the Work House
11. You Cain' Loose-A-Me Cholly
12. Midnight Special
13. I'm Leavin' on the Midnight Train
14. Fannin' Street
15. Goodnight Irene
16. Pick a Bale of Cotton
17. Black Girl
18. Turn Yo' Radio On
19. Children's Blues
20. John Henry
21. Corn Bread Rough
22. Can't You Line 'Em
23. Ella Speed
24. Tell Me Baby
25. Go Down, Old Hannah
DISC 2:
1. Somebody's Diggin' My Potatoes
2. Dancing With Tears in My Heart
3. Salty Dog
4. Whoa Back Up
5. Sukey Jump
6. How Long
7. Eagle Rock Rag
8. Laura
9. Big Fat Woman
10. My Friend Blind Lemon
11. Easy Mr Tom
12. New Black Snake
13. Matchbox Blues
14. Death Letter Blues, Pt. 1
15. Death Letter Blues, Pt. 2
16. Bourgeois Blues
17. We're in the Same Boat, Brother
18. Jean Harlow
19. Howard Hughes
20. Cow Cow Yicky Yicky Yea
21. When I Was a Cowboy
22. T B Blues
23. Alabama Bound
24. Shout On (Honey I'm All Out and Down)
25. He Never Said a Mumbling Word
DISC 3:
1. It Was Early One Morning
2. Good Morning Blues
3. Tom Hughes Town
4. Bull Cow
5. Looky Look Yonder
6. Blood Done Sign My Name, The
7. Tell Me Baby, What Was Wrong With You
8. Birmingham Jail (Down in the Valley)
9. Red Cross Store Blues
10. Sail on, Little Girl, Sail On
11. Roberta
12. Jim Crow Blues
13. Gray Goose
14. I'm on My Last Go-Round
15. Stewball
16. Spring Time in the Rockies
17. Ain't Going Down to the Well No More
18. Take This Hammer
19. Rock Island Line
20. Midnight Special
21. Sylvie
22. I'll Be Down on the Last Bread Wagon
23. Chinatown
24. I'm Alone Because I Love You
25. Leaving Blues
Details
Distributor: Navarre
Recording Type: Studio
Recording Mode: Stereo
SPAR Code: n/a
Album Notes
Liner Note Author: Keith Briggs.
"Definitive" is a mighty claim when it comes to an artist of Leadbelly's stature, but the three-disc DEFINITIVE LEADBELLY box lives up to its title. Over the course of its 75 tracks, this collection hits all the sweet spots in the seminal folk/blues trailblazer's sprawling catalog, from staples like "C.C. Rider," "Goodnight Irene," and "Good Morning Blues," to lesser-known tunes, all mastered with excellent sound quality for recordings that date back to the pre-war era.
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Hiya Gumbo,
No my copy is a 12 inch L.P..1962 It was issued.Not sure if there were other issues maybe on 10inch at some point?.
You are correct in that assumption, the catalogue number of the 10inch was 369, my copy of the 12inch LP is 1821. I've also got a couple of EPs drawn from that session. But I digress.....as usual.
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thanks uncle Bud
I have the Catfish set though and know which songs are on it! ;) There is no info on the songs at all in the notes, although they are a good read biographically. I was hoping that someone somewhere had figured out which versions they all were. It's way beyond me! I emailed Catfish a couple of years ago but got no answer and I believe Keith Briggs is no longer with us. I don't think catfish are with us any more either ...
Lindvs
thanks for responding
the one i was thinking of is Classics in Jazz (1953) http://www.bsnpubs.com/capitol/03capitol300-449.html (H-369 about halfway down the page). Amazing what you can find on the web! i like to think i can remember zither but who knows. I should have just bought the albums i liked but the Catfish set was a bargain.
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Hiya Gumbo,
No my copy is a 12 inch L.P..1962 It was issued.Not sure if there were other issues maybe on 10inch at some point?.
You are correct in that assumption, the catalogue number of the 10inch was 369, my copy of the 12inch LP is 1821. I've also got a couple of EPs drawn from that session. But I digress.....as usual.
it sounds like you're saying it's the same songs Bunker Hill?
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it sounds like you're saying it's the same songs Bunker Hill?
That'll teach me to jump in. I have this annoying habit of attempting to confirm a particular segment in a post, which may not necessarily be relevant to the discussion.
I'll try to be clearer. At the time I was sent that Catfish box set for review. I noted that a good proportion of the October 1944 Leadbelly Capitol sessions had been scattered throughout the three CDs rather than having them altogether.
LATER ADDITION - here's the Capitol sessions
V/g with Paul Mason Howard, zither. Los Angeles, 4 Oct 1944
CAP 397-4A Ella Speed Cap EP 2-369, LP 369, 1821
CAP 398-3A1 Rock Island line Cap 10021, LP 239, 1821
CAP 399-1A Tell me baby Cap EP 1-369, LP 369, 1821
CAP 400-3A Take this hammer Cap EP 1-369, LP 369, 1821
Same. Los Angeles, 11 Oct 1944
CAP 413-3A Irene (Goodnight Irene) Cap 40130, EP 2-369,LP 369, 1821
CAP 413-2A Western plain Cap EP 2-369, LP 369, 1821
CAP 415-2A On a Christmas day Cap EP 1-369, LP 369, 1821
CAP 416-3A Backwater blues Cap 40130, EP 1-369, LP 369, 1821
V/g/p -1. Los Angeles, 27 Oct 1944
CAP 457-1 Eagle rock -1 [inst] Cap LP 1821
CAP 457-2A Eagle rock rag -1 Cap 10021
CAP 457 Eagle rock rag (The eagle rocks) -1 Cap LP 238, 1821
CAP 458 Meat shakin? woman unissued
CAP 459-2A Sweet Mary blues Cap 40038, EP 2-369, LP 369, 1821
CAP 460-3A Grasshoppers in my pillow Cap 40038, LP 1821
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yep i know all those tracks by heart except that last date so i guess that's the LP i used to listen to. Makes sense if they were the only Capitol sessions!
there's an online Leadbelly discog (songs, dates and matrix numbers - no release numbers) at
http://web.archive.org/web/20060223104318/http://cycad.com/cgi-bin/Leadbelly/discog/
note this is an archive of the one that's listed at the harry lewman page (http://www.hlmusic.com/leadlinks.htm)
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Bunker Hill,
Thanks for the information,the serial number of mine is 1821 as well.
Gumbo,
I`ve never seen the Classics in jazz l.p. so thanks for the link.
The combination of Zither and 12 String on the Capitol l.p. sounds magical.The Catfish set looks a good buy.I think the point they
were trying to make on the other forum was that it`s not an essential purchase if you have a lot of Leadbelly,no new or unissued stuff.
But surely a great buy if you`re looking for an introduction to Leadbelly`s work.
thanks both,
Lyndvs
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Here's a page about that 'zither'....
http://www.minermusic.com/dolceola/leadbelly.htm
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Leadbelly.- Capitol H 369 (10 inch "classics in jazz" US) 1953
(https://weeniecampbell.com/yabbse/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wirz.de%2Fmusic%2Fleadbell%2Fgrafik%2Fcap3694.jpg&hash=87028885b70b2181841bf4a14f88006c1f0a7c84)
Leadbelly.- Capitol LC 6597 (10 inch "classics in jazz" UK) 1953
(https://weeniecampbell.com/yabbse/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wirz.de%2Fmusic%2Fleadbell%2Fgrafik%2Fcap65974.jpg&hash=1076848be8af1d0f8dcd1d66e0f6c6a30890278c)
Leadbelly.- Capitol T 1821 (12 inch) 1962
(https://weeniecampbell.com/yabbse/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wirz.de%2Fmusic%2Fleadbell%2Fgrafik%2Fcap18214.jpg&hash=95afb297f6fda9a416c6c7352694e368e054e6ea)
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(https://weeniecampbell.com/yabbse/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fcache2.asset-cache.net%2Fxc%2F74279993.jpg%3Fv%3D1%26amp%3Bc%3DNewsMaker%26amp%3Bk%3D2%26amp%3Bd%3D77BFBA49EF878921CC759DF4EBAC47D0896DF3A45AC40094A70A1DC747FE2ABB5650CECDBCBF896D&hash=6d3c8b1afa89c8e4cb3dce27686ce161381e305f)
Prof,
Very interesting link,i found the above photo looks like the one mentioned.A Dolceola,it produces an ethereal sound.
Stefan,
Great cover scans.Wish i could find Vinyl like that for $2.50!!.
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(https://weeniecampbell.com/yabbse/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fcache4.asset-cache.net%2Fxc%2F74279992.jpg%3Fv%3D1%26amp%3Bc%3DNewsMaker%26amp%3Bk%3D2%26amp%3Bd%3D77BFBA49EF878921CC759DF4EBAC47D05E1793E6726B3988A70A1DC747FE2ABB6A9CB537790E60C4&hash=0a18705c84c822eb475bf3575901c659a6ee1f4f)
Another photo from the session.
lyndvs
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Hi Lyndvs
Can't get the photo links to work...but hope you can fix as I'd love to see these photos!
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they both work for me, now, although one didn't the first time i looked
Nice to see those.
are they tuning up in that second one? it's a curious kind of concentration
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Brilliant pics. Leadbelly's trousers fit well under the arms too...
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Quote
Here's a page about that 'zither'....
http://www.minermusic.com/dolceola/leadbelly.htm[/quote]
Wow, thats so funny. I always heard that as being a Celeste or a child's piano. Who knew from Dulciolas? But I guess those guesses were not TOO far wrong. I also thought it might be a guitar tuned way up high and played by some hotshot or other....