One thing to keep in mind about Leadbelly is he is discographically complicated. 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.
119-B-1 | The Western Cowboy | DOCD-5579 | ||
119-B-2 | Honey Take a Whiff on Me | DOCD-5579 | ||
119-B-4 | Angola Blues | DOCD-5579 | ||
119-B-5 | Angola Blues | DOCD-5579 | ||
119-B-6 | Frankie and Albert | DOCD-5579 | ||
120-A-1 | Irene | DOCD-5579 | ||
120-A-2 | Take a Whiff on Me | DOCD-5579 | ||
120-A-3 | You Can't Lose Me Cholly | DOCD-5579 | ||
120-A-6 | Irene | DOCD-5579 | ||
120-A-7 | Irene | DOCD-5579 | ||
120-B-5 | Ella Speed | DOCD-5579 |
121-A | Mister Tom Hughes' Town | DOCD-5579 | ||
122-A-2 | I Got Up This Morning, Had to Get Up So Soon | DOCD-5579 | ||
122-B | Western Cowboy | DOCD-5579 | ||
123-A | Blind Lemon Blues | DOCD-5579 | RCD-1097 | |
123-B | Matchbox Blues | DOCD-5579 | RCD-1044 | |
124-A-1 | Midnight Special | RCD-1044 | ||
124-A-2 | Irene | DOCD-5591 | ||
124-B-1 | Irene | DOCD-5591 | ||
124-B-2 | Governor O.K. Allen | RCD-1044 | ||
125-A | Frankie and Albert | RCD-1044 | ||
125-B | Ella Speed | RCD-1044 | ||
126-A-1 | Julie Ann Johnson | DOCD-5591 | ||
126-A-2 | You Can't Lose-a-Me Cholly | DOCD-5591 | ||
126-A-3 | Take a Whiff on Me | DOCD-5591 | ||
126-B | I'm Sorry Mama | RCD-1044 |
236-B-3 | Mister Tom Hughes' Town | DOCD-5591 | RCD-1097 | |
239-A-3 | Julie Ann Johnson | DOCD-5591 |
240-A-4 | Julie Ann Johnson | DOCD-5591 | ||
240-A-5 | Lover in the Green Valley |
246-B-1 | Sweet Babe | |||
246-B-3 | Mister Tom Hughes' Town | RCD-1097 |
242-B-3 | Julie Ann Johnson | DOCD-5591 |
273-A-1 | Boll Weevil | DOCD-5591 |
250-B-1 | The Shreveport Jail-1 | RCD-1097 | ||
250-B-2 | Julie Ann Johnson-1 | DOCD-5591 | ||
252-A-1 | Dance Calls-2 | DOCD-5591 | ||
252-A-2 | This Morning-1 |
143-A | Don't You Love Me No More | |||
143-B | Henry Ford Blues |
44-A | Irene | |||
44-B-1 | Irene | |||
44-B-2 | Julie Ann Johnson |
45-A | Take a Whiff on Me |
45-B | Salty Dog | |||
51-A | Angola Blues | |||
51-B | Roberta | |||
52-A | Careless Love | |||
52-B | C.C. Rider | |||
53-A | Governor Pat Neff | |||
53-B | Thirty Days in the Workhouse | |||
54-A | Ella Speed | |||
54-B | Ella Speed | |||
127-A | Frankie and Albert | |||
127-B | Frankie and Albert | |||
128-A | Which Way Do the Red River Run? | |||
128-B | Got Up in the Mornin' So Doggone Soon | |||
129-A | You Don't Know My Mind | |||
129-B-1 | The Western Cowboy | |||
129-B-2 | Becky Dean | |||
130-A | Fort Worth and Dallas Blues | |||
130-B | Got a Gal in Town with Her Mouth Chock Full of Gold | |||
131-A | Mary Don't You Weep | |||
131-B-1 | Mary Don't You Weep | |||
131-B-2 | Way Over in the Promised Land | |||
132-A | Death Letter Blues-1 | |||
133-A | Midnight Special | |||
133-B | The Shreveport Jail | |||
134-A | Easy Mr. Tom | |||
134-B | I Ain't Bothered a Bit --Parts 1 and 2 | |||
135-A | Boll Weevil | |||
135-B | Western Cowboy | |||
136-A | The Titanic | |||
136-B | Blind Lemon Blues | |||
137-A | Mr. Tom Hughes' Town | |||
137-B-1 | Mr. Tom Hughes' Town | |||
137-B-2 | You Cain' Loose-a-Me Cholly | |||
138-A | The Medicine Man | |||
138-B | Red Cross Sto' | |||
139-A-1 | Green Corn | |||
139-A-2 | The Maid Freed from the Gallows | |||
139-B | Po' Howard | |||
140-A | Alberta Blues | |||
140-B | Fo' Day Worry Blues | |||
141-A-1 | Hesitation Blues | |||
141-A-2 | Take Me Back | |||
141-B | Matchbox Blues | |||
142-A | Tight Like That | |||
142-B-1 | Gwine Dig a Hole to Put the Devil in It | |||
142-B-2 | Old Man Settin' in the Corner Dyin' |
Wilton, Connecticut March 1, 1935 Huddie Ledbetter vocal/guitar or unaccompanied-1
Wilton, Connecticut March 1935 Huddie Ledbetter: vocal/guitar or unaccompanied-1
|
993-A-1 | Gwine Dig a Hole | |||
993-A-2 | Polly-Polly-Wee | |||
993-A-3 | Jawbone Walk | |||
993-B | If It Wasn't for Dicky | |||
994-A | Last Night in the Evening | |||
994-B-1 | Somethin', Somethin' Keeps a Worryin' Me | |||
995-A | Monkey Men | |||
995-B-1 | I Ain't Gonna Ring Dem Yallow Women's Do' Bells-1 | |||
995-B-2 | Rock Island Line-1 | |||
995-B-3 | All Out and Down-l | |||
996-A-1 | Hello Central | |||
996-A-2 | Raccoon up the Simmon Tree | |||
996-B | An' Goin' Drink No Mo | |||
997-A | New York City | |||
997-B | Queen Mary | |||
998-A-1 | Turn Your Radio On | |||
998-A-2 | Julie Ann Johnson | |||
998-B-1 | The Hindenburg Disaster | |||
998-B-2 | The Hindenburg Disaster |
2020-A-1 | Old Time Religion-1 | |||
2020-A-2 | He's Just the Same Today | |||
2021-B | Git on Board | |||
2023-A | Rock of Ages-1, 2 |
2501-A | Mama, Did You Bring Me Any Silver? | |||
2501-B | Leaving on the Morning Train Blues | |||
2502-A-1 | Scottsboro Boys | |||
2502-A-2 | Outshine the Sun-1 | |||
2502-B-1 | Noted Rider Blues | |||
2502-B-2 | The Bourgeois Blues | |||
2503-A-1 | Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen-1 | |||
2503-A-2 | Little John Henry | |||
2503-B | John Henry | |||
2504-A | John Henry | |||
2504-B | Eva |
4469-A-(a) | Monologue on T.B.-1,3 | |||
4469-A-1 | Last Night in the Evening | |||
4469-A-2 | T.B. Blues | |||
4469-A-3 | How Long? | |||
4469-A-4 | When the Train Comes Along | |||
4469-B-(a) | Monologue on Square Dances (or) Sooky Jumps-1,3 | |||
4469-B-1 | Po' Howard | |||
4469-B-2 | Dance Calls (including "A Dollar Bill: Baby Won't You Buy Any Shoes") | |||
4469-B-3 | Gwine Dig a Hole to Put the Devil in It | |||
4469-B-4 | Tight Like That | |||
4469-B-5 | Green Corn | |||
4470-A-(a) | Monologue On (The) Blues-1,2.3 | |||
4470-A-1 | Sail On, Little Girl | |||
4470-A-2 | Red Cross Sto'-2 | |||
4470-B-(a) | Monologue on the Mourner's Bench-1,2,3 | |||
4470-B-1 | Hallelujah-2 | |||
4470-B-2 | Backslider, Fare You Well-2 | |||
4470-B-3 | Amazing Grace-2 | |||
4470-B-4 | Must I Be Carried to the Sky on Flowered Beds of Ease?-2 | |||
4470-B-5 | Amazing Grace-2 | |||
4470-B-6 | Down in the Valley to Pray-2 | |||
447 I-A-1 | Meeting at the Building-2 | |||
4471-A-2 | When That Train Comes Along-2 | |||
4471-A-3 | The Blood Done Signed My Name-2 | |||
4471-A-4 | Witness for My Lord-2 | |||
4471-A-5 | Outshine the Sun-2 | |||
4471-B-1 | Let It Shine on Me | |||
4471-B-2 | Way Over in the Promised Land | |||
4471-B-3 | Oh, Something on My Mind | |||
4471-B-4 | How Long? | |||
4471-B-5 | Swing Low, Sweet Chariot | |||
4471-B-6 | Ain't Goin' Study War No More | |||
4471-B-7 | Join the Band | |||
4471-B-8 | Old Time Religion | |||
4471-B-9 | Stand Your Test in Judgement | |||
4471-B-10 | Must I Be Carried to the Sky on Flowered Beds of Ease? | |||
4472-A-1 | Run, Sinners-2 | |||
4472-A-2 | Ride On | |||
4472-A-3 | Prayer-1,2 | |||
4472-A-4 | Christmas-1,2 | |||
4472-A-5 | John Henry | |||
4472-B-1 | John Hardy | |||
4472-B-2 | Howard Hughes | |||
4472-B-3 | Bottle Up and Go | |||
4472-B-4 | Cowboy Song | |||
4473-A-1 | Leaving Blues | |||
4473-A-2 | The Roosevelt Song | |||
4473-A-3 | The Scottsboro Boys | |||
4473-A-4 | Don't You Love Me No More? | |||
4473-B-1 | Noted Rider Blues | |||
4473-B-2 | The Gallows Song | |||
4473-B-3 | So Doggone Soon | |||
4473-B-4 | Ham and Eggs-2 | |||
4473-B-5 | Bottle Up and Go [fragment] |
6407-A-1 | Dear Mr. President | |||
6407-A-2 | President Roosevelt | |||
6407-B-1 | Mr. Hitler |
6502-A-3 | How Long | |||
6502-B-1 | T.B. Blues |
For interest each Document LP carries the following note:[emphasis added]
. . . Huddie Lebetter was frequently recorded by various commercial companies during the same time span in which he made this material for the Library of Congress. Unfortunately the commercial recordings, with few exceptions, do not show Leadbelly at his best. There was a stiffness and an exaggeration which was fortuitously absent from the Library of Congress sessions. It is felt that Leadbelly never sounded as well anywhere else as he did when he was recording for the Library. He appeared relaxed, strong, crisp and creative and it is not unlikely that a totally new evaluation of his artistry will be forthcoming as a result of the release of these, his finest performances.
Despite the haphazard nature of the Rounder CDs (they don't appear to be in chronological order and there are no discographical details included)
The liner notes to Rounder Vol.1 indicates that it is the first in a "comprehensive" three volume set. The Rounder collection was neither, being six volumes and obviously not even being comprehensive as a six-volume set. (The 12-LP Document set could not have been comprehensive either, as the material on the Rounder and Document CDs, which, save for two or three songs, do not overlap at all, would combine for significantly more than 12 LPs.)
Actually, the Document LP series was nearly comprehensive. If you look at Blues & Gospel Records 4th Ed., the Document LPs cover all of Leadbelly's Library of Congress recordings save 10 titles or so, and cover far more than Rounder. So it seems possible to me now that <PURE SPECULATION> Rounder issued some kind of cease and desist, or some other lawyerly shenanigan, to Document, </PURE SPECULATION> and the LoC recordings now available on Document CDs cover those titles that did not appear on Rounder, perhaps with a few exceptions as you note.
I've got the above discographical lists in a table and have added the Document CD numbers for each track. Won't have time to post them for a bit but they're done. Rounder's another story.
I recall reading that there were 12 Document LPs.Yes you read it earlier in this discussion, they were issued in 1990 in one batch.
I'm not sure Document would actually own the rights to any of the recordings they've reissued.
For the Rounder titles, if you have Excel, you can download the sheet I attached above and enter the Rounder disc number in the Rounder column (column D).
(3) Because there were no discographical details for the last three Rounders (and none that I otherwise could find), I applied common sense to determine which tracks were included. It was relatively easy, as Rounder clearly seems to have followed a chronological course. In one instance ("Amazing Grace-2"), I couldn't tell which version was used. I put a "?" after the two versions.
Here's the spreadsheet with the Rounder designations added. The designations are as follows:
RCD-1044 = Midnight Special (Volume 1)
RCD-1045 = Gwine Dig a Hole to Put the Devil In (Volume 2)
RCD-1046 = Let It Shine on Me (Volume 3)
RCD-1097 = Titanic (Volume 4)
RCD-1098 = Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen (Volume 5)
RCD-1099 = Go Down Old Hannah (Volume 6)
Perhaps a key with the desgnations is in order.
Also:
(1) I took the liberty of adding DOCD-5579 to 120-A-6, 120-A-7 and 120-B-5, because they appear to be included on that CD.
(2) Should "Soldier in the Army of My Lord" be added to the 8/23/40 session? It is on DOCD-5595 and they list it as "4471-A-4(a)" after "Witness for My Lord-2".
(3) Because there were no discographical details for the last three Rounders (and none that I otherwise could find), I applied common sense to determine which tracks were included. It was relatively easy, as Rounder clearly seems to have followed a chronological course. In one instance ("Amazing Grace-2"), I couldn't tell which version was used. I put a "?" after the two versions.
I was able find additional details on the Rounder tracks, and they check out as I indicated. Regarding "Amazing Grace", it is the earlier version (4470-B-3)that is on RCD-1099, so you can delete the two question marks and the designation listed for the subsequent version (4470-B-5).
[1] I don't have this disc so was going by what Document lists on their website, where these titles are not shown as being included. Not that that means a whole lot. But where did you see they are indeed included?
[2] Where did you end up finding the additional discographical info in the end?
In its day this article received much critical acclaim.
If you're trying to figure out how to get Leadbelly's complete LoC recordings, this article will tell you how to do it.
I've been thinking I should revisit the ARC recordings. I have done this many times, but I always have concluded I did not like them. Leadbelly seems to shout too much. Perhaps the mike is just too close.
The recordings I recall listening to are the following:
http://www.amazon.com/Leadbelly/dp/B0000024W1/ref=ntt_mus_ep_dpi_14
http://www.amazon.com/King-12-String-Guitar-Leadbelly/dp/B0000027DD/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1313172361&sr=1-1
I believe both of these are 1935 ARC recordings. Is there a better version?
I see many ARC recordings are listed as unissued and there is no indication of any release (78, LP or CD). Do these even exist?
I never understood this reasoning, since Jelly Roll Morton used drums on his early recordings and they seemed to work out OK.)
I've been thinking I should revisit the ARC recordings. I have done this many times, but I always have concluded I did not like them. Leadbelly seems to shout too much. Perhaps the mike is just too close.
The recordings I recall listening to are the following:
http://www.amazon.com/Leadbelly/dp/B0000024W1/ref=ntt_mus_ep_dpi_14
http://www.amazon.com/King-12-String-Guitar-Leadbelly/dp/B0000027DD/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1313172361&sr=1-1