Lead Belly

Huddie William Ledbetter, (January, 1888 – December 6, 1949) (from Wikipedia)

I have been listening to Lead Belly since I first heard Kurdt Cobain, (who happens to be born the same day as me! Feb. 20th), sing "Where Did You Sleep Last Night" on the Nirvana Unplugged In NY record. If you haven't (by some freak chance) heard that album, or seen the performance I highly recommend picking it up. It was recently released on DVD as well.

So, Lead Belly. Beyond his music, I am not especially familiar with the artist as a person. So, I am not going to lie to you and spout out fiction. Instead I ask that you search out more information on this fantastic 12-string fingerpickin blues artist, and learn more about his music and of similar artists pertinent to the time period and music style.

Just in case you are lazy, here is a link to the Leadbelly Wikipedia page http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leadbelly

This particular recording from June of 1949 is fantastic! Especially the surprising quality of the recording and mastering. As you will see in the included notes, this record was released on vinyl by the short lived PLAYBOY record label in the 1970's, possibly for the first time.

It is one of Huddie's last performances before his untimely death months later in December of 1949 from Lou Gehrig's disease.

I hope you enjoy this record and others by Lead Belly as much as I have, and search out more great material from the artist!


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Rock and such!