To call Lead Belly a mere bluesman would be doing him an injustice. He was a folk hero in every way imaginable and here is his tale.

Lead Belly was born Huddie Ledbetter near Mooringsport in Lousiana in 1889. This birth date marks him as a first-generation bluesman. But Huddie Ledbetter was much more than a bluesman. He played everything from blues to children's songs, field hollers, folk ballads, spirituals,....the list goes on. He was not only potent on the guitar but could also play piano and even accordian.

When Huddie was 5 years old the Ledbetter family moved to Leigh, Texas. There, his uncle gave him an accordian as a gift and from then on little Huddie knew what he was destined to become: a musician. So it was at the age of 16 that Huddie left home to pursue his dream. He slung a guitar over his shoulder and took off down the road of life.

He went to many country parties or "sukey-jumps" and watched how his favorite bluesmen played. He traveled far and wide and picked up many songs from the different regions he visted. Huddie had a brush with the law early in his life when he shot at a man who was bothering Huddie's girlfriend. Huddie was charged a fine for carrying a fire arm. This would not be the last time Huddie would face the justice of the court.

At the age of 19 in 1910 Huddie married his first wife Lethe. Huddie, it seemed, was settling down for a domesticated life and began working the fields for money. But Huddie's marriage didn't last as his vices women, music, and clubs got the better of him when he was arrested for assaulting a woman. It was at this time that Huddie and Lethe separated. Huddie, free from married life, finally continued with his dream and took his guitar on the road.

It was on the road that Huddie met Blind Lemon Jefferson. Jefferson and Huddie would ramble around all of America like the two vagabond artists they were and their presence was felt by all who heard them play. Jefferson went on to become a legend of Texas blues and Huddie might have shared this status had he not broke the law once again. Huddie was arrested on petty charges and eventually escaped from prison and made his way back home to his father. Huddie's father hid him and Huddie took up the alias "Walter Boyd".

In 1917, Huddie was finally caught and arrested after shooting Will Straford and fatally wounding him. Huddie received 30 years of hard labor in the Shaw State Prison farm. Huddie was allowed to keep his guitar and play it for the inmates. He eventually became popular with the guards too. Seeing this, Huddie saw a way to get out of the pen. When Governor Pat Neff visited the prison in 1924 Huddie sang him a song titled just for him "Gov. Pat Neff".

Neff was so impressed that he pardoned Huddie.

Huddie returned to his birthplace of Mooringsport and got a job truck driving but he also returned to his old life style of bars, womanizing, gambling, and drinking. Huddie earned a huge amount of respect in his community for his musical abilities and his amazing feat of singing his way out of prison. But Huddie was still hot with envy, Blind Lemon was now a famous recording star and he wasn't.

Huddie eventually quit his job and tried to earn his living by playing his music. In 1930 he was convicted with assualt with intent to murder and was arrested and holed up in the notorious Louisiana State Penitentiary in Angola. It was here that he got the nickname that would stick with him for life: Lead Belly. Lead Belly sat defeated never to gain fame as his buddy Blind Lemon did. He was done for good.

Lead Belly plays for John Lomax, Angola State Penitentiary

But,as if by an act of fate, two saviors entered the prison in that July of 1933. His saviors were John Lomax and his son Alan. The Lomaxes were traveling the South and making field recordings of African-American folk music for the Library of Congress. When John & Alan Lomax came across Lead Belly in the hot summer of '33 they knew they had found a prize. Lead Belly introduced himself as the "King of the 12-string guitar" and after playing for them convinced Lomax to help him get out of jail. John Lomax persuaded the Governor to pardon Lead Belly, and from there Lead Belly traveled with the Lomaxes as a chaffeur. But he was far more than that--he was there key to an encyclopedia of folk tradition.

In 1935, after traveling for years as an assistant to John Lomax, Lead Belly married his long-time lady friend Martha. Even on his wedding day his music would control his being. He went into a recording studio that same day to record for the Library of Congress. Between 1937-1942 Lead Belly recorded exclusively for John Lomax and the Library of Congress. Lomax released these songs as Negro Sinful Songs sung by Lead Belly.

NYPD mug shot, 1939

It seemed Lead Belly's fame was starting to finally catch up with him. He went to New York where he found fans in the budding folk scene. He played house parties, children's functions, and appeared on radio stations. Even so ,Lead Belly and Martha were struggling on welfare and commercial fame had not really hit him. In 1939 Lead Belly landed himself in trouble again when he stabbed another black man in the stomach sixteen times. Lead Belly claimed it was self defense but was charged nevertheless. A delay in his trial came to Lead Belly's advantage when one day while witnessing a store robbery tackled the thief and held him at bay until the police arrived. The judge looked kindly on this act of bravery and Lead Belly only served 8 months at Ryker's Island. Though Lead Belly was depicted in the press as a "murderer who played music between homicides", his constant prosecution probably had more to do with his skin color than any actual facts.

In 1941 Lead Belly had a falling out with Lomax. Lead Belly was sick and tired of Lomax presenting him as a race singer and dressing him up in his prison stripes at gigs. Lead Belly felt like a caged animal singing for the white folks amusement. Lomax claimed Lead Belly had become arrogant and ungrateful and that he was starting to believe his own good press. After a heated argument Lead Belly purportedly pulled a knife on Lomax. From then on Lomax wanted nothing to do with him.

If Lomax presented Lead Belly as a racial stereotype then it can be said that Moses Asch presented to the public Lead Belly the artist. Asch, an independent producer in association with Smithsonian, recorded Lead Belly as he was. Whatever Lead Belly wanted to record he was free to do so. Out of the Asch sessions came the most beloved versions of Lead Belly's tunes "In the Pines"(Where did you sleep last night?),"On a Monday", "Blind Lemon", "Grey Goose", "John Henry", and "Irene".

Woody Guthrie and Lead Belly

The Asch recordings were a meager success for Lead Belly but not enough to get by. He still played clubs here and there and was getting more popular with the folkies including newcomer Woody Guthrie who played many gigs with him. Lead Belly also played for children, his favorite crowd. With Woody Guthrie's assistance and the support of other folk acts like Pete Seeger, Lead Belly's fame was finally growing.

Lead Belly embarked on a tour of Europe in 1949 but while on the tour he fell ill. The doctor diagnosed him with Lou Gehrig's disease and he died on December 6, 1949. He was the first black folk performer to tour Europe and fame was only six months away when he died. Because though he never saw it, six months after his death his signature tune "(Goodnight) Irene" as recorded by the Weavers became a hit, selling over 2 million copies and has since then become a folk standard.

	Lead Belly in 1949

The final sessions recorded before his tour and death show Lead Belly as a calm, humorous man completely at odds with his violent history. These final sessions also share with us commentary on the songs by Lead Belly himself displaying his wealth of knowledge on folk music and traditions.

Huddie Ledbetter saw himself as a man in a cage performing for the white folks but at least due to his good friends Moses Asch and Woody Guthrie he saw that to the people that cared he was much much more. His songs still live on today as they inspired songs by major rock acts like Nirvana and Pearl Jam. Lead Belly was a encylopedia of music, a great guitarist, a superb singer with a great booming voice, and a larger than life personality. Even though the last place he played was Europe he was, without a doubt, ours. Lead Belly was America's National Treasure.

NEXT:  The Field Recordings