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Rating: Huddie William Ledbetter, better known by the nickname Lead Belly, is a pillar of folk blues (if we really want to give him a label), but his repertoire is much broader, ranging from songs inspired by labor camps, to spirituals, to popular ballads. His catalog consists of many traditional songs, but rearranged and reinterpreted by himself.
The theories about the nickname "Lead Belly" are various, one of the most accepted is that he received it during his years of imprisonment; he ended up in prison three or four times, once for getting a girl pregnant without marrying her (a crime that was indeed punished with imprisonment at the time, especially if you were Black), another time for murder, and finally for brawling and attempted murder. In short, it's easy to understand that Huddie had a turbulent spirit and was also a heavy drinker. Certainly, being Black at the end of the 1800s and the beginning of the 1900s in Louisiana must have been anything but easy.
But it was thanks to prison that Lead Belly made his name known as a musician, first making a good impression on the governor who pardoned him for murder. The second time, in 1930, when he was again incarcerated for brawling and attempted murder, he met the ethnomusicologist John A. Lomax, who, together with his son Alex, traveled to record folk music on behalf of the Library of Congress. Father and son were impressed by this big man with a tenor voice. From then on, they began to record his songs intensively; it's said that in just a few days they recorded over a hundred pieces. From 1933 to '34, the Lomaxes returned several times to the prison to record more songs.
In 1935, Lead Belly was pardoned a second time by the governor and left the prison to join the ethnomusicologist in Texas, to work as his driver (he needed the money) and naturally to record new songs.
Now let's talk about this "American Folk & Blues Anthology", a 3-CD collection of recordings from 1933 to '45, featuring Lead Belly with his larger and longer-than-standard 12-string guitar, played predominantly using the fingerpicking technique, thus achieving a very particular sound. His skill, although not at the level of other guitarists of the time, is entirely personal and is still under study. Besides the guitar, he sporadically played the accordion, his first instrument (documented in this box by "Corn Bread Rough" and "Sukey Jump"), as well as the piano (here we find the amiable but no more than that "Big Fat Woman"), and finally the mandolin and violin, all with decidedly less brilliant results than the 12-string guitar. His voice is powerful and full of vibratos. In some pieces, he accompanies himself only with hand claps, as in the famous and oft-covered "Black Betty", or just with his feet as in the short and amusing "Leadbelly's Dance", while in some other songs he sings without accompaniment, such as in "Blue Tail Fly", and in others, he is with a choir (typical of the spiritual tradition). Two pieces are sung and played with Josh White, including the beautiful "Pretty Flowers In My Back Yard".
Among the characteristics of Lead Belly's singing is a peculiar verse, later called "Haah!", found in several well-known songs like "Looky Looky Yonder" and "Take This Hammer", a habit he picked up in fields for forced labor; the shout was used to coordinate teams that had to move in sync, and Huddie used it as a true rhythmic accompaniment.
The themes addressed by Lead Belly are mostly about lived life and, since his existence was quite troubled, the topics are among the most varied: prison, racism, fieldwork, women, alcohol, politics, current events, and others.
Now to my absolute favorite pieces, I start with "Midnight Special" (which opens the 1st CD of the box), a traditional song about incarceration; there are many covers of this piece, and it's worth noting that Lead Belly's version was not the first one recorded, but it is undoubtedly the most extraordinary, and it's hard not to be captivated by this country folk that literally makes you dream, a dream of escape, not only from a real prison but also and especially from the mental prisons that man creates for himself.
Following is another classic, "Good Morning Blues", which, as the title suggests, belongs to the blues territory and is a declaration of love and intent, a true manifesto for this musical genre.
Another traditional song that Lead Belly made his own, rearranging and interpreting it in his way, is the splendid "Rock Island Line".
Heart-wrenching, melancholic, and delicate is the superlative love song "Where Did You Sleep Last Night?" (perhaps unfortunately better known in the superficial version by Nirvana).
Now I will limit myself to listing other titles, otherwise I will never finish, and I leave the pleasure to the potential listener to draw their own conclusions, starting with the already mentioned "Pretty Flowers In My Back Yard", "Take This Hammer", "Black Betty", and "Looky Looky Yonder", others are the famous and electrifying "The Gallis Pole" (the Led Zeppelin did a very nice version of it), "Pick a Bale of Cotton", "Alabama Bound", "The Bourgeois Blues", "John Hardy", "Leaving Blues", "Packing Trunk Blues", and the track that closes the 3rd CD, the immortal "Goodnight Irene".
Remember that the recordings made by Lead Belly over about fifteen years number around 500, here there are 75 pieces in total, and although some masterpieces are missing, this anthology does an excellent job of highlighting all the nuances of this great musician and also note that the remastering is truly excellent. As for the shortcomings, there are no explanatory booklets except for a very brief historical note, and the recording dates are not always precise, but all this does not compromise the excellent quality of the box set.
«Oh I woke up this mornin'
Couldn't get you outta my bed
Went to eat my breakfast and
The blues was all in my bread
Good mornin' blues, blues how do you do?
Good mornin' blues, blues how do you do?
Well I'm doin' all right this mornin' how are you?»
("Good Morning Blues")
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