To celebrate the 50th anniversay of Leadbelly's death Robin Denselow presented a feature on BBC2's Newsnight programme last night. Clips of the great man, of Pete Seeger and a studio set from Lonnie Donegan, Van Morrison & Ronnie Wood on guitars, Chris Barber on bass and a washboard player in the background who could have been "Sticky" Wickett, Chris Barber's drummer.
All too brief, though, and RD talked over most of the music. Also a strange reversed still photo of Leadbelly that made him look lefthanded until you noticed the Stella logo on his guitar was in mirror image.
Made a change from stories on Chechnya, beef on the bone and the north-south poverty divide.
RtS