Irony upon irony ~ I love that so many have seen fit to comment upon how this discussion should never have been started, nor continued. Of course, these very comments perpetuate the thread and bring us ever closer to the moment when one of us who is so inclined can gleefully interject "100!"

Leadbelly was no saint. Like him or not, it would be hard to deny the objective facts that he was, at times at least, a very nasty and violent man, while at other times he was able to project the image of an utterly lovable character. A bit of a con man, in other words.

He was also, of course, a consummate artist ~ which is a morally neutral description of a human soul.

Flawed, talented, and the source of at least one song we all remember long after his demise. Not unlike a certain Mr. Newton.

Few, if any, among us would suggest that anyone refrain from singing a Leadbelly song on the basis of the composer's moral failings. On the other hand, the argument that Newton's classic hymn might be boycotted received serious consideration.

Brilliant posting by Michael Morris.