Dunno if Leadbelly did or not but I sang it way back when -- thirty years ago or so. With words missing!! A neat trick. I believe backband is a msinterpretation of "black man". The blanks are names of oxen -- perhaps Buck and Sal. Glad to be reminded of it -- I haven't thought of this in many years, except for the one part that has made its way onto the post-60's vernacular, the expression "Whoa Goddamn!!".

A