Leadbelly is NEWS

Subject: Leadbelly is NEWS
From: Roger the skiffler
Date: 07 Dec 99 - 03:57 AM

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

Subject: RE: Leadbelly is NEWS
From: Peter T.
Date: 07 Dec 99 - 10:18 AM

Ezra Pound: "Poetry is news that stays news."
LEADBELLY IS NEWS THAT STAYS NEWS.

Subject: RE: Leadbelly is NEWS
From: Rick Fielding
Date: 07 Dec 99 - 12:51 PM

Most creative folk musician I ever heard.
Rick

Subject: RE: Leadbelly is NEWS
From: Doctor John
Date: 07 Dec 99 - 01:57 PM

There's a new CD of recordings never before released (honest!)he made for the BBC (?) just issued by Rounder. I haven't herd it yet but sounds interesting. Dr John

Subject: RE: Leadbelly is NEWS
From: Philippa
Date: 07 Dec 99 - 02:50 PM

Yes, I saw Newsnight too, a pleasant surprise. Lonnie Donegan was okay, and even Ron Woods, but I preferred Leadbelly.

Subject: RE: Leadbelly is NEWS
From: GUEST,jinx
Date: 24 Feb 00 - 07:25 PM

I saw Leadbelly's ghost the other night at an Elliot Smith show in NY's Town Hall.

Subject: RE: Leadbelly is NEWS
From: Sourdough
Date: 25 Feb 00 - 02:46 AM

When I was working at WGBH-TV in Boston, Pete Seeger came to do a show. He had with him some film and audiotape that had been made of Leadbelly playing. If I remember correctly, it had been done by a Japanese team. Unfortunately, the people who had done the production did not know anything about crystal sync so there was terrible drift between the picture of Leadbelly playing and the recording of the music. Seeger had spent a lot of frustrating hours on an editing machine trying to sync picture and sound. I think he gave up and we didn't use the footage. I wonder if this is that same footage. Pete Seeger had said that this was the only motion picture with sound of Leadbelly playing. The editors tried very hard to help out but the drift was more than they could handle and the footage never looked very good. It would be nice to think that modern technology made it possible to save the footage.

Sourdough

Subject: RE: Leadbelly is NEWS
From: GUEST,Fred Burns
Date: 25 Feb 00 - 11:58 PM

To Sourdough: I remember sometime in the '60's at a live concert of Pete's that he showed that film of Leadbelly singing "Jump down, turn around and pick of bale of cotton" while he did jump and turn, playing his 12 string guitar as he did it. The sound wasn't great but it did jibe with the video at that time. I recall Pete saying he had spent hours on the Movieola editing it. Thanks for reminding me of it.