Subject: RE: Why doesn't anyone talk about Leadbelly? From: PoppaGator Date: 15 Nov 04 - 01:41 PM "Only real form of American music..." Many more people, both in the US and overseas, would apply that definition to jazz than to Ledbelly-style folk music. The usual wording describes jazz as "America's only native art form." Of course, the common element in (if not the common source of) both jazz and American folk music is the blues. |
Subject: RE: Why doesn't anyone talk about Leadbelly? From: Uncle_DaveO Date: 15 Nov 04 - 11:59 AM chris nightbird said, in part: lately (as stated in the 'American Folk' thread) people from the U.S. have been ignoring the only real form of American music we have here. I'm not sure just what you mean by "ignoring the only real form of American music"; but given the context of this thread I have to protest. There's Leadbelly's singing which is surely part of what you're speaking of, which is asserted by some in this thread to be ignored, but how about Dixieland jazz, soul, bluegrass, and on and on? These are real forms of American music, which "people from the U.S." have NOT been ignoring. In any case, Leadbelly is far from "the only real form of American music we have here," great as he was. Or am I totally misunderstanding your meaning? If so, it may just be an unclear statement on your part. Dave Oesterreich |
Subject: RE: Why doesn't anyone talk about Leadbelly? From: SINSULL Date: 15 Nov 04 - 11:43 AM Odetta gave a concert introducing her new blues CD at the Chocolate Church last weekend. 80% of it was Leadbelly adaptations and the audience - all middle class and white - knew them all. Re: Robert Johnson. Has anyone read Reservation Blues? Just started it. Strange tale of Robert Johnson selling his soul to the "Gentleman" so that he could be the greatest guitar player of all time. |
Subject: RE: Why doesn't anyone talk about Leadbelly? From: Terry Allan Hall Date: 15 Nov 04 - 11:16 AM LOL @ Guest/Hootenanny...very good! I feel a parody coming on! ;) |
Subject: RE: Why doesn't anyone talk about Leadbelly? From: alanabit Date: 15 Nov 04 - 11:14 AM I am with Greg on this one. I never thought of Leadbelly as a bluesman in the way that Charlie Patton, Robert Johnson or Son House were. I think of him more as an American folk singer, who covered a number of styles. "Irene" is actually a waltz - about as un blues sounding as you can get. I feel rather the same way about Mississippi John Hurt, although there is also plenty of blues and ragtime in his picking along with some fine slide playing. I think we have a tendency to lump any black folk singer of those times along with "other" bluesmen. I don't think they saw themselves that way at all. |
Subject: RE: Why doesn't anyone talk about Leadbelly? From: GUEST,Hootenanny Date: 15 Nov 04 - 09:55 AM Wasn't it Leadbelly with an amazing amount of foresight during his stay in Washington DC that wrote The Bushwar blues ? |
Subject: RE: Why doesn't anyone talk about Leadbelly? From: greg stephens Date: 15 Nov 04 - 08:51 AM Well, Bobert, you may be right that Leadbelly wasnt the very greatest of the great blues singers(but he's up in the top ten in my opinion). But what all the rest of his output, the blues stuff if just a little fraction of his output. Hw wqas a Luoisiana/Texas folk-singer, not a delta bluesman. As far as I am concerned, Leadbelly was the GREATEST( without defining too accurately what he was the greatest at). |
Subject: RE: Why doesn't anyone talk about Leadbelly? From: GUEST Date: 15 Nov 04 - 07:38 AM Hey, I'll talk about Leadbelly: he was a giant of 20th C music and his influence has been pervasive and global. Every syllable and every note of his recorded performances ring out with committment, his presence in his recordings is awesome, his voice jumps out at you from the speakers from 50-60-70 years ago and grabs you by the lapels and says "you WILL listen to this." One of the finest performers the world has heard, what a voice, what a guitar picker, what Soul that man had! When comes such another? |
Subject: RE: Why doesn't anyone talk about Leadbelly? From: RWilhelm Date: 15 Nov 04 - 01:24 AM I am really embarrassed by this new round of American whining. As Guest pointed out, there have been literally thousands of postings here about Leadbelly. He has been the subject of a major motion picture (sort of accurate). Anyone who takes a step beyond pop music is going to run into Leadbelly right away. I think it's fantastic how much we know about Leadbelly, his life and work (and all those Lomax songs he sang). |
Subject: RE: Why doesn't anyone talk about Leadbelly? From: Nerd Date: 15 Nov 04 - 01:01 AM I was just talking about Leadbelly the other day at work. One of my colleague was looking for that "Pines" song that Robert Johnson sang. I didn't know which one he meant. Finally it dawned on me: he meant Leadbelly, not RJ! He went online to look at the lyrics, and said "Oh, I didn't know he wrote 'Goodnight Irene.'" " "he didn't, really," I said. "It's probably descended from an old popular Tin Pan Alley song published as sheet music. Leadbelly always said he learned it from his uncle Terrell, and his Uncle Bob confirmed that, but when they copyrighted it, he and John Lomax shared the credit." At that point everyone's mouth was hanging open, because why did I know all this trivia? Most people just don't care that much. Bobert, it was mostly John Lomax who made the business arrangements with Leadbelly and employed him as a servant, not his son Alan. He was much more paternalistic, much more the "Massa," than Alan was. I think Alan sometimes gets a bad rap because people don't distinguish between him and his father. Alan was a great promoter of Leadbelly's talent, arranging recording sessions with everyone from RCA Victor to Folkways, etc. In fact, in 1939 when Leadbelly got in trouble with the law for stabbing another man in NYC (probably someone trying to molest his wife, though Leadbelly was tight-lipped about it), Alan Lomax took a semester off from Columbia University just to raise money for Leadbelly's defense. Most accounts make him a true believer and loyal friend of Leadbelly's, if a little paternalistic in his old-fashioned Texas way. Then, too, according to most accounts (including the authoritative Wolfe and Lornell book) Leadbelly begged John Lomax pretty obsequiously for a job as driver/cook/servant, sending him four letters in August and September of 1933; Lomax did not seek out such services from Leadbelly. So it may be true that John Lomax treated him as a servant, but he invited and even begged for such treatment. He seems to have grown to resent it later, after John Lomax's attitudes toward him were pretty well set. |
Subject: RE: Why doesn't anyone talk about Leadbelly? From: chris nightbird childs Date: 15 Nov 04 - 12:41 AM hahaha... I remember first seing Nirvana on MTV here in the states! |
Subject: RE: Why doesn't anyone talk about Leadbelly? From: Blissfully Ignorant Date: 15 Nov 04 - 12:36 AM Yup...and even Nirvana were before my time. What do i get? Britney effin' Spears...or Blink 182...or, if i really want to prove how hard i am, Slipknot....*sigh*... |
Subject: RE: Why doesn't anyone talk about Leadbelly? From: chris nightbird childs Date: 15 Nov 04 - 12:22 AM Nice, Bliss. I'm also a fan of Cobain's. He was almost the John Lennon of this generation as far as pop music goes... |
Subject: RE: Why doesn't anyone talk about Leadbelly? From: Blissfully Ignorant Date: 15 Nov 04 - 12:20 AM I recently heard someone do a cover of 'Where did you sleep last night' and they introduced it as being a Nirvana song! It was the Nirvana cover that got me into Leadbelly in the first place, on the 'unplugged in new york' cd Kurt Cobain said Leadbelly was his favourite performer...and me, of course, being in the 'Oh, look! A dead rock star! Must be cool!'phase decided he was my favourite performer too. Maybe if one of these lip-synching teeny bands did a cover of 'Goodnight Irene'(probably my favourite song ever), there'd be a renewed interest.. |
Subject: RE: Why doesn't anyone talk about Leadbelly? From: chris nightbird childs Date: 15 Nov 04 - 12:07 AM Son probably influenced me more than Leadbelly did actually. I do a version of his "Grinnin' in Your Face". No accompaniment... |
Subject: RE: Why doesn't anyone talk about Leadbelly? From: chris nightbird childs Date: 15 Nov 04 - 12:04 AM I was surprised when Kurt Cobain did his version of "In the Pines/Where Did You Sleep Last Night". Didn't know he was into Leadbelly... |
Subject: RE: Why doesn't anyone talk about Leadbelly? From: Bobert Date: 15 Nov 04 - 12:02 AM You know, and I hate to say it, is that Leadbelly never got any real respect from Massa Alan Lomax... Not that Alan Lomax "respected" too many of the folks he recorded but at least he did record them... Leadbelly was thought to be Lomax's "boy"... This didn't help Leadbelly's reputation with the black music appreciaters... Well, that's the word on the street... Plus, there were some guys out there who, IMO, were better bluesmen, like Muddy Waters, Son House was still playin'( up to '48 when Willie Brown died), youngins like Elmore James and Lightin' Hopkins comin' up... Bad timing and bad associations... Bobert |
Subject: RE: Why doesn't anyone talk about Leadbelly? From: Peace Date: 15 Nov 04 - 12:01 AM I did. He's great. I love "Goodnight Irene." Always have. |
Subject: RE: Why doesn't anyone talk about Leadbelly? From: chris nightbird childs Date: 14 Nov 04 - 11:46 PM Well, I don't expect you to answer for everyone Bruce. Just putting it in and seeing what bites... |
Subject: RE: Why doesn't anyone talk about Leadbelly? From: Bill D Date: 14 Nov 04 - 11:46 PM People who think they are interested in politics don't study Martin Van Buren or the Know-Nothings or Tammany Hall much either...like Leadbelly, they find it all too plain or boring or something. |
Subject: RE: Why doesn't anyone talk about Leadbelly? From: Peace Date: 14 Nov 04 - 11:41 PM True. But that's partly the function of BS as opposed to the site having just 'music' places to post. Politics is in the music, too, and that's a way to keep the acrimonious remarks outta the music threads. Hell, maybe it's the difference between going to a bar and going to a pub. To answer your question, it beats me. |
Subject: RE: Why doesn't anyone talk about Leadbelly? From: chris nightbird childs Date: 14 Nov 04 - 11:37 PM I'm just saying that lately (as stated in the 'American Folk' thread) people from the U.S. have been ignoring the only real form of American music we have here. Instead choosing to go on about our President and their opinions of politics... |
Subject: RE: Why doesn't anyone talk about Leadbelly? From: GUEST Date: 14 Nov 04 - 11:33 PM There are 1400 posts referring to the name, Leadbelly. Lots of stuff of his on the digitrad. There are 106 posts that mention Huddie Ledbetter. Good to see his name again though, Chris. |
Subject: RE: Why doesn't anyone talk about Leadbelly? From: Blissfully Ignorant Date: 14 Nov 04 - 11:31 PM I'd rather listen to him....:0) |
Subject: Why doesn't anyone talk about Leadbelly? From: chris nightbird childs Date: 14 Nov 04 - 11:26 PM Huddie Ledbetter, writer/or presenter of such classic ( and traditional) songs like Rock Island Line (that gave Lonnie Donegan a career), Midnight Special (big Creedence Clearwater hit), and C.C. Rider (which Dylan was singing before he attempted sounding like Guthrie). Sadly enough, there are still Americans who haven't heard of him. |
Share Thread: |
Subject: | Help |
From: | |
Preview Automatic Linebreaks Make a link ("blue clicky") |