Video of the Week #64

To the best of my knowledge, Huddie Ledbetter ("Lead Belly") was sentenced to prison four times for violent crimes. On two of those occasions, his musical ability and reputation helped him to obtain early release. In 1934, musicologist John Lomax helped him to get out of Angola (LA) prison farm. Part of the price he had to pay was appearing in this cringe-inducing newsreel dramatizing his release.

He went on to become Lomax's driver and valet, while Lomax recorded him singing many of his songs for the Library of Congress. At copyright time, Lomax listed himself as Ledbetter's songwriting collaborator, which eventually led to their falling out. Lead Belly became the first folk/blues artist to be well-known to white America. Here he sings "Pick a Bale of Cotton" in 1945.

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