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This single-disc compilation makes a pretty good introduction to the legendary folk/ blues musician, Lead Belly. The sound quality is good and comparable to the more recent collection Absolutely the Best, and this CD contains many of the same standards as that album, including "The Bourgeois Blues," "In New Orleans," "Goodnight Irene" and "Where Did You Sleep Last Night," as well as additional classics such as "Yellow Gal," "Blue Tail Fly" and "The Boll Weevil Song." The only thing stopping this collection from being indisputably more definitive than Absolutely the Best is the unfortunate absence of "Midnight Special," a song famously covered by Creedence Clearwater Revival in the late 1960s, and probably one of Huddie's four or five most popular songs. My suggestion? If you're willing to shell out a bit more, then get this album along with Lead Belly Sings for Children, also available on Amazon. The latter contains the aformentioned "Midnight Special," as well as a number of wonderful children's songs, spirituals and medleys.

This Cleopatra disc is a great place to start for those just getting acquainted with Huddie Ledbetter. It's not definitive, of course, but these fine transfers of Leadbelly's best-known songs will satisfy most casual fans, and while "Take This Hammer" (a part of the "When The Sun Goes Down"-series) is probably a little more accessible for the casual listener, you can't beat this disc as far as the song selection goes.

More serious fans will of course want "The Definitive Leadbelly" from the Catfish label, or the multi-volume "Leadbelly Legacy" series from Smithsonian/Folkways, but this is a terrific starting point for the curious. Huddie Ledbetter, who usually performed solo accompanied only by his own twelve-string guitar, was the first black musician to gain recognition amongst the white audiences of the 20s and 30s, and this is essential early American blues and folk music.

buy this. don't hesitate. it's necessary for you to own it and know it. otherwise you just don't know what you're missing. buy the robert johnson and hank williams complete recordings as well. then you're off to a good start. country blues, to me, is the direct predecessor to rock music, and it's some of the purest, most enjoyable music out there.

Born Huddie Leadbetter, this singer was better known as Leadbelly. The liner notes clarify his role in music history: "It would be foolish to try and rank Leadbelly as an influential force on today's modern blues practice. . .[N]either his style of playing or singing is germane to how we do business on the bandstand these days. But Leadbelly was the first rural African-American musician to receive media exposure. . . ." This statement is perhaps overstated a bit. However, Leadbelly's almost primitive art (between vocals and guitar work) is still pretty compelling. One might also note that Pete Seeger spoke highly of him.

A look at a handful of the cuts here can provide a sense of his work.

One of my favorites is "The Bourgeois Blues." He has a rough, unpolished voice; his guitar playing is spare but effective. He sings of his bourgeois blues, facing racism. One nice line:

"Home of the brave, land of the free,
I don't want to be mistreated by no bourgeoisie."

Then, there is "In New Orleans (House of the Rising Sun)." An intriguing song. This is NOT the song made famous by the Animals, although some of the lines are similar. The song has a hypnotic feel. It is a tale of returning home to New Orleans, "'cuz my race is almost run."

"Goodnight Irene" is one of his best known works. A golden oldie. This presents an interesting contrast to some of the songs dealing with darker issues (e.g., "The Bourgeois Blues").

Finally, "Blue Tail Fly." Vocal only, no instrumentation. He begins with "Jimmy cracks corn and I don't care; Martha's gone away." A strange little song. It's pretty loosely sung with an improvisational feel to it.

This doesn't represent all of his best pieces, as some others have noted. But it does provide a nice entree into his body of work.

An evaluation of reviews compelled me to choose this cd over Absolutely The Best (my introduction to Leadbetter, the audio quality ok), though, I should have put more of a premium on sound. I'll get ATB now, even if Last Sessions has the clearest audio experience, but whose version of In New Orleans had traded its original bounce for the dirge qualities of the modern version.

ps- if you want a galloping, if wholly unlike the original, interp of the modern version, listen to Tracy Chapman's go in the Elektra 40th anniversary Rubaiyat collection.

Lead Belly was the basis of todays modern blues. If you have ever heard the gospel blues of the early 20 th century you must have this album. Blind Willie Johnson, Son House, and Lead Belly these were the original deep rooted spitually agangst singers.

You can't go wrong with this compilation. For a longer review, see the other reviewer's remarks. Remember no "best of" is best without "Midnight Special", recorded by a kajillion other artists. (Is there a Leadbelly estate?) Be prepared though for the sellers of any compilation including that song to stick a gun in your ribs for the CD(s). If you can afford more money, skip this one for the one with ...you get up in the mornin', you hear the ding dong ring...

Like so many of my generation, I first heard of Leadbelly through Nirvana's harrowing cover of "Where Did You Sleep Last Night." That put his name in my head, but it was quite a few years until I actually got a Leadbelly CD. I had ended up exploring a lot of other early bluesmen before I got around to Leadbelly. And that's good, because I've actually found Leadbelly to be horribly repetitive and boring. Whoa, did he just say that? Boring? Not Leadbelly, someone who's been revered by blues fans and folkies for over 50 years now! Yes people, BORING....
Let me add a little to that. I'm not some neophyte who has one Leadbelly CD and decided all the music was horrible. I have the 1990 "Leadbelly" CD, "King of the 12 String Guitar," and "Gwine Dig a Hole to Put the Devil In." And after giving all three of them a lot of chances over the years, I've come to my earlier conclusion. It's a bit of a crime that Leadbelly has more releases than almost any other early bluesman. If ever the claim could be made that someone's songs all sound the same, it applies to Leadbelly. Let me lay it out for you -
Start out with some general "chugga chugga" chords - I swear the chords hardly vary between different songs. Much fuss is made about the fact that he played 12-string, but it might as well be strumming the end of a rake. Then, in an almost impenetrable patoise, start saying how a person did "this," and then did "this," and then did "that," and cap it all off with the phrase "you know what he said to him/her?" And then sing the chorus in a completely indecipherable mumble. And THAT is every Leadbelly song, folks. His voice never changes from this cycle. You don't have the spooky vibrato of someone like Bukka White, no amazing guitar work like Robert Johnson (for me Leadbelly is actually a mediocre guitarist), no country bounce like Mississippi John Hurt. It is really damned monotonous.
Now, is it Leadbelly's fault he doesn't sound like other people? No. But he has always been accorded this legendary status like he's the fount from which all blues flows, and that's not the case. His legend has always been helped by the facts of his life - serving prison terms several times, being discovered by Alan Lomax, getting a pardon from writing a song or something, etc. While the story of Leadbelly is very interesting, I don't think the music is. So, if you want a well-rounded early blues collection, get a Leadbelly CD then. But honestly, you really don't need more than one.