Customer Reviews

Definitive Leadbelly

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The Definitive Leadbelly cd box set is a well-worth investment, especially for the first-time Leadbelly listeners, but there a few flaws with this compilation:

1. The version of 'Goodnight Irene' on the first disc is of great sound quality, but Catfish Records seem to cut this song off about 40 seconds early. This bothered me a lot.

2. If you can find this box set, go ahead and buy it, just be careful that the seller actually has it, not just something listed by a power-seller or on some internet store. Since Catfish Records is a British-based record company, it is harder to find this compilation in the United States.

3. The booklet contains little information. Besides a good biography, it only has a song list in the back 2 pages of the booklet. It has no information pertaining to when and where the tracks were recorded. Not even composer rights are listed in this booklet, but the composer information can be found on [...] ,Leadbelly recorded several of his songs more than once, so it's pretty hard to figure out where to go from here for more Leadbelly CD's.

Besides these few little flaws, it is a great collection if you can find it. The sound quality is, for the most part, awesome (considering the recordings are about 65 years old)!

For some reason very few people know about this compilation. I'm not sure why, as it's definitely the best Leadbelly compilation on the market. The sound quality is great, it's comprehensive without being too long, and it's got great liner notes. The way the songs are divided on the discs is great too. Disc one contains most of the big hits, making it a sort of greatest hits album, while discs two and three contain more rarities and alternate takes. Definitely recommended for any Leadbelly fan or anyone looking for an introduction to the artist.

This is a wonderful set of 3 CDs. The sound quality is terrific. How they clean up these old recordings is a wonder! If you're not familiar with him, Leadbelly's style is stiff and somewhat formal, but he grows on you. His 12-string playing is fairly simple, with occasional boogie-woogie riffs. He was influential though and a friend of the folkies of his day - Woody Guthrie, the Weavers, Pete Seeger, etc. This collection is a great buy.

I have enjoyed the audio quality of this compilation of Leadbelly but it is not the definitive collection, how could it be without Gallis Pole? For those of you new to the older blues recordings you will not have the scratchiness that is so prevalent in many of these cds. The information booklet is a nice bio of Leadbelly but there is no data on when the songs were recorded.

Don't get me wrong--the music here is great. The problem is that the liner notes only give you biographical information about Leadbelly. There's ZERO information about the songs--where and when they were recorded. Since he recorded many songs numerous times, this collection really leaves you in the dark.

So, five stars for the music and one star for the booklet averages out to three stars.