In the Shadow of the Gallows Pole

Leadbelly | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (May 21, 1996)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Tradition Records
• ASIN: B00000B0OR
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #583,227 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Medley

2. Medley

3. De Blues

4. The Gallis Pole

5. The Bourgeois Blues

6. Noted Rider

7. Big Fat Woman

8. Borrow Love and Go

9. Bring Me Little Water Silvy

10. Julie Ann Johnson

11. Line Tin

12. Whoa, Back, Buck! (Back Band)

13. John Hardy

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Incredible music; flawed issue, January 28, 2012

By 

Jeff Crompton (Atlanta, GA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: In the Shadow of the Gallows Pole (Audio CD)

This Tradition CD is very short - less than 30 minutes long - and there is no discographical information included, so most listeners will have no idea when, and under what circumstances, these selections were recorded. And the track points aren't always lined up properly at the beginning of each song.

But the music is fabulous - these are some of the best recordings Leadbelly ever made. There is the wonderfully bitter "Bourgeois Blues," based on the racism he experienced in Washington, DC: "Home of the brave; land of the free - I don't wanna be mistreated by no bourgeoisie." There are Ledbetter's versions of old work songs like "Julie Ann Johnson" and the railroad crew song "Line 'Em." And "Gallis Pole" is an intense, moving version of the old British ballad "Gallows Pole." (Led Zeppelin also recorded a version of this one.)

On most of the tracks, Leadbelly accompanies himself on his twelve-string guitar, but there are a couple of unaccompanied vocals (the opening work song medley and "Line 'Em"). And Leadbelly plays piano on one short selection ("Big Fat Woman") and even brings out his accordion for the Texas bad man ballad "John Hardy."

So where do these recordings come from? A little time with the discography in Charles Wolfe and Kip Lornell's Leadbelly biography reveals that the first five tracks were recorded for the Musicraft label on April 1, 1939. The rest of the tracks come from an October, 1943 Asch Records session.

So this isn't the ideal issue of this music. I wouldn't let that stop you if you can get this CD for a decent price; it's some of Leadbelly's best recorded work. The music rates five stars.