Customer Reviews

Take This Hammer

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

 

 

Hudy (or "Huddie") Ledbetter was a songster, a folk singer, a blues singer and a gospel singer, and "Take This Hammer" is an excellent compilation of Leadbelly's 1940 Victor recordings, showing his versatility and the power of his huge, resonant baritone.

On half of these 26 tracks, Leadbelly is joined by The Golden Gate Jubilee Quartet (a vocal ensemble); the rest are solo performances. The sound is exceptionally good for 64-year-old recordings, and while "Take This Hammer" is not an exhaustive career overview, it does include many of Huddie Ledbetter's best and best-known songs, including "Pick A Bale Of Cotton", "Alberta", "Yellow Gal", "Alabama Bound", "Rock Island Line", "The Midnight Special", "TB Blues", and the title track. The presence of The Golden Gate Jubilee Quartet on tracks 1-6 and 15-21 lends a new dimension to Leadbelly's songs, adding texture and depth to them without robbing songs like "Can't You Line 'Em" and "Whoa Buck, Back" of any of their power. These sides have inspired artists from Muddy Waters to Aerosmith (!), and they are also some of the most accessible Hudy Ledbetter ever recorded.

Originally released in 1965 on Smithsonia Folkways, these wonderful recordings are an essential part of Hudy William Ledbetter's recorded legacy.
Highly recommended.

I had the "Absolutely the Best" CD and decided to get this one because of the number of tracks. I couldn't believe the the difference in sound quality of this cd compared to others I've heard. I would highly recommend this album to the casual leadbelly listener.

When most hear Lead Belly, the quality of the recordings and distance of his voice (or guitar, in some cases) almost makes him seem like a mythological being. It's not that you cannot feel connected to the music, but it does alter your perception to a large extent.

The recordings on Take This Hammer, however, are something very special. The sound quality is phenomenal for a session from the early 1940s and the remastering is just excellent. The remastering removed the hiss that is so present in the original discs without removing the preservant frequencies that give recordings that extra kick. It sounds modern and the crisp, warm sound of the originals is still preserved. It makes Lead Belly seem more realistic and of course, the songs themselves are outstanding... but that's to be expected.

The Golden Gate Quartet is overbearing at some points, and takes away from some of Lead Belly's signature tunes, but nevertheless this is one of the few single Lead Belly discs one should own!

I love Leadbelly, and I love black gospel, but this is a strange, unnatural marriage. Leadbelly is phenomenal. The Golden Gate gospel group is wonderful, but together they are not that great. The seven or so solo Leadbelly tunes are breathtaking; the combined tunes are clumsy. Sort of reminds me of B. B. King and Bobby Bland "Together Again for the First Time" album; both artists are great, but something didn't click for the combined album.