Audio CD review:
Leadbelly - Best of Lead Belly

Leadbelly - Best of Lead Belly

Band: Leadbelly Title: Best of Lead Belly Rating: Release Date: 02 May, 2000 Media: Audio CD Tracks: 1: The Bourgeois Blues 2: Look, Looky Yonder/Black Betty 3: Poor Howard/Green Corn 4: The Gallows Pole 5: Noted Rider 6: Big Fat Woman 7: Burrow, Love And Go 8: Bring Me Li'l Water Silvy 9: Julie Ann Johnson 10: Line 'Em 11: Whoe Back Buck 12: John Hardy 13: In New Orleans 14: Goodnight Irene 15: Where Did You Sleep Last Night? 16: How Long 17: Yellow Gal 18: On A Monday 19: Blue Tail Fly 20: The Boll Weevil Song

Customer Reviews A reasonable entry point into Leadbelly's body of work 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. Born Huddie Leadbetter, this singer was better known as Leadbelly. . . [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. . Pretty close. 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. This single-disc compilation makes a pretty good introduction to the legendary folk/ blues musician, Lead Belly. " 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. . Almost For a longer review, see the other reviewer's remarks. You can't go wrong with this compilation. 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. . You can see a complete list of all Leadbelly discography, or go back to the Leadbelly tabs