Audio CD review:
Leadbelly - The Definitive Leadbelly

Leadbelly - The Definitive Leadbelly

Band: Leadbelly Title: The Definitive Leadbelly Rating: Release Date: 21 May, 2002 Media: Audio CD Tracks: 1: Grasshoppers in My Pillow 2: Tight Like That 3: C.C. Rider 4: Well You Know I Had to Do It 5: Alberta 6: Sweet Mary Blues 7: New Orleans 8: New York City 9: Baby, Don't You Love Me No More? 10: Thirty Days in the Work House 11: You Cain' Loose-A-Me Cholly 12: Midnight Special 13: I'm Leavin' on the Midnight Train 14: Fannin' Street 15: Goodnight Irene 16: Pick a Bale of Cotton 17: Black Girl 18: Turn Yo' Radio On 19: Children's Blues 20: John Henry 21: Corn Bread Rough 22: Can't You Line 'Em 23: Ella Speed 24: Tell Me Baby 25: Go Down, Old Hannah 26: Somebody's Diggin' My Potatoes 27: Dancing With Tears in My Heart 28: Salty Dog 29: Whoa Back Up 30: Sukey Jump 31: How Long 32: Eagle Rock Rag 33: Laura 34: Big Fat Woman 35: My Friend Blind Lemon 36: Easy Mr Tom 37: New Black Snake 38: Matchbox Blues 39: Death Letter Blues, Pt. 1 40: Death Letter Blues, Pt. 2 41: Bourgeois Blues 42: We're in the Same Boat, Brother 43: Jean Harlow 44: Howard Hughes 45: Cow Cow Yicky Yicky Yea 46: When I Was a Cowboy 47: T B Blues 48: Alabama Bound 49: Shout On (Honey I'm All Out and Down) 50: He Never Said a Mumbling Word 51: It Was Early One Morning 52: Good Morning Blues 53: Tom Hughes Town 54: Bull Cow 55: Looky Look Yonder 56: Blood Done Sign My Name 57: Tell Me Baby, What Was Wrong With You 58: Birmingham Jail (Down in the Valley) 59: Red Cross Store Blues 60: Sail on, Little Girl, Sail On 61: Roberta 62: Jim Crow Blues 63: Gray Goose 64: I'm on My Last Go-Round 65: Stewball 66: Spring Time in the Rockies 67: Ain't Going Down to the Well No More 68: Take This Hammer 69: Rock Island Line 70: Midnight Special 71: Sylvie - Huddie Ledbetter 72: I'll Be Down on the Last Bread Wagon 73: Chinatown 74: I'm Alone Because I Love You 75: Leaving Blues

Customer Reviews The Definitive Leabelly CD's Are Great, But........... 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. 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. 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)!. Where and when were these songs recorded? The problem is that the liner notes only give you biographical information about Leadbelly. Don't get me wrong--the music here is great. 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. Great Compilation I'm not sure why, as it's definitely the best Leadbelly compilation on the market. For some reason very few people know about this compilation. 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. . You can see a complete list of all Leadbelly discography, or go back to the Leadbelly tabs