Audio CD review:
Leadbelly - Take This Hammer

Leadbelly - Take This Hammer

Band: Leadbelly Title: Take This Hammer Rating: Release Date: 06 May, 2003 Media: Audio CD Tracks: 1: Pick A Bale Of Cotton 2: Alabama Bound 3: Yellow Gal 4: Midnight Special 5: Rock Island Line 6: Whoa Back, Buck 7: Good Morning Blues 8: Leavin' Blues 9: TB Blues 10: Red Cross Store Blues 11: Sail On Little Girl, Sail On 12: Roberta 13: Alberta 14: I'm On My Last Go Round 15: Grey Goose 16: Didn't Ol' John Cross The Water 17: Stewball 18: Take This Hammer 19: Can't You Line 'Em 20: Julianne Johnson 21: Ham An' Eggs 22: Easy Rider 23: New York City 24: Worried Blues 25: Don't You Love Your Daddy No More 26: You Can't Lose-A-Me Cholly

Customer Reviews Fish out of water Leadbelly is phenomenal. I love Leadbelly, and I love black gospel, but this is a strange, unnatural marriage. 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. ****1/2 - a great collection of Ledbetter's Victor sides On half of these 26 tracks, Leadbelly is joined by The Golden Gate Jubilee Quartet (a vocal ensemble); the rest are solo performances. 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. 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. excellent recording I couldn't believe the the difference in sound quality of this cd compared to others I've heard. I had the "Absolutely the Best" CD and decided to get this one because of the number of tracks. I would highly recommend this album to the casual leadbelly listener. . You can see a complete list of all Leadbelly discography, or go back to the Leadbelly tabs