SONG
"I like the intro :) It sounds quite musical compared to a lot of this early music. Yeah, this is one of the better ones." - LC
Written by: Huddie Ledbetter, Alan Lomax
Producer: John Lomax, Alan Lomax
Label: Library of Congress
FACTS
- The song is a variation of "The Maid Freed from the Gallows" a centuries-old folk song about a condemned maiden pleading for someone to buy her freedom from the executioner.
The Lead Belly version is performed on acoustic twelve string guitar, and following an introductory phrase reminiscent of the vocal melody, Lead Belly launches into a furious fingerpicking pattern.- Huddie "Lead Belly" Ledbetter's was discovered in prison by John and Alan Lomax in 1934.
- Lead Belly had already sung himself out of prison once but his violent temper had seen him locked up again.
- When the Lomaxs came through looking for singers who were not "contaminated" by the modern world, they were hugely impressed with Lead Belly, who played twelve-string guitar and knew literally hundreds of songs.
- Lead Belly apparently learnt this song from Hillbilly musicians and adapted it.
- While he was alive, Lead Belly was never rich or famous but his songs became hits for Lonnie Donegan and The Beach Boys.
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