Lead Belly

"Leadbelly" redirects here. For the biographical film on this person, see Leadbelly (film).

Lead Belly
Lead Belly with a melodeon c. 1942
Lead Belly with a melodeon c. 1942
Background information
Birth nameHuddie William Ledbetter
Also known as
  • Lead Belly
  • Leadbelly
Born(1888-01-23)January 23, 1888[1] (disputed)
Mooringsport, Louisiana, U.S.
DiedDecember 6, 1949(1949-12-06) (aged 61)
New York City, U.S.
Genres
OccupationMusician
Instruments
  • Guitar
  • vocals
  • accordion
  • piano
Years active1903–1949
LabelsRCA Victor, Asch, Capitol

Huddie William Ledbetter (/ˈhjuːdi/ HYOO-dee; January 1888[1][2] or 1889[3] – December 6, 1949),[1] better known by the stage name Lead Belly (not Leadbelly), was an American folk and blues singer notable for his strong vocals, virtuosity on the twelve-string guitar, and the folk standards he introduced, including his renditions of "In the Pines", "Pick a Bale of Cotton", "Goodnight, Irene", "Midnight Special", "Cotton Fields", and "Boll Weevil".

Lead Belly usually played a twelve-string guitar, but he also played the piano, mandolin, harmonica, violin, and windjammer.[4] In some of his recordings, he sang while clapping his hands or stomping his foot.

Lead Belly's songs covered a wide range of genres, including gospel music, blues, and folk music, as well as a number of topics, including women, liquor, prison life, racism, cowboys, work, sailors, cattle herding, and dancing. He also wrote songs about people in the news, such as Franklin D. Roosevelt, Adolf Hitler, Jean Harlow, Jack Johnson, the Scottsboro Boys and Howard Hughes. Lead Belly was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988 and the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame in 2008.

Though many releases credit him as "Leadbelly", he wrote his name as "Lead Belly". This is the spelling on his tombstone[5][6] and is used by the Lead Belly Foundation.[7]

  1. ^ a b c Eagle, Bob; LeBlanc, Eric S. (2013). Blues – A Regional Experience. Santa Barbara: Praeger Publishers. p. 301. ISBN 978-0-313-34423-7.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference :0 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference :1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Snyder, Jared (Summer 1994). "Leadbelly and His Windjammer: Examining the African American Button Accordion Tradition". American Music. 12 (2): 148–166. doi:10.2307/3052520. JSTOR 3052520.
  5. ^ Huddie William "Lead Belly" Ledbetter at Find a Grave
  6. ^ "Delta Blues.net". Archived from the original on September 19, 2010. Retrieved September 22, 2010.
  7. ^ "Lead Belly Foundation". LeadBelly.org. Archived from the original on January 23, 2010. Retrieved September 22, 2010.