Four CDs containing the best part of Leadbelly's only recordings on magnetic recording tape, which allowed him to stretch his songs to their usual length for the first time on record. The clarity of the recording, the presence of the between-song comments, and the selection of material makes this a seminal part of any serious collection. ~ Bruce Eder, All Music Guide

CD $47.48

Leadbelly stands like a cornerstone in modern folk music. He showed that folk songs didn't have to be 300 years old and originate from the British Isles; instead they could be born out of American experience. Absolutely the Best offers a number of Leadbelly classics including "Roberta," "Midnight Special," and "In New Orleans (House of the Rising Sun." There is a wonderful version of "The Bourgeois Blues," filled with cutting social commentary, and a haunting version of {&"Where Did You   [ read more ]

CD $11.38

Recordings from 1939 to 1944 comprise this collection, which finds Leadbelly performing solo and backed by Sonny Terry, the Golden Gate Quartet and Paul Mason Howard. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Music Guide

CD $18.03

The bulk of the best performances by Leadbelly -- whose influence on the folk revival of the 1950s and '60s cannot be overstated -- were recorded during the 1940s for Folkways Records founder Moses Asch. Inferior copies and rerecordings of these tunes have appeared over the years, but the original masters have sat in the vaults of Folkways. The three-volume "Leadbelly Legacy" collection shows what we've been missing: The compilers dug out the best-available versions of Leadbelly's finest songs a   [ read more ]

CD $16.13

Although the original Leadbelly LP bearing this name (Folkways 31030) was drawn from October 1948 sessions, the CD reissue adds 17 tracks, some recorded as early as 1941, and so should be now considered an anthology of 1940s work. This does not rate among the best Leadbelly collections: due to illness, his guitar skills had diminished by the 1948 sessions that comprise much of the disc, and there are better versions of some of the songs elsewhere. It's still plenty worthwhile, though, particularly whe   [ read more ]

CD $16.13

Rather thin at ten songs, of indeterminate origin, but the material is all very strong, including "Defense Blues," "Jim Crow, " and a short version of "Midnight Special." ~ Bruce Eder, All Music Guide

CD $12.33

Gwine Dig a Hole to Put the Devil In is an excellent sampling of material from Leadbelly's early Library of Congress sessions, including versions of some of the first songs he ever learned, "Green Corn" and "Po' Howard," his song to Governor Neff that helped secure his release from a Texas prison in 1925, his first recorded version of "If It Wasn't for Dickie" (later transformed into "Kisses Sweeter Than Wine") -- the master of which is, alas, somewhat damaged -- and "C. C. Rider." ~   [ read more ]

CD $17.08

In early July of 1933, Alan and John Lomax visited Angola Penitentiary in Louisiana with the intention of recording the music of the inmates who lived there. That day, Huddie Ledbetter, aka Leadbelly, cut his first recorded version of what became known as "Goodnight Irene" and 11 other songs, opening a career that would keep his name alive more than a half-century after his death, carried far beyond the boundaries of Louisiana and the United States. Those sides are not on this CD but the sides that   [ read more ]

CD $17.08

Included are '40s Folkways recordings with Woody Guthrie, Cisco Houston, and Sonny Terry. ~ Mark A. Humphrey, All Music Guide

CD $16.13

Thirteen songs, mostly from the early '40s (though there are no credits or sessionography), featuring a wide range of Leadbelly's repertory, from topical to traditional, and with the singer playing accordion in addition to his usual guitar. ~ Bruce Eder, All Music Guide

CD $12.33

Leadbelly's last recording sessions for a commercial record label, held in the early fall of 1944, yielded a dazzling 12 songs, embracing virtuoso guitar blues ("Grasshoppers in My Pillow"), pounding piano-driven scatting ("The Eagle Rocks," with Leadbelly himself at the ivories, a talent for which he wasn't usually recognized), and familiar standards done in some startlingly different ways, including "Goodnight, Irene," "Rock Island Line," and "Ella Speed," done with the understa   [ read more ]

CD $19.93

Lead Belly recorded a prodigious amount of music for Folkways, Stinson, and the Library of Congress between the time of his release from Angola State Prison in 1934 to his death from Lou Gehrig's disease in 1949. While anyone unfamiliar with the rougher edges of earlier folk recordings will prefer the recordings he made in the æ40s for Folkway, hardcore fans prefer the energy of the Library of Congress recordings. These latter fans argue that these recordings come closer to capturing th   [ read more ]

CD $16.13