Very interesting read about a legend whose name I had heard, who I knew was an inspiration for many blues, folk and rock singers, yet I really knew nothing about. From the start of his musical career in the red light district of Shreveport, LA to his stints in prison to his rise to fame in New York City, the book is well-researched, and gives you some insight into what it was like to be a musician in the early days.
It sure has made me start listening to old blues again. Leadbelly, of course, is more folk than blues, and really more just Leadbelly than anything else, but it's made me pull out Charley Patton, Memphis Minnie, Robert Johnson, Blind Lemon, and a bunch of other stuff. So, you know, that's good.
It amazes me that there aren't a whole slew of bios of Leadbelly, all arguing with each other, but at least this one's well-researched and teased out a lot of the facts from fiction before time made the truth irretrievable.
Also, it's readable. Not just readable, but an enjoyable read. I don't know what it is with musicologists who specialize in 78's, but man, they can be full of themselves. Ever read the liner notes of an old country blues album? Maybe they're insecure. The other musicologists don't take them seriously or something.
Nevertheless, I do have one quibble. Lornell and Wolfe categorically state at the end of the book that Louisiana's governor did not release Leadbelly from prison because of a song Leadbelly recorded for the governor. I'm not sure the evidence supports that. Sure, the governor and his employees denied it, but they would, wouldn't they? He got released a little early even following their official "double-good-time" logic.
It amazes me that there aren't a whole slew of bios of Leadbelly, all arguing with each other, but at least this one's well-researched and teased out a lot of the facts from fiction before time made the truth irretrievable.
Also, it's readable. Not just readable, but an enjoyable read. I don't know what it is with musicologists who specialize in 78's, but man, they can be full of themselves. Ever read the liner notes of an old country blues album? Maybe they're insecure. The other musicologists don't take them seriously or something.
Nevertheless, I do have one quibble. Lornell and Wolfe categorically state at the end of the book that Louisiana's governor did not release Leadbelly from prison because of a song Leadbelly recorded for the governor. I'm not sure the evidence supports that. Sure, the governor and his employees denied it, but they would, wouldn't they? He got released a little early even following their official "double-good-time" logic.
