Too Late Too Late Vol 6 1924 - 1946

Leadbelly Vol 6 1947
DOCD-5568 Leadbelly 1939 – 1947 Volume 6; 1947 (Commercial recordings) Lead Belly, twelve-string guitar, concertina, piano Blues, ballads, work songs, spirituals. Informative booklet note by Ken Romaowski Detailed discography. It is indeed fortunate that an undiscovered session of Leadbelly's songs such as this has surfaced fifty years after it's recording. In a lot of ways 1947 was a crucial year for Lead Belly. After his disappointing attempts to break into the film industry, he returned to New York to re-enter the circle of politically active performers who rightly revered Lead Belly as something of an elder statesman. In New York he headlined some prestigious concerts, had a regular slot at the Village Vanguard and continued to record for Moe Asch. Two blocks of these recordings for Asch made in the summer of 1947 make up the bulk of this CD. Continued...

Field Recordings Vol 5 Louisiana Texas Bahamas 1933 - 1940

Leadbelly Vol 1 1934 - 1935
DOCD-5591 Leadbelly - The Remaining ARC and Library of Congress Recordings Leadbelly, vocal, 12-string guitar. Genres: Folk, Blues, Texas Blues, Country Blues. Informative booklet notes. Detailed discography. The recordings on this Leadbelly CD were originally made for the Library of Congress from July 1934 to March 1935, under the supervision of John and Alan Lomax. These sessions took place at the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola while Leadbelly was still a prisoner, and also at Little Rock, Pine Bluff State Farm, Gould, Shreveport, Bellwood Prison Camp, Wilton and New York City. Continued...

Leadbelly Vol 2 1935
DOCD-5592 Leadbelly Vol 2 (1935) Leadbelly, vocal, 12-string guitar. Texas Country Blues, ballads, dance tunes Texas Songster Informative booklet notes. Detailed discography. The recordings on this Leadbelly CD were originally made for the Library of Congress in February/March 1935, under the supervision of John and Alan Lomax. The bulk of the session was recorded at Wilton, Connecticut in February 1935, an area with a strong anti-slavery sentiment, Wilton also served as a stop on the Underground Railroad. There is a wide selection of songs and genres of music in Leadbelly's seemingly endless repertoire, which places him as much of a “songster” as a bluesman. Continued...

Leadbelly Vol 3 1935
DOCD-5593 Leadbelly Vol 3 1935 Leadbelly, vocal, 12-string guitar Genres: Texas Country Blues, Texas Songster. Informative booklet notes. Detailed discography. The session on this Leadbelly CD was recorded in March 1935, Wilton, Connecticut. This was to be a very productive time for Leadbelly and over these sessions he recorded around eighty-nine songs. John and Alan Lomax encouraged Leadbelly during these recordings to perform not only the songs but also the stories behind them. Leadbelly remade all of his songs trying to put them into their context, creating spoken interludes about the background of the song, the events surrounding a song or his personal involvement in the song. "He created those cante-fables (the half spoken, partially sung introductions) in a month," said Alan Lomax. "For me that was the most remarkable thing he ever did." Continued...

Leadbelly Vol 4 1935 - 1938
DOCD-5994 Leadbelly Vol 4 1935 - 1938 Leadbelly, vocal, 12-String guitar. With contributions by Jim and Sarah Garland Genres: Blues, Country Blues, Texas Blues, Country Blues Guitar, Country Blues, Bottleneck-slide Guitar, Folk. The Leadbelly sessions on this CD were recorded between 1935 and 1938 in Wilton, Washington, Pineville and Havers studio, New York City. Leadbelly continued to record not only the songs but he also put them into their context, creating spoken interludes about the background of the song, the events surrounding a song or his personal involvement in the song.

Leadbelly Vol 5 1938 - 1942
DOCD-5595 Leadbelly Vol 5 1938 - 1942 Leadbelly, vocal, 12-String Guitar. With contributions by: Brownie McGhee, vocal, guitar; Sonny Terry, vocal, guitar. Informative booklet notes. Detailed discography. The sessions on this Leadbelly CD were recorded in Havers Studio, New York City (1938) and in Washington D.C. (1940 - 1942). During this time Leadbelly was recording and socialising with the political / urban folk scene. This is shown on the opening track. Scottsboro Boys reflects Leadbelly's political awareness in which he tells the story of a group of black boys who were wrongly accused of a gang rape of two white girls in 1931. The second and third tracks recount the story of John Henry a legendary black rail worker who challenged a steam drilling machine to a contest, which he won, but then died of exhaustion. Continued...

Leadbelly Vol 7 1947 - 1949
DOCD-5640 Leadbelly Vol 7 1947 - 1949 Leadbelly, vocal, 12-string guitar. With contributions by: Brownie McGhee, guitar Martha Ledbetter, vocal. Informative booklet notes by Ken Romanowski Detailed discography In 1947 Leadbelly's musical activities had settled into a routine of club appearances, radio broadcasts and informal jam sessions among his associates in the urban folk circle. During the previous twelve years this group of people had made connections for Leadbelly that ranged from New York Cafe Society to the film industry in Hollywood and although he made a strong impression on everyone he met, the wider music industry perceived Leadbelly as too volatile for mass marketing and consumption. By May 1949 a highly anticipated tour of France was cut short when he was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Leadbelly returned to the States to fulfil a handful of concerts. During these concerts he was showing obvious signs of this disease and within less than six months he was gone. Continued...

Lead Belly Private Party Minneapolis Minnesota 1948
DOCD-5664 Lead Belly Private Party Minneapolis Minnesota 1948 Leadbelly: vocal, 12-string guitar. Genres: Blues, Songster, Country Blues, Texas Country Blues, 12-String Guitar. Informative booklet notes. Detailed discography An extraordinary evening in the company of the great Texas songster, Lead Belly. In the relaxed atmosphere of an informal party the listener is given an up-close, dynamically interactive display by a master songster and storyteller, once a music companion to the legendary Blind Lemon Jefferson. "Play this for you and then I'm gonna let you people walk around. After that I got a couple of more I got to play you about Mississippi - I got to give you - I got two or three I want you to hear - see how you gonna like it, then - we can all get together, it won't be no stormy weather 'cause I'm gonna drink with you, talk with you and we'll just relax. Now this is gonna be the Gailis Pole and it's ragtime. Tell you about your so-called friends." Continued...