| Notes and Quotes: "Rock Island Line" (Huddy Ledbetter) |
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| Huddy Ledbetter
("Leadbelly") b. Huddie William Ledbetter, 29 January 1885, Jeter Plantation, Mooringsport, Louisiana; d. 6 December 1949, New York City. |
| Lebetter spent considerable time in prison for assault, escape, and murder. At one point he won a reprise from Huntsville, Texas, Shaw State Prison Farm with a song. During his last incarceration in 1933, he came to the attention of John and Alan Lomax who were working with a depression-era grant to document American folk culture and who believed that prisons were a good source of songs. The Lomax's helped Ledbetter win another parole in 1934. |
| In 1935, they took Ledbetter (now going by his nickname, Leadbelly or Lead Belly) and helped him become a favorite of urban folk-music afficianados. |
| The first version of "Rock Island Line" was recorded in Washington, D.C. on 22 June 1937. He recorded it again in New York City on 15 June 1940 and again in January 1942. He recorded a version with guitar and zither in Hollywood, Califnornia on 4 October 1944 and again on 6 November 1944. He performed it regularly on tour both in the United States and in Europe. This version is probably the January 1942 version. [See The Leadbelly Web.] |
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| Schedule |
22 January, 2015 |