Stinson Collector's (series)

Memorial

Description by OLDIES.com:

Huddie "Leadbelly" William Ledbetter was one of the first Folk/Blues musicians to achieve fame with white audiences in the early part of the 20th century. Listeners today still thrill to his twelve-string guitar playing and rollicking performance style.

Product Description:

Includes liner notes by Kenneth S. Goldstein.

This is part of Collectables Stinson Collectors Series.

During the collegiate folk and blues boom of the late '50s and early '60s, it was traditional to release memorial albums dedicated to those artists who had died before this new audience had discovered them. Leadbelly, whose 1949 death predated the revival by nearly a decade, was one of the artists most beloved by the folk and blues revivalists. As a result, his memorial album originally stretched over four vinyl LPs, the first and second of which are collected here.

Opening with his best-known song, "Goodnight Irene," and closing 28 tracks later with the traditional story song "John Hardy," LEADBELLY MEMORIAL VOLUMES ONE AND TWO collects well-known standards like the guitar showcase "Rock Island Line" alongside more obscure gems like the elliptical blues "Man Going Around Taking Names," emphasizing Leadbelly's remarkable musical and emotional range throughout. With its companion, this CD is possibly the best introduction to Leadbelly currently available.