Track Listing

Disc 1:

1. Yes, I Was Standing in the Bottom
2. Yes, I'm Going Down to Louisiana
3. I Ain't Going Down to the Well No More
4. Dick Ligger's Holler
5. Miss Liza Jane
6. Dog Latin Song
7. Leaving Blues
8. Go Down Old Hannah
9. Blue Tail Fly
10. Nobody in This World Is Better Than Us
11. We're in the Same Boat, Brother
12. Looky Looky Yonder
13. Jolly O' the Ransom
14. Old Ship of Zion
15. Bring Me Li'l Water, Silvy
16. Mistreatin' Mama
17. Black Betty
18. Ain't Goin' Down to the Well No Mo'
19. I'm Going Back Down in Louisiana
20. I Don't Know You, What Have I Done
21. Rock Island Line
22. Old Man
23. Shorty George
24. Stewball
25. Bottle up and Go
26. You Know I Got to Do It
27. Ain't It a Shame to Go Fishin' on a Sunday
28. I Ain't Gonna Drink Anymore
29. Winnsboro Cotton Mill Blues [#]
30. My Lindy Lou
31. I'm Thinking of a Friend
32. He Never Said a Mumbling Word
33. I Don't Want No More of Army Life
34. In the World
35. I Want to Go Home

Disc 2:

1. New Iberia
2. Dancing With Tears in My Eyes
3. John Henry
4. Salty Dog
5. National Defense Blues
6. Easy, Mr. Tom
7. Relax Your Mind
8. Bottle up and Go
9. Polly Wolly Wee
10. Pig Latin Song [2nd Version]
11. Hawaiian Song
12. Drinkin' Lum y a Alla
13. Grey Goose
14. Silver City Bound
15. Titanic
16. Death Letter Blues
17. Mary Don't You Weep
18. He Never Said a Mumbling Word

Disc 3:

1. Midnight Special
2. Boll Weevil
3. Careless Love
4. Easy Rider
5. Cry for Me
6. Ain't Going to Drink No More (De Kalb Blues)
7. Birmingham Jail
8. Old Riley
9. Julie Ann Johnson
10. It's Tight Like That
11. 4, 5 & 9
12. Good Morning Babe, How Do You Do?
13. Jailhouse Blues
14. Well, You Know I Had to Do It
15. Goodnight Irene
16. 25 Cent Dude
17. How Come You Do Me Like You Do?
18. Hello Central
19. Hesitation Blues
20. I'll Be Down on the Last Bread Wagon

Disc 4:

1. Somebody's Diggin' My Potatoes [#]
2. Springtime in the Rockies
3. Chinatown
4. Rock Island Line
5. Backwater Blues
6. Sweet Mary
7. Goodnight Irene
8. Easy, Mr. Tom
9. In the Evening (When the Sun Goes Down)
10. I'm Alone Because I Love You
11. In New Orleans (House of the Rising Sun)
12. Mary Don't You Weep
13. Talk About Fannin Street
14. Fannin Street
15. Sugared the Beer
16. Didn't Old John Cross the Water
17. Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out
18. Bully of the Town
19. Sweet Jenny Lee
20. Yellow Gal
21. He Was the Man
22. We're in the Same Boat, Brother
23. Leaving Blues

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #31358 in Music
• Released on: 1994-09-25
• Number of discs: 4
• Format: Box set

Amazon.com essential recording
Leadbelly's Last Sessions is a remarkable document. Recorded over the course of three nights in 1948, approximately one year before his death, Sessions constitutes the only commercial recordings of Leadbelly ever made on magnetic tape. The sound here is still primitive by most standards, but it's a vast improvement over the quality of his earlier sides. On this four-disc collection, Huddie Ledbetter sets down as much of his repertoire as he could, from field hollers, blues, and country & western songs to children's tunes, ballads, autobiographical pieces, and popular hits of the day. The tape continues to roll between takes, catching Leadbelly's shifts of moods and changes of interest. He didn't know these would be his last recordings, of course, but he seems to have saved something special for these performances, which are as freewheeling, charming, and authoritative as anything he ever recorded. --Daniel Durchholz

Customer Reviews

A must have but, but not necessarily a definative collection
These four disks are recorded on analog audio tape. The only ones existing of Leadbelly. (all other leadbelly recordings are straight to vinyl) The recodings were made in the living room of a folk song collector, on two or three seperate nights. Since the first night leadbelly didn't bring his guitar he sings acapella most of the first disk. The other three disks have his 12 string accompanyment. The improved sound quality becomes very apparent here. Unlike most of his records you can hear all 12 strings! It sounds beautiful. Another benefit of these being on audio tape is that Leadbelly can potentially play a song much longer than in prior recording. However he seldom does. Being more informal than a recoding studio it also gives insight as to what Leadbelly's set list may have been like at a concert or everyday party. Though these individual song versions may not be the definative versions, or Leadbelly at his best, all these songs are gems and a must have for any folk collection. Also be warned that due to the informal nature of these recordings, songs are at times cropped in the beginning or end due to the tape running out.

Towards the end of the disks Leadbellys wife Martha sings with him. In all due respect to Martha she sort of slows the momentum of this collection down. Though I'm sure Leadbelly always encouraged people to sing along with his songs, and he can be heard doing so here.

The brightest gem of this collection may be listening to Leadbelly laugh at his own singing on the funny classic, Diggin' My Potatoes. Or being able to hear him slap his knee in time on Salty Dog.

Summary: Sping for it. Its something you won't find on any other collection.

The sweetest from the Sweet Singer of the Swamplands
Prior to this record, Huddie Ledbetter was confined to the limitations of the recording technology of the day. This resulted in an abundance of two-to-three minute long gems (as much as would fit on an acetate disc) which, while brilliant, obscured the essence of Leadbelly's artistry as a "songster". Fortunately for us and the evolution of popular music as a whole, shortly before this giant of a man (who survived having his throat cut, being shot at by the chain-gang boss as he escaped with ball-and-chain in hand, a suicide attempt as a last resort from prison, and the finicky tastes of New York high society which regarded him as little more than an amazing novelty) succumbed to Lou Gehrig's Disease, new technology was introduced that allowed him to loosen up and let the music flow naturally.

And a motherlode of music it is. While the first CD is comprised of accapella field hollers and spirituals, the other three are filled with some of the most incredible guitar work you'll ever hear, bar none. As Huddie (pronounced Hyoo-dee) himself explains to the listener, he learned guitar "sittin' by the bass-side of the piana" in honky-tonks on Shreveport, Louisiana's Fannin Street. Therefore his aggressive 12-string guitar style is informed by a rollicking boogie-woogie barrelhouse/ragtime feel, that often sounds like several guitarists at once. This is best exemplified in his own ode to Fannin Street, "Cry For Me", and the rag "Easy, Mr. Tom", which has enjoyed many permutations, "Hot Dog" by Blind Lemon Jefferson and "Cannonball Rag" by the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band among them. As Leadbelly comments as the tune ends, "It's so easy when you know how."

Leadbelly knew some thousand songs, and this collection is merely the tip of the iceberg. It includes some of his best-known work, "Goodnight Irene", "Grey Goose", "Midnight Special", and his version of "Easy Rider" ("rider" was slang for girlfriend). It also includes his interpretations of the work of Stephen Foster (of "Camptown Races" fame, and the first "pop star"), some of the most beautiful and haunting melodies, "Springtime in the Rockies" and "I'm Alone Because I Love You". "Salty Dog" finds him clapping the beat between guitar strums. He even sings a whole song in pig-latin (after explaining what pig-latin is). Also included is "Sweet Mary", written for Governor Pat Neff, which won him a pardon from prison ("If I had you Gov'na Neff like you got me/ I'd wake up in the mornin' I'd set you free...")

Occasionally he pauses to take a drink or serve up an anecdote to set up a song, strumming a chord to tune as he speaks. You feel as though you're in the room with him, watching his roughened hands play across the strings.

Sadly, perhaps his greatest known song, popularized by Nirvana, "Where Did You Sleep Last Night" (also called "In the Pines"), is missing from this collection. But apparently Kurt Cobain was introduced to Leadbelly through Last Sessions, and it was one of his favorite albums. Also regrettably missing is "John Hardy", the outlaw ballad rocked up by Uncle Tupelo.

Leadbelly is unique among much early blues music, which seems to often be perceived as depressing. Leadbelly's work is uplifting, joyous, funny (and fun), and perfect for inspiring a good mood. There's nothing stale about it-- it's as vibrant as the day it was set to tape. As Leadbelly sings, "Somebody should ask you people who made up this song/ Tell 'em Huddie Ledbetter done been here and gone..."

Essential, but not the best set for casual listening
(4 CDs: 64'/60'/63'/64') I entirely agree that this is indeed essential Lead Belly. However, I would point out to the unwary buyer that these are not commercial studio takes; they were recorded by Frederic Ramsey Jr. in his home, in a room set up as a makeshift studio. Sound is not a problem, but the CDs contain some talk - not only Lead Belly's introductions to the songs, as he frequently gave on his recordings, but there is also some lengthier discussion, including with the other people in the room. In addition, several "songs" are mere fragments. All this is invaluable to any serious folk music fan, but on the other hand it can be quite distracting for casual listening. These are CDs that you will want to play in order to study them...