Died On This Date (December 6, 1949) Huddie “Lead Belly” Ledbetter
themusicsover Lead Belly (Born Huddie Ledbetter)
January 20, 1888 – December 6, 1949
Huddie Ledbetter, or as he was better known, Leadbelly (which he spelled, Lead Belly) was a Louisiana-born folk and blues singer, songwriter and musician whose catalog of songs included many that have since become folk and blues standards. That list includes, “Cotton Fields,” “Goodnight Irene,” and “Midnight Special.” Those and others have been recorded by such divers artists as of the Weavers, the Beach Boys, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Johnny Cash, the White Stripes, Ministry and Nirvana. From an early age, Lead Belly honed his skills by absorbing the field songs he heard as he traveled the southern states for work. He also had first hand experience learning prison hollers by spending two separate terms incarcerated, once for murder, and the second, for attempted murder. Each time he was pardoned by the governor by literally singing his way to freedom. While in Angola Prison for his second crime, he was recorded by musicologists, John Lomax and Alan Lomax, who helped facilitate his pardon. Lead Belly then moved to New York where the Lomax’s helped him land a contract with Columbia Records. Although he found plenty of press as the “singing convict,” his records never sold much initially. He did, however find an audience in Pete Seeger and Woody Guthrie who helped introduce his music to new audiences during their careers. Lead Belly continued to struggle financially, and in 1939, he found himself in jail for stabbing a man during a fight. Alan Lomax again helped him by raising money for his defense. He ended staying in jail for a couple of more years. By the middle of the ’40s, he found himself immersed in New York’s blossoming folk scene, playing with the likes of Brownie McGhee and Sonny Terry. In 1949, Lead Belly, 61, was diagnosed with Lou Gehrig’s disease of which he died on December 6, 1949.
What You Should Own
Tommy Bolin was an up-and-coming rock guitarist in his early 20s when he got the call to play in the post-Joe Walsh James Gang. Up until that point, he had be playing around with various musicians in the Denver area, most prominently, in a band called Zephyr. After two albums with the James Gang, Bang! and Miami, Bolin left to do session work. In 1975, Bolin recorded his first solo album which found him backed with by a stellar line up of musicians. That list included Phil Collins, Glenn Hughes, David Sanborn and Jan Hammer. It was around that time that he got the call to join yet another band, Deep Purple. The end of 1975 found the release of both Bolin’s first album, Teaser, and his Deep Purple album, Come Taste the Band. Bolin soon hit the road with Deep Purple, but reports began surfacing that his growing dependency on heroin was hindering his guitar playing. Following the Deep Purple tour, Bolin went to work on his second album, Private Eyes. What followed was a tour that found him opening for Peter Frampton and Jeff Beck. On December 3, 1976, Tommy Bolin performed one last show in front of Beck. The next morning, his lifeless body was found in his hotel room. Cause of death was presumed to be the result of heavy drug and alcohol usage causing his throat muscles to close up, thereby suffocating him. He was just 25.
