but the songs live on forever

Leadbelly

Musician Producer Record Label

Died On This Date (November 25, 2011) Don DeVito / Longtime Columbia Records Executive & Bob Dylan Producer

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Don DeVito
September 6, 1939 – November 25, 2011

Getting a shave from Johnny Cash

Don DeVito was a respected producer and label executive who, over a career that spanned five decades, produced landmark albums by Bob Dylan and played a key role in the successes of Bruce Springsteen, Billy Joel, Johnny Cash, Aerosmith, and Simon & Garfunkel, to name a few. After an early career as a musician – he played guitar for Al Kooper – DeVito went to work for CBS Records as part of their Executive Training Program.  The year was 1967, and by 1971, he was running the marketing department of what had recently been re-named Columbia Records.  He later moved over to A&R where he worked more closely with Columbia’s jaw-dropping stable of artists.  In the studio, DeVito produced Dylan’s Desire and Street Legal, among others.   He was nominated for five separate Grammys, winning in 1989 for Folkways: A Vision Shared – A Tribute to Woody Guthrie & Leadbelly.  After the 9/11 attacks on New York City, DeVito was instrumental to the success of The Concert For New York City which raised over $1 million dollars for the victims and their families.  On November 25, 2011, Don DeVito passed away following a long battle with prostate cancer.  He was 72.

Thanks to Harold Lepidus for the assist.

Blues Musician Singer Songwriter

Died On This Date (August 14, 1958) Big Bill Broonzy / Blues Icon

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Big Bill Broonzy
June 26, 1898 – August 14, 1958

Big Bill Broonzy was a popular blues singer and guitarist whose career ran from the early ’20s until his death in the late ’50s.  First playing country blues to black audiences in and around his hometown in Arkansas, Broonzy moved to Chicago in the early ’20s and began playing a more polished urban blues, eventually attracting a white audience.  As a composer, he was very prolific, with over 300 songs or adaptations to his name.  He stayed very busy recording and touring through the ’30s and ’40s, but by the ’50s, his career ran stale and he considered retiring from music.  But with the birth of the folk revival, Broonzy’s traditional songs were back in fashion and he found success touring with the likes of Pete Seeger, Lead Belly,  Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee.  He died of throat cancer at the age of 60.

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The Young Big Bill Broonzy - Big Bill Broonzy

Other

Died On This Date (January 26, 1948) John A. Lomax / Music Folklorist

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John A. Lomax
September 23, 1867 – January 26, 1948

John Lomax was a musicologist who is world-renowned for helping preserve American folk songs by venturing into previous parts unknown to make field recordings of the locals.  After completing his higher education, Lomax became a college professor and set out to document folk music across America.  In 1910, his anthology, Cowboy Songs and Other Frontier Ballads was published.  Songs like “Git Along Little Doggies,” “Home On The Range,” and “The Old Chisholm Trail” were  collected within.  In 1933, Lomax and his 18-year-old son, Alan Lomax, set out across Texas to make field recordings of mostly African-Americans.   What they captured was countless field recordings, prison ballads, and work songs.  They were given unprecedented access to prisoners, and in July of 1934, while at Angola prison, they were approached by inmate, Huddie “Lead Belly” Ledbetter to record him singing a song he had written to the Governor pleading for his freedom.   Lomax did just that and personally delivered the recording to the Governor.  Lead Belly was in fact released a short time later, but it had nothing to do with his recording but for his good behavior.  Regardless, thanks to the Lomax recording, Lead Belly went on to have a fairly successful career as the “Singing Convict.”  He is said to have traveled over 16,000 miles, amassing a collection of over 10,000 songs.  John Lomax was 80 when he passed away on January 26, 1948.



Blues Musician Singer Songwriter

Died On This Date (December 6, 1949) Huddie “Lead Belly” Ledbetter

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Lead Belly (Born Huddie Ledbetter)
January 20, 1888 – December 6, 1949

leadbelly

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.

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Where Did You Sleep Last Night: Lead Belly Legacy, Vol. 1 - Lead Belly

Record Label

Died On This Date (October 19, 1986) Moe Asch / Founder of Folkways Records

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Moses “Moe” Asch
December 2, 1905 – October 19, 1986

Photo by Diana Davies

Moe Asch was a Poland born, New York City raised musicologist who founded the legendary Folkways label in 1948.  The label specialized in folk and is considered an invaluable asset to American culture.  The label itself, was a major influence on the development of folk musicians for years to come.  Folkways released over 2100 recordings during Asch’s time.  They included new releases by the likes of Lead Belly, Pete Seeger and Woody Guthrie was well as previously unreleased discoveries from the ’20s and ’30s.  Moe Asch died of natural causes at the age of 81. Following his death, the Smithsonian Institution acquired the Folkways catalog.



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