Leadbelly - Best of
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CD Details
Artist: LeadbellyEdition: Music CD
CD Release Date: 2000-05-02
Music Label: Cleopatra
Soundtracks:
- The Bourgeois Blues
- Look, Looky Yonder/Black Betty
- Poor Howard/Green Corn
- The Gallows Pole
- Noted Rider
- Big Fat Woman
- Burrow, Love And Go
- Bring Me Li'l Water Silvy
- Julie Ann Johnson
- Line 'Em
- Whoe Back Buck
- John Hardy
- In New Orleans
- Goodnight Irene
- Where Did You Sleep Last Night?
- How Long
- Yellow Gal
- On A Monday
- Blue Tail Fly
- The Boll Weevil Song
Music reviews of Best of
Music Review: A legend, but not that legendary...
Rating: 2 Stars
Like so many of my generation, I first heard of Leadbelly through Nirvana's harrowing cover of "Where Did You Sleep Last Night." That put his name in my head, but it was quite a few years until I actually got a Leadbelly CD. I had ended up exploring a lot of other early bluesmen before I got around to Leadbelly. And that's good, because I've actually found Leadbelly to be horribly repetitive and boring. Whoa, did he just say that? Boring? Not Leadbelly, someone who's been revered by blues fans and folkies for over 50 years now! Yes people, BORING....
Let me add a little to that. I'm not some neophyte who has one Leadbelly CD and decided all the music was horrible. I have the 1990 "Leadbelly" CD, "King of the 12 String Guitar," and "Gwine Dig a Hole to Put the Devil In." And after giving all three of them a lot of chances over the years, I've come to my earlier conclusion. It's a bit of a crime that Leadbelly has more releases than almost any other early bluesman. If ever the claim could be made that someone's songs all sound the same, it applies to Leadbelly. Let me lay it out for you -
Start out with some general "chugga chugga" chords - I swear the chords hardly vary between different songs. Much fuss is made about the fact that he played 12-string, but it might as well be strumming the end of a rake. Then, in an almost impenetrable patoise, start saying how a person did "this," and then did "this," and then did "that," and cap it all off with the phrase "you know what he said to him/her?" And then sing the chorus in a completely indecipherable mumble. And THAT is every Leadbelly song, folks. His voice never changes from this cycle. You don't have the spooky vibrato of someone like Bukka White, no amazing guitar work like Robert Johnson (for me Leadbelly is actually a mediocre guitarist), no country bounce like Mississippi John Hurt. It is really damned monotonous.
Now, is it Leadbelly's fault he doesn't sound like other people? No. But he has always been accorded this legendary status like he's the fount from which all blues flows, and that's not the case. His legend has always been helped by the facts of his life - serving prison terms several times, being discovered by Alan Lomax, getting a pardon from writing a song or something, etc. While the story of Leadbelly is very interesting, I don't think the music is. So, if you want a well-rounded early blues collection, get a Leadbelly CD then. But honestly, you really don't need more than one.
Description of Best of
All products are BRAND NEW and factory sealed. Fast shipping and 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed.Blues CDs
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