Sorry,I've been busy trying to earn a living and trying toalso find this 4 disc set online.Well it took a while but I
finally found it,and purchased a copy to share. This is
just what it says, Lead Belly's last sessions ever, from 1948,
a year before his death. He was a remarkable talent, and he
had a large repertoire of folk songs and popular songs either
he made up or songs he learned from others and kept the
song alive,by playing it live or recording it.It's a little like
he absorbed the songs from other musicians,and added his
songs,wrote his own songs as well. A great interpreter!
This series of discs will show a wide range of songs he did.
These songs were also his first tracks recorded on magnetic
tape,which was a brand new technology at the time!
The new audio tape recording process will also give better
dynamics to his voice and guitar playing,since those older
field recordings were not up to snuff.
Lead Belly was a great interpreter of songs,these 4 discs give
you,dear music fanatic,almost his entire repertoire of music.
These recordings were done over a three night "recording session".
These recordings are also significant as,they were made
quite simply, as if he is just sitting around the house.
Not just anyone;'s house either, at Frederic Ramsey Jr's house,
who was and became the co-author/editor of Jazzman,The Jazz
Record Book,Jazzways.And editor of the Folkways Jazz
Series.He was also the 1953 recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship
for studies in Afro-American music. These recordings are not
professionally made,but recorded like a music interview. He talks
about the music,how it relates to his own life, and these
recordings are not edited in any way! When these sessions
were finally committed to vinyl,they were not separated by
song bands, they were put out exactly as they were recorded.
The only company that would agree to do this was
Moses Asch's Folkways Records. Which was a label
dedicated to documenting folk music,old and new.
Lead Belly did a record for Folkways Records in 1941.
This project, was also incomplete,as Lead Belly died before,
the full recordings of his repertoire were captured.
There was still more music in him!
Lead Belly died of the same disease that killed Lou Gehrig,
and it wasn't caught in time,he was at the latter stages of
chronic poliomyelitis when he died on December 6th,1949.
Lead Belly aka Huddy Ledbetter 1888? -1949.
I sure hope fans of Mojo Repair Shop like this!
Last Sessions 1
Last Sessions 2
Last Sessions 3
Last Sessions 4