#leadbellythesmithsonianfolkwayscollection

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Lead Belly: Song by Song - Governor OK Allen

GOVERNER OK ALLEN

Disc 1, Track 17

This is Lead Belly’s second “pardon” song. Governor Allen never visited Angola prison, so John Lomax hand-carried the disc to the governor’s office; on the back side Lead Belly recorded a version of “Irene.” It is unknown if Allen listened to it. Officially Lead Belly was released on August 1, 1934, by the governor after having his sentence commuted for “double good time.”

Original cover photo for Lead Belly’s Last Sessions, Folkways 240 (Courtesy of the Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections, Smithsonian Institution)

Text credit to Jeff Place, author of the Lead Belly: The Smithsonian Folkways Collection liner notes.

[smithsonianfolkways]

Lead Belly: Song by Song - Out On the Western Plains

OUT ON THE WESTERN PLAINS

Disc 2, Track 13

“Out on the Western Plain” – Rory Gallagher, 1982

OUT ON THE WESTERN PLAINS PICTURE HERE

Portrait (Courtesy of the John Reynolds Collection)

This is one of Lead Belly’s cowboy songs. “Out on the Western Plains” has been one of his popular songs since he composed it. In fall 1943, Moses Asch had Lead Belly record a group of medleys based on various themes for a 78 rpm set, Negro Folk Songs as Sung by Leadbelly (Disc 660). This song comes from that project.

“Western Plain” – Van Morrison

“Western Cowboy” – Hurray for the Riff Raff, 2013

“Out on the Western Plains” – Lead Belly

Text credit to Jeff Place, author of the Lead Belly: The Smithsonian Folkways Collection liner notes.

[smithsonianfolkways]

Lead Belly: Song by Song - Princess Elizabeth

PRINCESS ELIZABETH

Disc 5, Track 10

Lyrics to “Princess Elizabeth” in Lead Belly’s handwriting (Courtesy of the Lead Belly Estate)

Princess Elizabeth (since 1953 the Queen of England) is the subject of this little ditty Lead Belly composed on the occasion of her 1947 wedding to Prince Philip. It was not used on either of the Last Sessions releases and has remained unreleased until this time. Lead Belly told Ramsey, “I took the melody of Bessie Smith’s ‘Aggravating Papa’ and put new words to it” (Ramsey tape RA-468).

Read more about it, check out this Rolling Stone article from January 7th, 2015:

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/premieres/lost-lead-belly-song-princess-elizabeth-20150107

Princess Elizabeth - Lead Belly

Aggravating Papa - Bessie Smith

Text credit to Jeff Place, author of the Lead Belly: The Smithsonian Folkways Collection liner notes.

[smithsonianfolkways]

Lead Belly: Song by Song - Scottsboro Boys

SCOTTSBORO Boys

Disc 1, Track 16

Lead Belly portrait (Courtesy of the John Reynolds Collection)

This song concerns a celebrated case in American civil rights history. In 1931, nine black youths were arrested for allegedly raping two young white women while all of them were hoboing on a train in Alabama. The news story went national, with various organizations raising funds and rallying people to the defense of the boys. They were originally all convicted and sentenced to death; the furor rose, and a subsequent trial saw four of them freed but the others sentenced to prison. Others around Lead Belly were impressed with the song. In August 1937, Lead Belly premiered it publicly at a Federal Worker’s Project event. Two of the boys’ mothers were invited to the event to hear the new song (Wolfe and Lornell 1992, 208).

The Scottsboro arrests occurred 84 years ago today.

“The Scottsboro Boys” – Lead Belly, 1938

Text credit to Jeff Place, author of the Lead Belly: The Smithsonian Folkways Collection liner notes.

[smithsonianfolkways]

Lead Belly: Song by Song - Rock Island Line

ROCK ISLAND LINE

Disc 1, Track 11

“The Rock Island line. These boys cuttin’ with poleaxes. One man’s cutting right-handed. He’s standing on the opposite side of the other man. The other man cut left-handed. He’s standing the other side. And these boys gonna sing about the Rock Island line, which is a mighty good road to ride. And in that road the man gonna talk to the depot agent when he’s comin’ out of the cut with that Rock Island line train freight coming back from Mullaine (sic) this a way. That man blows his whistle down there different than people blow whistles here. He’s gonna talk to that depot agent and he’s gonna tell him something. When that switch falls over the line, means for that freight train to go into the hole. Man’s gonna talk to him.” – Lead Belly

Sheet music for Lonnie Donegan’s version of “Rock Island Line” (Courtesy of the John Reynolds Collection)

In October 1934, Lead Belly was traveling with John Lomax and his son Alan, acting as their driver. During a trip to record convicts at Cummins State Farm in Gould, Arkansas, Lead Belly first heard “Rock Island Line,” a song later closely associated with him. Kelly Pace and a group of prisoners performed it as a work song; that recording is in the Library of Congress. After Lead Belly learned the song, he added the narrative about depot agents and the train, turning it back into a railroad song, as it originally dealt with the railroad line running across Arkansas. It became a hit in 1955 for British musician Lonnie Donegan, kicking off the skiffle craze. Donegan had recorded it with the Chris Barber Band in 1954 after hearing the Library of Congress recording borrowed from the American Embassy in London. Comedian Stan Freberg also recorded a takeoff on the song in an effort to make fun of the whole folk singing phenomenon.

The Rock Island Line was opened to Rock Island 161 years ago today.

“Rock Island Line” – Johnny Cash, 1969

“Rock Island Line” was first recorded by Lead Belly in 1937. Lonnie Donegan another popular version in England in 1954; this recording led to start of “skiffle craze.” Other versions have been recorded by Odetta, Bobby Darin, Stan Freberg as a song parody, Brothers Four, Johnny Cash, The Weavers, Little Richard with Fishbone (“Folkways - A Vision Shared”), and Chris Thomas King.

“Rock Island Line” – Lead Belly

Text credit to Jeff Place, author of the Lead Belly: The Smithsonian Folkways Collection liner notes.

[smithsonianfolkways]

Lead Belly: Song by Song - House of the Rising Sun

HOUSE OF THE RISING SUN

Disc 5, Track 13

“House of the Rising Sun” – Woody Guthrie

This is a popular folk and jazz song in the United States. In England, the image of a rising sun on a door was synonymous with houses of ill repute and became the topic of a ballad that was adapted into this blues (Logsdon 2003) about a young girl who finds herself in a life of prostitution. The Lomaxes collected a version from Georgia Turner, in Middlesboro, Kentucky, in 1937 (Lomax 1941). The Lomaxes based their arrangement of the song on the one they learned from Turner. It was first recorded by Texas Alexander in 1927 (ibid.). Old-time musicians Clarence Ashley and Gwen Foster recorded it for Vocalion in 1934 (Meade et al. 2002, 61). In 1964, the British rock group the Animals recorded it, reaching #1 on the Billboard chart.

Lead Belly on guitar, Alan Lomax on typewriter (Courtesy of the Lead Belly Estate)

This traditional song was recorded by Lead Belly in 1944 and again in 1948. It was been recorded by numerous other artists, including Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, Joan Baez, Bob Dylan, The Animals, and Nina Simone.

“House of the Rising Sun” – Nina Simone

Controversy surrounding the song arose after Bob Dylan released the song on his debut album. Dave Von Ronk was allegedly planning to release the song at a similar time, and claimed Dylan used his version. Further, due to the success of Dylan's songs, Van Ronk's version didn't receive much attention. The controversy died soon thereafter, however, when The Animals recorded the song as well, and took it to the top of the charts.

"House of the Rising Sun" - Dave Van Ronk

"House of the Rising Sun" - Bob Dylan

“The House of the Rising Sun" – The Animals, 1964

"House of the Rising Sun" - Tom Clarence Ashley & Gwen Foster. This is the oldest known recording of this song.

"House of the Rising Sun" - Georgia Turner

**Recorded by Alan Lomax in 1937**

“House of the Rising Sun” – Lead Belly

Text credit to Jeff Place, author of the Lead Belly: The Smithsonian Folkways Collection liner notes.

[smithsonianfolkways]

Lead Belly: Song by Song - Ha-Ha This a Way

HA-HA THIS A WAY

Disc 1, Track 13

Lead Belly singing for children (Courtesy of the Lead Belly Estate)

“This is a children’s play song. Now the children when they play back in my home, they put one in the ring and they all go round the ring and they sing. Now this is gonna be Ha-Ha This a Way and Ha-Ha That a Way, and when the boy’s in the ring or a girl they say “Ha-Ha This a Way” he has to jump That a Way. We… he says “Ha-Ha That a Way” he has to jump that a way. And the others going round the ring they gonna sing.” – Lead Belly

“Ha Ha Thisaway” – Raffi, 1996

This is perhaps Lead Belly’s best-known children’s song. During recess time in school the children did ring games and play parties. Lead Belly learned the song as a child in Louisiana, and it is one of his favorites from the time (Wolfe and Lornell 1992, 12).

“Ha Ha This A-Way” – Lead Belly

Text credit to Jeff Place, author of the Lead Belly: The Smithsonian Folkways Collection liner notes.

[smithsonianfolkways]

Lead Belly: Song by Song - Gallis Pole

THE GALLIS POLE

Also known as “Maid Freed from the Gallows,” “Hangman,” “Gallows Pole,” and “Gallows Tree”

Disc 1, Track 12

“Gallows Pole” – Robert Plant & Jimmy Page, 1994

From Lead Belly to Led Zeppelin, the song “Gallows Pole” has had many lives. Descending from the old British ballad “Maid Freed from the Gallows,” the song took its most frequent current form from Lead Belly. Fred Gerlach’s later folk version shows Lead Belly’s influence, and it became a well-known song in the rock canon when Led Zeppelin recorded it in 1970. In an interview, Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page cited Fred Gerlach’s version as the source for their version “Hangman”: “I first heard it [‘Gallows Pole’] on an old Folkways LP by Fred Gerlach, a 12-string player who was, I believe, the first white to play the instrument. I used his version as a basis and completely changed the arrangement” (www.wirz.de/music/gerlafrm.htm)

A pensive Lead Belly (Courtesy of Tiny Robinson)

"Anathea" - Judy Collins, 1963

A compilation of versions of "Gallis Pole" recorded on Smithsonian Folkways Records

“The Gallis Pole” – Lead Belly

Text credit to Jeff Place, author of the Lead Belly: The Smithsonian Folkways Collection liner notes.