Leadbelly - Rock Island Line Original 1935-1943 Recordings '2006

Tracks list

This compilation assembles digital transfers from 78 rpm records of some of the
earliest discs to be issued by Leadbelly. The first six tracks reproduce the
three singles released from the singers 1935 sessions with the American Record
Company (ARC) on the Melotone and Perfect labels in 1935 and 1936. (Its catalog
is now controlled by Sony, but with copyright law outside the U.S. allowing
recordings into the public domain after 50 years, anyone who wants to can press
up an album such as this without paying for licensing.) Leadbelly was encouraged
to lean toward a bluesier approach on the ARC sessions. He did not make
commercial recordings again for four years, when he cut nine songs for Musicraft
Records for an album called Negro Sinful Tunes in 1939. Those songs make up
tracks 7-15 here, and they include such well-known Leadbelly numbers as The
Bourgeois Blues and The Boll Weevil. The final four tracks date from the early
40s and are drawn from the recordings Leadbelly made for Moses Aschs Asch label.
(Asch later founded Folkways.) These include Irene (aka Goodnight Irene),
Leadbellys most famous song, which is actually presented in two takes combined
into one, and Rock Island Line. Thus, the collection includes some of the more
memorable songs in Leadbellys repertoire in recordings that were made available
in his lifetime. Due to the secondary sources used, the sound quality is only
fair, with plenty of surface noise audible, particularly on the Musicraft and
Asch tracks. But this is a respectable effort, a cut above the many low-quality
reissues taking advantage of the copyright limit, with good annotations and
biographical liner notes by All Music Guide contributor Scott Yanow.

Tracklist:
01 - Leadbelly - Black Snake Moan (3:16)
02 - Leadbelly - Four Day Worry Blues (3:09)
03 - Leadbelly - Packin Trunk Blues (2:58)
04 - Leadbelly - Honey, Im All Out And Down (3:14)
05 - Leadbelly - Becky Deem,She Was A Gamblin Girl (3:08)
06 - Leadbelly - Pig Meat Papa (3:18)
07 - Leadbelly - Fannin Street (2:53)
08 - Leadbelly - Frankie And Albert (6:04)
09 - Leadbelly - De Kalb Blues (3:06)
10 - Leadbelly - Looky Looky Yonder -Black Betty-Yallow Womens Door Bells (3:08)
11 - Leadbelly - The Bourgeois Blues (3:25)
12 - Leadbelly - Poor Howard-Green Corn (3:25)
13 - Leadbelly - The Boll Weevil (3:12)
14 - Leadbelly - The Gallis Pole (3:12)
15 - Leadbelly - Aint Goin Down To The Well No Mo-Go Down Old Hannah (3:21)
16 - Leadbelly - Good Morning Blues (2:28)
17 - Leadbelly - How Long (2:16)
18 - Leadbelly - Irene (5:05)
19 - Leadbelly - Rock Island Line (2:07)

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