Lead Belly - Lead Belly's Last Sessions: MusicNear.com

Music CD 1

Yes, I Was Standing In The Bottom
Yes, I'm Going Down To Louisiana
I Ain't Going Down To The Well No More
Dick Ligger's Holler
Miss Liza Jane
Dog Latin Song
Leaving Blues
Go Down, Old Hannah
Blue Tail Fly
Nobody In This World Is Better Than Us
We're In The Same Boat, Brother
Looky, Looky Yonder
Jolly O' The Ransom
Old Ship Of Zion
Bring Me A Little Water, Silver
Mistreatin' Mamma
Black Betty
Ain't Going Down To The Well No More
I'm Going Back Down In Louisiana
I Don't Know You, What Have I Done
Rock Island Line
Old Man, Will Your Dog Catch A Rabbit?
Shorty George
Stewball
Bottle Up & Go
You Know I Got To Do It
Ain't It A Shame To Go Fishing On A Sunday
I Ain't Gonna Drink Anymore
Winnsboro Cotton Mill Blues
My Lindy Lou
I'm Thinking Of A Friend
He Never Said A Mumbling Word
I Don't Want No More Of Army Life
In The World
I Want To Go Home

Music CD 2

New Iberia
Dancing With Tears In My Eyes
John Henry
Salty Dog
National Defense Blues
Easy, Mr. Tom
Relax Your Mind
Bottle Up And Go
Polly Wolly Wee
Pig Latin Song (2nd Version)
Hawaiian Song
Drinkin' Lum Y A Alla
The Grey Goose
Silver City Bound
The Titanic
Death Letter Blues
Mary Don't You Weep
He Never Said A Mumbling Word

Music CD 3

Midnight Special
Boll Weevil Song
Careless Love
Easy Rider
Cry For Me
Ain't Going To Drink No More (De Kalb Blues)
Birmingham Jail
Old Riley
Julie Ann Johnson
It's Tight Like That
4, 5 & 9
Good Morning Babe, How Do You Do?
Jail House Blues
Well, You Know I Had To Do It
Irene
25 Cent Dude
How Come You Do Me Like You Do?
Hello Central
Hesitation Blues
I'll Be Down On The Last Bread Wagon

Music CD 4

Somebody's Diggin' My Potatoes
Springtime In The Rockies
Chinatown
Rock Island Line
Backwater Blues
Sweet Mary
Irene
Easy, Mr. Tom
In The Evening, When The Sun Goes Down
I'm Alone Because I Love You
House Of The Rising Sun
Mary Don't You Weep
Talk About Fannin Street
Fannin Street
Sugared The Beer
Didn't Old John Cross The Water
Nobody Knows You When You're Down And Out
Bully Of The Town
Sweet Jenny Lee
Yellow Gal
He Was The Man
We're In The Same Boat, Brother
Leaving Blues

Free Music Notes for Lead Belly's Last Sessions

Free Music Review: The sweetest from the Sweet Singer of the Swamplands
Hit: 5 Stars

And a motherlode of music it is. While the first CD is comprised of accapella field hollers and spirituals, the other three are filled with some of the most incredible guitar work you'll ever hear, bar none. As Huddie (pronounced Hyoo-dee) himself explains to the listener, he learned guitar "sittin' by the bass-side of the piana" in honky-tonks on Shreveport, Louisiana's Fannin Street. Therefore his aggressive 12-string guitar style is informed by a rollicking boogie-woogie barrelhouse/ragtime feel, that often sounds like several guitarists at once. This is best exemplified in his own ode to Fannin Street, "Cry For Me", and the rag "Easy, Mr. Tom", which has enjoyed many permutations, "Hot Dog" by Blind Lemon Jefferson and "Cannonball Rag" by the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band among them. As Leadbelly comments as the tune ends, "It's so easy when you know how."

Leadbelly knew some thousand songs, and this collection is merely the tip of the iceberg. It includes some of his best-known work, "Goodnight Irene", "Grey Goose", "Midnight Special", and his version of "Easy Rider" ("rider" was slang for girlfriend). It also includes his interpretations of the work of Stephen Foster (of "Camptown Races" fame, and the first "pop star"), some of the most beautiful and haunting melodies, "Springtime in the Rockies" and "I'm Alone Because I Love You". "Salty Dog" finds him clapping the beat between guitar strums. He even sings a whole song in pig-latin (after explaining what pig-latin is). Also included is "Sweet Mary", written for Governor Pat Neff, which won him a pardon from prison ("If I had you Gov'na Neff like you got me/ I'd wake up in the mornin' I'd set you free...")

Occasionally he pauses to take a drink or serve up an anecdote to set up a song, strumming a chord to tune as he speaks. You feel as though you're in the room with him, watching his roughened hands play across the strings.

Sadly, perhaps his greatest known song, popularized by Nirvana, "Where Did You Sleep Last Night" (also called "In the Pines"), is missing from this collection. But apparently Kurt Cobain was introduced to Leadbelly through Last Sessions, and it was one of his favorite albums. Also regrettably missing is "John Hardy", the outlaw ballad rocked up by Uncle Tupelo.

Leadbelly is unique among much early blues music, which seems to often be perceived as depressing. Leadbelly's work is uplifting, joyous, funny (and fun), and perfect for inspiring a good mood. There's nothing stale about it-- it's as vibrant as the day it was set to tape. As Leadbelly sings, "Somebody should ask you people who made up this song/ Tell 'em Huddie Ledbetter done been here and gone..."