The recordings on this Leadbelly CD were originally made for the Library of Congress from July 1934 to March 1935, under the supervision of John and Alan Lomax. These sessions took place at the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola while Leadbelly was still a prisoner, and also at Little Rock, Pine Bluff State Farm, Gould, Shreveport, Bellwood Prison Camp, Wilton and New York City.
The tracks that Leadbelly recorded in these sessions include many songs that he would play throughout his career. They include 2 versions of Irene and the cocaine peddler song Take A Whiff On Me. The track Boll Weavil documents the story of the insect which ravaged cotton crops in the southern states at the start of the 1900’s. Although it affected the black sharecroppers, it had an even greater impact on the prosperity of the white plantation owners. As Paul Oliver points out in “Songsters and Saints” (pp 250-251), it’s subversive nature (small, brown and inconspicuous, attacking the crop from within and virtually indestructible) gave it symbolic significance with Southern blacks (a compilation CD of including several recordings of Boll Weavil songs can be found on Document Records DOCD-5675). This Leadbelly CD also includes the track Matchbox Blues a song that Blind Lemon Jefferson, who Leadbelly dueted with on the streets of Dallas earlier on in his career, recorded for both Paramount and Okeh Records in 1927 (Documents DOCD-5017, DOCD-5018, DOCD-5019, DOCD-5020).
The sound reproduction is, by today’s high fidelity-stereophonic standards, rather dim. A great many of these recordings were made in field settings on early, primitive portable disc-cutting equipment. This equipment along with various aluminium and acetate discs, though not of the highest quality in so far as sound is concerned, has served to preserve the many brilliant performances of Leadbelly. It is felt that Leadbelly never sounded as well anywhere else as he did when he was recording for the Library. He appears relaxed, strong, crisp and creative.
Leadbelly - The Remaining ARC And Library Of Congress Recordings Volume 1 1934-1935. Document DOCD-5591
01. [124-A-2] Irene
02. [124-B-1] Irene
03. [126-A-1] Julie Ann Johnson
04. [126-A-2] You Cain' Loose-a-me Cholly
05. [126-A-3] Take A Whiff On Me
06. [236-B-3] Mr. Tom Hughes' Town
07. [239-A-3] Julie Ann Johnson
08. [240-A-4] Julie Ann Johnson
09. [242-B-3] Julie Ann Johnson
10. [273-A-1] Boll Weevil
11. [250-B-2] Julie Ann Johnson -1
12. [252-A-1] Dance Calls -2
13. [45-B] Salty Dog
14. [53-B] Thirty Days In The Workhouse
15. [54-A] Ella Speed
16. [16686] C. C. Rider
17. [16690] You Can't Lose Me, Charlie
18. [16691-2] New Black Snake Moan
19. [16692] Alberta
20. [16693] Baby, Don't You Love Me No More ?
21. [16695-1] Death Letter Blues, part 1
22. [16696-1] Death Letter Blues, part 2
23. [16697-1] Kansas City Papa
24. [16704] Red River Blues
25. [16807] My Friend Blind Lemon
26. [16808] Mr. Tom Hughes' Town
27. [1681] Matchbox Blues
28. [17182] Bull Cow
Leadbelly - The Remaining Library Of Congress Recordings Volume 2 1935. Document DOCD-5592
01. [54-B] Ella Speed
02. [127-A] Frankie And Albert
03. [127-B] Frankie And Albert
04. [130-B] Got A Gal In Town With Her Mouth Chock Full Of Gold
05. [131-B-1] Mary Don't You Weep
06. [131-B-2] Way Over In The Promised Land
07. [132-A] Death Letter Blues
08. [133-A] Midnight Special
09. [133-B] The Shreveport Jail
10. [135-B] Western Cowboy
11. [136-B] Blind Lemon Blues
12. [137-A] Mr. Tom Hughes' Town
13. [137-B-1] Mr. Tom Hughes' Town
14. [137-B-2] You Cain' Loose-a-me, Cholly
15. [139-A-1] Green Corn
16. [139-A-2] The Maid Freed From The Gallows
17. [139-B] Po' Howard
18. [141-B] Matchbox Blues
19. [142-B-1] Gwine Dig A Hole To Put The Devil In
20. [142-B-2] Old Man Settin' In The Corner Dyin'
21. [47-B] Blues I Got Make A New Born Baby Cry
Leadbelly - The Remaining Library Of Congress Recordings Volume 3 1935. Document DOCD-5593
01. [46-A] Governor O. K. Allen
02. [49-A] Ha-ha This-a-way
03. [49-B] Alabama Bound
04. [50-A] In Dem Long Hot Summer Days
05. [144-A] I'm All Out And Down
06. [144-B] De Kalb Blues
07. [145-A] Ha-ha This-a-way
08. [145-B-1/2/3/4] Dear Old Daddy (interpreting Jimmy Rogers)
09. [146-A] I'm Gonna Hold It In Her While She's Young And Tender
10. [146-B] What's You Goin' Do With Your Long Tall Daddy?
11. [147-A] Dick Licker's Holler
12. [147-B] Billy In The Lowlands / Here Rattler Here
13. [148-A] Frankie And Albert
14. [148-B] Frankie And Albert
15. [149-A] Send Down Your Hand
16. [149-B] Shorty George
17. [150-B-1] Pick A Bale O' Cotton
18. [150-B-2] Elnora
Leadbelly - The Remaining Library Of Congress Recordings Volume 4 1935-1938. Document DOCD-5594
01. [151-B] Send Down Your Hand
02. [152-A] Death Letter Blues
03. [152-B] Death Letter Blues (fragments)
04. [154-A] Dick Licker's Holler
05. [154-B] Whoa Back Buck (2 Parts)
06. [155-A] Billy In The Low Ground
07. [155-B] The Grey Goose
08. [156-B] I'm All Out And Down
09. [157-A] Frankie And Albert
10. [157-B-1] I Walked Her And I Talked Her
11. [993-A-1] Gwine Dig A Hole
12. [993-A-2] Polly-Polly-Wee
13. [993-A-3] Jawbone Walk
14. [994-A] Last Night In The Evening
15. [994-B] Somethin', Somethin' Keeps A-Worrin' Me
16. [995-B-3] All Out And Down
17. [996-A-1] Hello Central
18. [996-A-2] Raccoon Up The 'Simmon Tree
19. [998-A-2] Julie Ann Johnson
20. [2020-A-2] He's Just The Same Today - vo Sarah Garland
21. [2023-A] Rock Of Ages - vo Jim Garland & Sarah Garland
22. [2501-B] Leaving On The Morning Train Blues
Leadbelly - The Remaining Library Of Congress Recordings Volume 5 1938-1942. Document DOCD-5595
01. [2502-A-1] Scottsboro Boys
02. [2502-B-1] Noted Rider Blues
03. [2503-B] John Henry
04. [2504-A] John Henry
05. [2504-B] Eva
06. [4469-A-1] Last Night In The Evening
07. [4471-A-1] Meeting At The Building
08. [4471-A-2] When That Train Comes Along
09. [4471-A-3] The Blood Done Sign My Name
10. [4471-A-4] Witness For My Lord
11. [4471-A-4[a]] Soldier In The Army Of My Lord
12. [4471-A-5] Outshine The Sun
13. [4471-B-2] Way Over In The Promised Land
14. [4471-B-10] Must I Be Carried To The Sky On Flowered Beds Of Ease?
15. [4472-B-3] Bottle Up And Go
16. [4473-A-4] Don't You Love Me No More?
17. [4473-B-2] The Gallows Song
18. [4473-B-4] Ham And Eggs
19. [4473-B-5] Bottle Up And Go (fragment)
20. [6502-A-3] How Long
21. [6502-B-1] T. B. Blues
