Lead Belly – In the Shadows of the Gallows Pole

I have never been a particular fan of Lead Belly’s most famous number, ”Goodnight Irene”, unless maybe I was drunk in an Irish bar, so I never really looked up much of his other work. Not quite sure what prodded me to pick up this release, but glad that I did. While Lead Belly was more of a “songster” than a bluesman, he shares much in common with them, especially a fierce fire underlying his work.

Of course, “Gallows Pole” is now most famously known due to Led Zepplin’s version, but here it’s old country (English) roots are apparent as Lead Belly adds his personal feelings of incarceration to the tale. Elsewhere on the disc he sings a cappella (on a trilogy that includes “Black Betty”, which was rocked up into a hit for Ram Jam in the 70’s), plays his 12-string guitar and even backs himself on accordion for a couple of songs.

No, this isn’t strictly blues, but the roots are the same, and many of the famous, early bluesmen also played popular songs of the days to augment their set and entertain their audiences. But there are blues-based numbers, such as “DeKalb Blues”, “Bottle Up and Go” and the great political number, “Bourgeois Blues” that most garage/blues/rockabilly cats will recognize from Panther Burns' incredible take on their debut record. Other songs, such as “Big Fat Woman”, “Julie Ann Johnson”, “Whoa, Back, Back!” and the traditional “John Hardy” (here credited to Ledbetter, though the song existed before him – and, oddly, played on the accordion), would more likely be called folk songs rather than blues, though again, the lines can be easily crossed.

This is a good selection of tunes as an introduction to more of the man than “…Irene”. It is a fine starting point and I will be looking for other releases. Just as a side note, there are many typos on the outside cover of the release that I got, which may cause some confusion when looking for particular songs.