Lead Belly (9 results)

Soft Cover. Condition: Near Fine. Selected from the historic field research of John A. Lomax and Alan Lomax. Original recordings of the Library of Congress. ARC, Capitol Records, Musicraft, RCA Records and Smithsonian Folkway Records. Music transcriptions (from Lead Belly's original recordings) by Harry Lewman. Size: 4to - over 9¾" - 12" tall. Sheet Music.

hardcover. Condition: As New. Prima edizione (First Edition). Introduzione di Tom Waits. Testid i Tyehimba. Postfazione di Glenn O'Brien. Fotografie ed illustrazioni a colori e in bianco e nero. Biografie . Cm 30,5x23,5. pp. 256. . Perfetto (Mint). . Prima edizione (First Edition). . Questa è una nuova edizione di "Lead Belly: A Life in Pictures", la ricca biografia per immagini del leggendario musicista folk americano Lead Belly, originariamente pubblicata da Steidl nel 2007. Il volume racchiude un tesoro di fotografie rare, ritagli di notizie, programmi di concerti, corrispondenza personale (incluse lettere di Woody Guthrie), album di dischi, premi e altri cimeli, alcuni dei quali sono stati scoperti in un baule di Brooklyn, conservati al sicuro dalla moglie di Lead Belly. Nato Huddie William Ledbetter (1889-1949), Lead Belly fu un influente bluesman della Louisiana che scrisse e interpretò alcune delle canzoni più amate del ventesimo secolo, tra cui "The Midnight Special", "Cotton Fields", "Rock Island Line", "Where Did You Sleep Last Night?" e la sua firma "Goodnight, Irene".  L'eredità di Lead Belly è significativa: Bob Dylan lo ha citato come il suo primo riferimento nel suo discorso di accettazione del premio Nobel nel 2016, mentre altri musicisti influenzati da lui includono Van Morrison, Kurt Cobain, Keith Richards, Jimi Hendrix, Robert Plant, Dan Zanes, Bonnie Raitt e Beck. Book.

Periodical. Wraps, the last 8 issues, some of which are double issues, for a total of 100pp. Volume 5 No 3 has a subscription coupon clipped from the rear wrap, but the verso of the coupon was only the blank for subscriber's address. Otherwise near fine copies. Killeen began his newsletter several years before the Wolfe and Lornell biography came out, and he was one of the earliest to use Lead Belly's own spelling of his name. A pioneering work. Extra postage may be required for heavy or oversize books.; Small 4to 9" - 11" tall.

paperback. Condition: G-VG in rubbed wraps. Collection of Lead Belly classics, with words and music for each song, and including Lead Belly's original songs plus his versions of folk and blues standards; edited with new additional material by John and Alan Lomax; introduction by Alan Lomax, note on the music by Hally Wood, and a short text by Pete Seeger on Lead Belly's 12-String Guitar; mild foxing, text block tanned, mild creases to corners of pages, o.w. G-VG throughout; wraps rubbed and tanned (heavier foxing/tanning to rear), music store stamp to front cover. . 80pp. 8vo. G-VG in rubbed wraps.

Hardcover. Condition: GOOD. First Edition. xiv, 242pp. B/W frontispiece photo. Tan cloth with red stamped lettering, blue topstain. Ex-libris Newport (Oregon) Public Library with their stamp to top edge and verso tail edge of the verso and p. 23 as the only paraphernalia; some foxing, spine toned, some soiling to the cloth, sound and unmarked otherwise.

Condition: Very Good. Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good-. 1st Edition. 8vo. A beautiful 1936 1st Edition in the RARE original publisher dust jacket. An oral autobiography of Lead Belly, born Huddie William Ledbetter (1888-1949), features original lyrics and scores in addition to life stories and other biographical material. Lead Belly was a gifted musician, usually playing a 12-string guitar, but also proficient on the mandolin, accordion, piano, harmonica and violin. Lead Belly served several prison sentences over the course of a 24 year period, ending in 1939, for a variety of charges, including twice for murder. It was during one of these sentences that he was 'discovered' by the Lomaxes, who were working on a project for the Library of Congress recording different styles of Southern music. They recorded hundreds of his songs during 1933 and 1934 and the rest, as they say, is history. Tan cloth with titling stamped in red to the front board and spine. Square tight binding. Clean interior, save for the small name 'Huddy Ledbetter' (not Lead Belly's signature), written in pencil to the front pastedown. Mild rubbing and edge wear with some light soiling to binding. Dust jacket with moderate soiling and edge wear, mainly along the top. Presents handsomely in archival mylar.

Condition: Near Fine. Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good. First Edition. First edition, first printing. Signed by John A. Lomax with a lengthy inscription to a previous owner on the title page. Bound in publisher's coarse ochre cloth stamped in red. Near Fine with bottom corner bumped, non-authorial former owner gift inscription to half-title page, pages tanned; a very sharp copy. In a Very Good dust jacket, worn and chipped along the extremities, spine faded and with a large but somewhat light stain affecting the spine and the majority of the rear panel. Features annotated songs and an oral biography of the iconic blues legend, transcribed by the folklorist father-and-son duo John and Alan Lomax.

Condition: Near Fine. Dust Jacket Condition: Near Fine. First Edition. First edition, first printing. Bound in publisher's coarse tan cloth stamped in red. Near Fine with light browning to endsheets and toning to pages. In a Near Fine dust jacket with price intact though machine-clipped corners on the front flap, sunning at the edges and several tape reinforcements to the blindside. A fantastic copy in the illusive dust jacket uncommon in such nice condition. Features annotated songs and an oral biography of the iconic blues legend, transcribed by the folklorists John and Alan Lomax.

Documents. An archive of 5 exceptional pieces related to the famous musician (1888 or 1889-1949) who spent much of his life in and out of prisons and was "discovered" after 30 years of playing music during a 1933 visit by folklorists John Lomax and his son Alan Lomax to Angola Penitentiary when they recorded him for the Library of Congress project. Included are 1.) A rare AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED in pencil "H Ledbetter," one page, 7-3/4" x 9-3/4," New York , 28 March 1949 to one of his managers Austen C. Fairbanks. 2.) Martha Promise Ledbetter (1904-1968) AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED, "Martha Ledbetter," two pages, 5-3/4" x 8-3/4," New York, 10 May 1949 in green ink to Ledbetter's other manager, Marjorie Fairbanks (Austen's mother). 3.) An original promotional flyer for a "'High-Cost-of-Living' Hootenanny" featuring Ledbetter, Woody Guthrie, and other folk singers, 7" x 11," New York, December 1947. 4.) A superb and possibly unpublished 8" x 10" black-and-white photograph showing Ledbetter in a suit, strumming his guitar surrounded by a crowed of adoring schoolchildren. And 5.) AUTOGRAPH MANUSCRIPT, one page in blue pencil, 8-1/2" x 4," no place, no date, but c. late 1948 to early 1949, being a set list used in a live performance. 1.) Of particular interest is Ledbetter's letter to his manager, Austen Fairbanks, whom, together with his mother, Marjorie Fairbanks, took over his management in early 1948. Ledbetter's letter reads in most part [with original spellings retained]: "i rec[eived a Check for $150 was ok But we did not rec[eive] no money order for $25 so if you got the Stub Keep it we waundered what was the mat[ter] so far the month of mar[ch] we Have at this time rec[eived] $175 that['s] all. So the mein time Don['t] for get april Pleas[e]. your Letter was fine the Harvard Concert they Call agon say it was for the 21 of april so if they call agon I [kno[w] what to do it was from the order of Rudie Blosh." By the time he composed this letter, Ledbetter was already cognizant that he was losing control of his muscles, though he lacked an accurate diagnosis. He had been recently released from the hospital after finding himself unable to walk. Writing that he had a doctor who was "fixing" him up, he announced he was "walking near Perfect now." Following his recovery, Ledbetter remained in New York performing mainly in jazz clubs and on the radio preparing for his trip to Europe in May.2.) Martha Promise's letter was written soon after Ledbetter's departure for Europe, his only time ever spent outside of the United States. She writes in most part [with original spellings retained]: "How goes every Thing Well I hope as that's leaves me ok felling much better Since I read your letters and also I got the check and thank[s] a million I am not worried about Huddie as longs I know he is with you and Aussten becurse I know he will be Taking Care of and I Am Sure any kind of care he needs you will see to that I am a[w]full Thrilled to here every thing is going fine. Any kind of clippings you can send me will be very Thankfull of Them. I were very surprised how Quick they made the trip I couldn['t] believe my eyes when I got the telegram he were there already every thing is very lonesome and Quiet here Thursday were ladys day at the Ball game and I enjoyed it very much ladys can always go for 50¢ That['s] one thing grand about it 'ha ha' Well this here to be a very short letter becourse There is no news give Clayton my love and also the rest of the Boys." Ledbetter's trip would be cut short due to his deteriorating health. While in France, a Paris physician diagnosed him with ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease) and Ledbetter returned to the United States at the end of May. He played only two more shows, one with Woody Guthrie in Chicago, and then a tribute to the late John A. Lomax in Austin, Texas on 15 June 1949. By July he was admitted to Bellevue and would be in and out of the hospital after that. For some time, Lead Belly would sing and play his guitar. The day he found himself unable to play, he cried. Huddie Ledbetter died on 6 December 1949.3.) The flyer advertises "The Hootenanny," held at Town Hall in New York on the evening of 27 September 1947 (BROOKLYN DAILY EAGLE, 27 September 1947, page 12). The program featured not only Ledbetter closing the show, but other greats including Woodie Guthrie. Interestingly, the listing of the various artists on the bill also lists the songs they planned to perform save for Lead Belly, who intended to "announce his own numbers" during the program.4.) The period 8" x 10" photograph shows Ledbetter, dressed in a suit and bow tie, singing amidst a throng of adoring school children, one of which, a little girl, gleefully rests her ear upon his guitar, eyes shut with a huge smile on her face. Apparently unpublished, we have not discovered another example of this photograph which contradicts one of the great myths of Lead Belly -- the image of a rough, ex-convict (the wild-eyed "murderous minstrel," a label that TIME magazine bestowed upon him in 1935). Actually, Ledbetter enjoyed a wonderful rapport with children, many of whom sensed something special about the man.5.) The set list, which appears to date from 1948, features thirteen songs, including [with original spellings retained] "They Hung Him on the Cross," "work song," "July on Johnson," "Bring me Little Water Silvie," "The Gray goos[e]," "Bushwhase [i.e.Bourgeois] Blues," "mid night on the see," "Tell me where did Sleep Las night," "Mory don't you weep," "459 Blues," "Com[e] Long all you Cow Boys," and "One a Little Boy walking Down the Road." Perhaps the most profound among these great songs is Lead Belly's 1939 song "Bourgeois Blues." Following a recording session with Alan Lomax at the Library of Congress in Washington, Lomax, Ledbetter, and their wives decided to celebrate over dinner, but they found it difficult to find a restaurant willing to seat blacks and whites together. The song became a favorite among left-w.