Musical accompaniment: Where did You Sleep Last Night? by the great Leadbelly (real name: Huddie Ledbetter).

 

Leadbelly was born in Louisiana and spent quite a bit of time in prison. The first conviction that sent him up was for assault. He was put on a chain gang but after a year, Leadbelly saw his chance and escaped. Back then, it was a lot easier to disappear. He simply adopted an alias and returned to life on the outside.

One night Leadbelly was at a dance with some friends. There was a brawl over a girl (an ever-present theme in blues music) and a man called Will Stafford pulled a gun. Leadbelly promptly shot him in the head. This time, the great guitarist was in really hot water. A judge sent him up to Shaw State Prison in Huntsville, Texas for 30 years.

Leadbelly had little formal education but he possessed something far more useful. He knew what people wanted. He sized up Texas governor Pat Neff, and pleaded with the governor for a pardon. Along with his plea, he composed a ballad for Neff. And what do you know, he was pardoned in 1925, having served just seven years of his sentence.

For all his good luck and intuition, Leadbelly had little self control. In 1930, he was convicted of attempted murder and sent to Louisiana’s Angola prison. This became the scene of Leadbelly’s unlikely rocket launch to success. John Lomax, the archivist,  was working for the Library of Congress at the time. In 1933, he and his son Alan came to Angola prison to record inmates’ songs. Leadbelly was ready with another flattering song for Lousiana’s governor, which proved to be as effective as his ballad for Governor Neff had been.

Leadbelly and his wife Martha. I love the finger waves in her hair!

I used Leadbelly’s song today because I want to share a picture named In the Pines.  It reminded me of a silly story about my mom.

About ten years ago, my parents visited me in North Carolina. I wanted to visit a local flea market so we went on a Saturday. On the way over, this Leadbelly song–today’s musical selection—was playing and my mom was singing along.

“I can’t believe you know a Leadbelly song!” I said.

Mom shrugged and said she and her sister used to sing it when they were little. This puzzled me. My mom is a lovely person. She’s also very good. I couldn’t reconcile her personality to knowing this song about a man demanding to know where his girlfriend slept last night.

“Who’s that singing?” she asked.

“Leadbelly.” A moment later I added, “It’s called Where did you sleep last night?”

Mom frowned. “Kimberly,” she said severely. “The name of this song is In the Pines.”

That sounds more like a song my mom would know!

 

In the Pines was taken by George Seeley in 1904. The people in the picture are Laura Seeley, the photographer’s sister, and her friend, whose name I couldn’t find.

Happy Friday, everyone!