Track Listing

Disc 1:

1. Grasshopper In My Pillow
2. Tight Like That
3. CC Rider
4. Well You Know I Had To Do It
5. Alberta
6. Sweet Mary Blues
7. New Orleans
8. New York City
9. Baby Don't You Love Me Now More
10. Thirty Days In The Workhouse
11. You Cain' Loose A Me Cholly
12. Midnight Special
13. I'm Leavin' On The Midnight Train
14. Fannin' Street
15. Goodnight Irene
16. Pick A Bale Of Cotton
17. Black Girl
18. Turn Yo' Radio On
19. Children's Blues
20. John Henry
21. Corn Bread Rough
22. Can't You Line 'Em
23. Ella Speed
24. Tell Me Baby
25. Go Down Old Hannah

Disc 2:

1. Somebody's Diggin' My Potatoes
2. Dancing With Tears In My Heart
3. Salty Dog
4. Whoa Back Up
5. Sukey Jump
6. How Long
7. Eagle Rock Rag
8. Laura
9. Big Fat Woman
10. My Friend Blind Lemon
11. Easy Mr Tom
12. New Black Snake
13. Matchbox Blues
14. Death Letter Blues
15. Death Letter Blues
16. Bourgeois Blues
17. We're In The Same Boat Brother
18. Jean Harlow
19. Howard Hughes
20. Cow Cow Yicky Yicky Yea
21. When I Was A Cowboy
22. TB Blues
23. Alabama Bound
24. Shout On (Honey I'm All Out And Down)
25. He Never Said A Mumbling Word

Disc 3:

1. It Was Early One Morning
2. Good Morning Blues
3. Tom Hughes Town
4. Bull Cow
5. Looky Looky Yonder
6. Blood Done Sign My Name
7. Tell Me Baby What Was Wrong With You
8. Birmingham Jail (Down In The Valley)
9. Red Cross Store Blues
10. Sail On Little Girl Sail On
11. Roberta
12. Jim Crow Blues
13. Gray Goose
14. I'm On My Last Go Round
15. Stewball
16. Spring Time In The Rockies
17. Ain't Going Down To The Well No More
18. Take This Hammer
19. All Rock Island Line
20. Midnight Special
21. Sylvie
22. I'll Be Down On The Last Bread Wagon
23. Chinatown
24. I'm Alone Because I Love You
25. Leaving Blues

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #12219 in Music
• Released on: 2008-03-03
• Number of discs: 3
• Format: Box set

Customer Reviews

A Great Summary Of Leadbelly's Legacy
Leadbelly was a truly amazing man. He was caring, he loved children , and his emotion was beautifully depicted in this album, which personally, I believe to be a literally, awesome album.
Over 70 songs, spanning his first recordings in 1934, and his very last ones before he was forced to quit the guitar due to an arm injury in 1949. His twelve string guitar merely emphasises this emotion, by giving his songs a much deeper sound. And his voice...Wow. What a powerful voice. This man could carry any tune home without trying, and It was a shame that he did'nt live any longer.
The first disc is basically all of his greatest hits. For example, the very fist track, "Grasshopper in my Pillow", displays one of his catchier riffs that he wrote, as well as his supreme voice. Another favouritew of mine is, "You cain't loose - a - mee Cholly" a great little song. Other highlights include: Pick A Bale O' Cotton, goodnight Irene and C.C Rider. But the best song on this disc has to be "Black Girl". This was covered by Nirvana on their Unplugged show, but changing to "My Girl, my Girl..." instead of "Black Girl, black girl..." which leadbelly did. This song is basically Leadbelly summarised to a further degree in just over 2 minutes. Although all of Leadbelly's songs sound very similar, this one to me, is special because, not only does it display the emotion in his voice and his guitar, but it also paints a picture of Leadbelly as a person, as well as a songwriter: emotional, sensitive and spiritual.
The format stays very similar in the other two discs, which are all his lesser known songs throughout career, my favourites include: Looky Looky Yonder, Roberta, Gray Goose, Death Letter Blues, My Friend Blind Lemon (dedicated to Blind Lemon Jefferson, who inspired him to play music), Alabama Bound and When I was A cowboy. All of these songs are brilliant, but every single other one is amazing to listen to as well. So buy this CD, the sound quality is brilliant, with little hissing and Leadbelly happens to be, quite possibly, the greatest blues singer that ever lived.
You may think that this is too many songs to buy for a first album, but it isn't. I myself purchased this compilation, and loved it, and i'm sure you will too.

Huddie's music still lives on
Sure there are loads of Leadbelly CDs, and naturally I have not heard them all, but as compilations go this is the best i have heard so far. The tracks chosen are in the main excellent and provide a perfect introduction to Leadbelly's Blues and the listner cannot fail to hear how Leadbelly influenced so many 'modern' rock and blues bands. This recording has been remastered to a very high standard (no hissing and scratching as on some Leadbelly albums I own) and each of the 3 cds are well over an hour long giving great value for money.