Take out the amateur, needlessly placed poemsby Tyehimba Jess in mawkish, embarrassing praise of Lead Belly and we have aperfect book. Lead Belly: A Life inPictures (Steidl) is not merely apicture book at all, but is rife with brilliant essays and era-specificmemorabilia that portray the complexity of the man who just might be
Every song that came his way turned into hisversion and, in many instances, his copyright, from “Happy Birthday To You”(covered by the world) to “Good Night, Irene” (covered by Frank Sinatra andhundreds more).
The essays in the book ably identify who LeadBelly was and was not. The photographs, many of which have never been seen, areabsolutely penetrating. Tom Waits’ introduction says it best. “In molecommunities they reward the brave ones.” Waits says this is a story about howLead Belly is “responsible for taking other moles safely to the otherside.”
Contributing writers include Pete Seeger,John Lomax, Jack Kerouac, Martin Scorese, Oscar Brand, Janis Joplin and SonnyTerry to name but a recognizable handful.Some are quoted and others have designated essays and stories.Insightful contributions are made by the book’s editors, Lead Belly’s nieceTiny Robinson and his confidant, John Reynolds, editors of the book. So doesSean Killeen, founder of the Lead Belly Society. The text forms a completehistory of Lead Belly and the photographs are startling.
In the first known image of Lead Belly, from1918, we see a man who is to be reckoned with: fierce, contemplative and veryself-conscious. It’s a shot of a method actor, really, ready to impose hispresence upon American music until his death in 1949. Assuming many roles, LeadBelly was by no means simply the person introduced to the world by folkloristJohn Lomaxa convict freed because he could sing American folk songs. In fact,Lomax wasn’t so pure; he became Lead Belly’s manager and his name appears onthe copyright for “Good Night, Irene.” Although the story of Lomax’sexploitation of his “discovery” has been told elsewhere, it’s within theconfines of this book that we realize the bottomless horror of how inappropriatelyLead Belly was handled. Lomax actually made the singer perform in a stripedprison outfit at colleges and concert halls as though he was some sort ofaboriginal find.
Lead Belly was quite literate, and many ofhis moving, poetic letters are photographed for inclusion. So are handbillsannouncing appearances and press he garnered as he performed for countlessenthralled listeners. The book is artfully arranged so that we get a linearhistory of the man, covering everything from his elegant, personal dress code(once out of the striped suit and away from Lomax who he later took legalaction against) to his famous Stella 12-string guitar that he hadmade-to-order. No guitar off the rack would suit him and in the same way nosong he ever sung or wrote went without customization. His originals, and theywere many, blended a unique style that was folk, sure, but also echoed bluesand popular music of the day – especially cowboy style songs. His favorite wasRoy Rogers. He could go from songs he remembered to those he created with ease,always bringing to each his own defiant style.
One may just look at this elegant book orread it. Either way, it’s an important entry not only in the Lead Belly legacybut also for the history of American music – music that is folk here and popthere, and everywhere a brand of stalwart emotion. Lead Belly: A Life In Pictures makes certain that we fullyappreciate that folksingers are not simple and that the folk process is perhapsthe most complex idiom of all. Lead Belly was a storyteller. Even in achievingpopularity he kept his tales close to the aesthetic of the common man andwoman. Stare at him looking back at you from these pages and you know he wasyour neighbor by day and your visionary preacher by night.
George Harrison is quoted in thebook as having said, “No Lead Belly, no Beatles.” Figure that one out and youwill drop the artificial barrier between the deepness of folk and the top ofpop forevermore.Going to the other sideis natural, when you come from beneath it all.
