Lead Belly: The Smithsonian Folkways Collection

Lead Belly: The Smithsonian Folkways Collection, the first career-spanning box set dedicated to the American music icon, is a 5 CD, 140-page, large-format book featuring 5 hours of music with 16 unreleased tracks. The limited-edition poster and t-shirt package has sold out.

Lead Belly is “the hard name of a harder man,” said Woody Guthrie of his friend and fellow American music icon who was born Huddie Ledbetter (c. 1888–1949). From the swamplands of Louisiana, the prisons of Texas, and the streets of New York City, Lead Belly and his music became cornerstones of American folk music and touchstones of African American cultural legacy.

With his 12-string Stella guitar, he sang out a cornucopia of songs that included his classics “The Midnight Special,” “Irene,” “The Bourgeois Blues,” and many more, which in turn have been covered by musical notables such as the Beach Boys, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Van Morrison, Nirvana, Odetta, Little Richard, Pete Seeger, Frank Sinatra and Tom Waits. Lead Belly: The Smithsonian Folkways Collection brings us the story of the man as well as the musician. 5 Discs, 108 tracks (16 unreleased), 5 hours of music, historic photos, extensive notes, and 140-page book.

This project was produced in coordination with the Lead Belly Estate, The John Reynolds Collection/Lead Belly Society, and the National Museum of African American History and Culture.

Track Listing

101	Irene (Goodnight Irene) Lead Belly	01:53
102	The Bourgeois Blues Lead Belly	02:18
103	Fannin Street (Mister Tom Hughes Town) Lead Belly	03:30
104	The Midnight Special Lead Belly	02:03
105	John Henry Lead Belly with Sonny Terry	03:10
106	Black Girl (Where Did You Sleep Last Night) Lead Belly	02:07
107	Pick a Bale of Cotton Lead Belly and The Oleander Quartet	01:30
108	Take This Hammer Lead Belly	02:15
109	Cotton Fields Lead Belly	02:06
110	Old Riley Lead Belly	01:58
111	Rock Island Line Lead Belly	02:02
112	The Gallis Pole Lead Belly	02:45
113	Ha-Ha This a Way Lead Belly	01:34
114	Sukey Jump Lead Belly	01:04
115	Boll Weevil Lead Belly	03:07
116	Scottsboro Boys Lead Belly	04:32
117	Governor O.K. Allen Lead Belly	02:37
118	Governor Pat Neff Lead Belly	03:40
119	There's a Man Going Around Taking Names Lead Belly	01:24
120	On a Monday Lead Belly with Sonny Terry	01:47
121	You Can't Lose Me, Cholly Lead Belly	02:37
122	Keep Your Hands Off Her Lead Belly	02:51
123	We Shall Be Free Lead Belly with Woody Guthrie and Cisco Houston	02:34
201	Alabama Bound Lead Belly with Woody Guthrie and Cisco Houston	02:17
202	Almost Day Lead Belly	01:05
203	Fiddler's Dram Lead Belly with Woody Guthrie and Cisco Houston	02:28
204	Green Corn Lead Belly	01:15
205	Sally Walker Lead Belly	02:40
206	Bring Me a Little Water, Silvy Lead Belly	00:48
207	Julie Ann Johnson Lead Belly	00:41
208	Linin' Track Lead Belly	01:11
209	Whoa, Back, Buck Lead Belly	02:09
210	Shorty George Lead Belly	01:28
211	Ham and Eggs Lead Belly	01:42
212	Moanin' Lead Belly	01:00
213	Out on the Western Plains Lead Belly	01:31
214	Noted Rider Lead Belly	02:50
215	Meeting at the Building Lead Belly	00:59
216	Good, Good, Good (Talking, Preaching) / We Shall Walk Through the Valley Lead Belly	02:11
217	Ain't You Glad (The Blood Done Signed My Name) Lead Belly	02:19
218	I'm So Glad, I Done Got Over Lead Belly	01:21
219	The Hindenburg Disaster Lead Belly	03:22
220	Ella Speed Lead Belly	05:48
221	Haul Away Joe Lead Belly	02:48
222	Old Man Lead Belly	02:35
223	Sweet Jenny Lee Lead Belly	01:51
224	Jean Harlow Lead Belly	01:40
225	Laura Lead Belly	01:41
226	Queen Mary Lead Belly	04:46
301	Good Morning Blues Lead Belly with Sonny Terry	02:23
302	Sail On, Little Girl (You Can't Mistreat Me) Lead Belly	03:14
303	Easy Rider Lead Belly	02:51
304	Poor Howard Lead Belly	01:36
305	Duncan and Brady Lead Belly	04:06
306	How Long, How Long Lead Belly and Sonny Terry	02:13
307	T.B. Blues Lead Belly	03:43
308	Jim Crow Blues Lead Belly	03:30
309	Pigmeat Lead Belly	02:33
310	John Hardy Lead Belly	02:43
311	Outskirts of Town Lead Belly and Sonny Terry	02:40
312	4, 5, and 9 Lead Belly	02:20
313	In the Evening (When the Sun Goes Down) Lead Belly	03:29
314	Red Cross Store Blues Lead Belly	03:09
315	Diggin' My Potatoes (1) Lead Belly and Brownie McGee	02:34
316	Blind Lemon Lead Belly	01:39
317	When a Man's a Long Way from Home Lead Belly	02:57
318	Alberta Lead Belly	03:11
319	Excerpt from "The Lonesome Train" Lead Belly	03:11
320	National Defense Blues Lead Belly	03:13
321	Hitler Song (Mr. Hitler) Lead Belly	04:31
322	Big Fat Woman Lead Belly	01:10
323	Been So Long (Bellevue Hospital Blues) Lead Belly	02:44
401	WNYC Folk Songs of America: Grey Goose / Boll Weevil / Yellow Gal / Ha-Ha This a Way / Leaving Blues / Irene Lead Belly	14:42
402	WNYC Folk Songs of America: Almost Day / Blues in My Kitchen / Blues in My Dining Room / I Went Up on the Mountain / Good Morning Blues / Baby, Don't You Love Me No More / T.B. Blues / Irene Lead Belly and the Oleander Quartet	14:45
403	If It Wasn't for Dicky Lead Belly	02:15
404	What's You Gonna Do When the World's on Fire Lead Belly with Anne Graham	02:12
405	Rock Me (Hide Me in Thy Bosom) Lead Belly with Anne Graham	02:19
406	Packin' Trunk Blues Lead Belly	02:35
407	Leaving Blues Lead Belly	02:58
408	How Come You Do Me like You Do? Lead Belly	03:26
409	One Dime Blues Lead Belly	02:25
410	I'm Going to Buy You a Brand New Ford Lead Belly	01:40
411	Jail-house Blues Lead Belly	01:13
412	Shout On Lead Belly	02:09
413	Come and Sit Down beside Me Lead Belly	01:02
414	Red River Lead Belly	02:14
501	Yes, I Was Standing in the Bottom / When It's Springtime in the Rockies Lead Belly	01:41
502	Ain't Going Down to the Well No More (Version 2) Lead Belly	01:23
503	Everytime I Go Out Lead Belly	01:25
504	Go Down, Old Hannah Lead Belly	04:58
505	Black Betty Lead Belly	01:53
506	Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out Lead Belly with Bessie Smith	03:42
507	Stewball Lead Belly with Martha Ledbetter	02:34
508	Ain't It a Shame to Go Fishin' on a Sunday Lead Belly	01:22
509	Relax Your Mind Lead Belly	04:05
510	Princess Elizabeth Lead Belly	03:33
511	Silver City Bound Lead Belly	06:01
512	The Titanic Lead Belly	05:11
513	House of the Rising Sun Lead Belly and Martha Ledbetter	02:24
514	It’s Tight like That Lead Belly	03:09