Leadbelly Newsreel
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- Опубліковано 30 січ 2009
- This is an excerpt from a 1935 March of Time newsreel (produced by Time magazine) which re-enacts Leadbelly's release from Angola Prison, Louisiana. John Lomax plays himself, and Leadbelly performs 'Goodnight Irene'.
![The Making of Lead Belly: The Smithsonian Folkways Collection [Behind The Scenes Documentary]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/WIiVq-ZLQYw/mqdefault.jpg)
According to Alan Lomax, Leadbelly was never upset about the condescending nature of this film, he was only upset that he was never paid
That seriously sucks so much
That seriously sucks so much
Getting upset over principle is for people with money.
@@thepagecollective Jeez. There's a thought.
This is what European Americas and the West have been doing for years.
However, with social media, that check will be paid soon.
AshleySaysSo brought me.💯💯💯
Leadbelly is a treasure that everyone should witness! :D
LOL, "But it wasn't my fault, a man was trying to cut my head off (smiling)"
I had no idea there was video of Lead Belly. I love UA-cam. I love the Internet.
Yes, that is Lead Belly, and he is 'acting', i.e. recreating actual events that took place only a year or two before this was shot. Apparently it's the only film with live sound ever shot of him.
There's a color one from 1945 too.
@@reggiekrager5411 Its dubbed.
Leadbelly is one of the greatest geniuses to ever bless mankind ...
Lead Belly...what determination he had...he was a remarkable "songster". Great songs that made millions were written by Lead Belly...Goodnight Irene, Midnight Special, Cotton Fields.
So awesome that his music is in the Library of Congress 😎👍🏻
"Leadbelly, you're a fine songster, I..I never heard so many good Negra songs"
It's negro, you're just trolling his accent. Negro means Black.
@@williammayhem5487 That's sorta the point, jackass
@@williammayhem5487no it don’t
@@williammayhem5487 american english negro doesn't mean black at all it means a black man
The comments at the end of this video putting the good Professor Ledbetter's work on par with the Declaration of Independence & other documents of monumental historical importance is right on the money. Leadbelly remains one of the greatest musical visionaries of all time & an absolute master of the folk rock idiom. He also apparently had a remarkable presence on camera & it would have been amazing to see him pursue a film career. A great 3 song live clip produced by Pete Seeger also survives.
Wouldn't it been interesting if they had movie cameras way back in the 1600's......what they would sound like back then? Because they way they talk in this video seems like a completely different world from today......it's erie.
+nikkiejanee1972 1600's?
yeah the 1600's.
Well, this is a re-enactment. They are acting. It's hard to talk normally in front of a camera.
Actually I think racism wasn't as well developed back then, I mean there was racist chattel slavery, but they hadn't refined it in the way that they did in the 1700s
In the 1600s, truth be told, the white people would have sounded like you think pirates sound, and the black people would have sounded like Africans who had recently learned English from those “pirates”. Both accents would have been very difficult to understand by most Americans living today, but not to people from the British Isles.
How odd our words and behavior will appear to those in the future.
Frankly, a lot of it seems odd to me now.
+colujomes so true
Yeah this video is just sickening and creepy
@@victorvelie3980 This video is just a re-creation of events that happened maybe a year prior but highly dramatized. Leadbelly and Lomax both understood how condescending this was but essentially just viewed it as a gig they had to do to bring attention to what would come to be known as the Lomax Musical Archive.
@@victorvelie3980 it is only video of leadbelly in existence, it was the Times they lived in sad but I'm very glad it exists, leadbelly was the the start of modern music
GRAND Leadbelly!!!🙏💯💯💯
Long live Lead
"Just once more Leadbellay" epic southern drawl!!!
Ooooooh yeah! 😆
amazing how blacks got through those ultra racist times...simply amazing.
+nancy vandi why would we all be anesthetists? what do doctors who give anesthesia have to do with anything going on in this video or comments or the situation in society concerning any theme within this video or its comments?
It's truly staggering. I'm not American, so this isn't a part of my people's history, but I am British, and ... yeah. Not much better. In fact, we were in many ways worse. Just ask all those countries who now have independence days thanks to us.
@@MarquisSmith Yes, feel guilty, change your ways! It will only make countries like the US stronger.
@@MarquisSmith Britain did redeem it's self by abolishing slavery, William Wilberforce i believe was the genetleman who pushed for it.
@@plasticbudgie And that was a surprisingly long time back. Wilberforce starting his activism in the seventeen hundreds. So yeah, some great amongst the bad. All country's are like that, I reckon. As for the previous poster, I don't feel any direct guilt for what my countrymen did before I was even conceived - what would be the point? - I'm just aware of my history. As for what you meant about my guilt making the USA stronger, I'm sorry to report that I'm not quite crazy enough to follow your line of logic.
Not the Declaration of independence, the declaration of Rock !!! Huddie Leadbetter made everyone from the Beatles to Led Zeppelin take up Rock n Roll
The dialog in this short clip shouldn't diminish the outstanding accomplishments of either Leadbelly or Lomax. We can probably assume that all or most of the dialog and brief story line in the clip are heavily scripted by the news production team. It's just great to see these legends in moving pictures for our own eyes. If we want to truly witness these two, I'd recommend listening to one of the many Leadbelly tunes on YT or listen to a few Lomax field recordings.
Leadbelly had to do what he had to do, but Lomax shouldn't have agreed to this script.
Leadbelly....one of our best men
😍👤🎩
I've read that Lomax in real life was actually scared shitless of Leadbelly, who really was a genuine badass...
John Lomax or his son, Alan Lomax?
@@carsonwyler4047 John
The record producers made Lomax and Leadbelly reenact the events. In realty Leadbelly pretty much forced Lomax to give him a job. But the time that he was with Lomax was a time of growth and maturity for him.
and he had it good compared to others....sadly enough...
He stayed out of prison and trouble and learned his potential to be an artist and Lomax preserved his legendarda
No he didn't he went back to prison for stabbing another man 16 times after this lol but he got out again so...
Thanks for sharing.
This is something. Thank you for sharing.
HUDDIE is acting obviously ,and getting paid for it ,he didnt realise that three quarters of a century later ,the world would be watching him ,via the internet and still be speechless at the talent +wisdom +passion that he emits ,,,,thank god for blues men and women as our lives would be empty in this moment of time without them +the determination of those that promoted them +recorded them in such primitive dark times ,,,,,,thanx to you alll ,,,..
My Grandfather was Robert Lockwood Jr. I've meet tons of old blues guys. Grandpa was a cantankerous man in his old age. I honestly believe this was as the result of the shucking and jiving black folks were REQUIRED to do at the time in order to live. One false move and black guy could be jailed or killed without a protest to follow. As he aged and times changed he seemed to bend the other way. He frequently made it difficult for white journalists initially but then would smile off the awkwardness and pressure he'd have them under. he'd make a few squirm. He never admitted this was his goal it just sure seemed like it was. I didn't care for it. I appreciate the piece as it is. Times were rough then. Leadbelly made money and gained notoriety by remembering a few short terrible lines. I meet his family at a Severance Hall Event where he was honored. They weren't complaining. In fact, they were eating in part do to a few short terrible lines.
amazing. thanks. what has your life been like ? you look happy.
Thank you for sharing your great insights. Your grandfather was an amazing musician!
Thank you for sharing your insights. That 'newsreel' is so painful to watch now ... but - I guess it worked.
So that means your step great grandfather was Robert Johnson, then? That's awesome!
"just once more leadbellay"
haha, this is awesome.
Thank you sir this was quiet interesting.
Wow wow wow--I am speechless!
Not quite clearly
It's true though, someone was trying to cut his head off and that is why he has a big scar on his neck.
Wow, this is good stuff! It's eye-opening to see the power relationships depicted here (I hope they were more attributable to the scriptwriter and director than to Lomax and Lead Belly). It makes Guthrie's choice to perform as a duet with Lead Belly a more courageous one than I'd ever considered.
@lifestraight Exactly. The newsreel producers made Leadbelly and Lomax re-enact these moments.
I sure ain't offended by it, it was just the reality of the times.
lol best user account name EVER
Ignorance was so fashionable and normal back then. It was a simpler time but a scary time
BESIDES THE BAD BREAKS HE HAD HE WAS ONE GERAT SONG WRIGTER I LOVED HIM. HE WAS A PRETTY GOOD 12 STRING GUITAR PLAYER
Jesus! The level to which they made this man degrade himself!
Guitcad1
It's disgusting, isn't it?
The man is a legend.
At least we can appreciate him now.
If he hadn't played ball, we may never have had heard of him.
The irony of this vignette is not lost on me though.
Sad world.
This is what's its like to be black
Defensor Rationis I don't see this as degrading himself. I see a man playing a part to get what he could to better his situation. Who really was "playing" whom?
was, don't disrespect their suffering with comparing it to yours.
Those were much harder times
dont use the lords name in vain
Well, of course. Semantics. Simulated live, if you will. It's a great opportunity to see Leadbelly's dexterity on the guitar, though. He rips through "Pick A Bale Of Cotton" like the virtuoso that he was.
Agree completely.
Thank you, your explanation defied my knee jerk reaction of disgust. UGHHHH it's just hard for us to understand things like this in our times...looking back at our prejudiced history.
sasha vice fool its worse now, at least they kept it 100 now its passive aggresive racism , get all dressed up for a job interview to get shot down and frustersted cause the white man will only hire whites and uppity negas , thats why we should keep black money in black hoods we dont see whitey coming to ournieborhoods to spend his money........we should be segregated it would be better for our people
Guess he had to do what he could to ensure his freedom. Dang.
This is insane.... histocal culture on video tape on the internet. Makes a man shit with curiousity.
indeed my good man "shit with curiosity" couldn't have put better myself.
+spencer holder Quite. Love a good shite
That was really LeadBelly???? Man, that film was GREAT! Thanks for posting this! It was well done even for back then! He seems like he could have made a find actor for sure! Awesome Awesome Video!!!! More people need to see this stuff!
what agreat find!
Good stuff
This is awesome. Sierra Ferrell did a good remake of this song.
I work at Angola a lot. The farm...
The plantation*...😬
Thank God for Leadbelly! However, think of all the great folk songs he didn't hear....
You can't stress enough how good that book is. Fuckin best read I ever had!
Yea once more leaddbellii
Respect
@lifestraight I think they call it a reenactment because of the lighting. The most difficult thing to keep consistent is the lighting of a piece. You switch from one camera to the next and find that it doesn't look the same. Go back and shoot the inconsistent scene with new lighting. The same thing happens when you don't have the same film in each of the cameras. Gets technical.
Shoulda busted that guitar over Bosses head...wtf were people thinking?
@miniraptorX See Charles Wolfe and Kip Lornell's excellent 1992 biography The Life and Legend of Leadbelly, (Harper-Collins), which discusses the filming in detail (pp.163-167). The authors also note that the live footage of Leadbelly in the newsreel 'brought a sample of authentic black folk music to an audience of millions'.
@AUSROTTENY2K It's 'Goodnight, Irene', one of Leadbelly's 'good nigra songs' that went on to become a folk and country standard.
When the Weavers had their hit after Lead Belly passed, the lyrics were, "I'll see you in my dreams. Lead Belly sang it, " I gets you in my dreams."
b.t.w.
NOT a newsreel.
It's a promotion of Leadbelly, done by Lomax and Leadbelly!, when Lomax agreed to promote his songs. He is appearing in prison garb, as without this "job", (as a driver), he would not be out of prison from his second felony (attempted murder, stabbing). After a few appearences in prison garb, he then started wearing suits, and didnt talk like he was talking to a prison guard. This is not news, but sales.
@colujomes I thought so! thank you x
"Thank yuh, Missa Boss Suh!" Anything sadder?
Boss/Mr Boss is what the inmates/convicts call the prison guards(still to this day)
tegunn
What prison were you ever in bub? I did 3 years, 1 year in super max. I called the guards a lot of things, but "Boss/Mr.Boss" wasn't even close :)
Clint Walker I work prisons in Texas, yes they do..
tegunn I did 3 years in Maryland prisons, I was housed on death row for 6 months. I never heard a single inmate ever call one of the pig shit filth "boss" or "mr. boss" or anything even close. If the pigs would have tried that in any of the prisons I was in, he would have been stabbed or shit would have been thrown on him.
Clint Walker So you're the self-annoited one for prison slang? I can't speak for Mayland prisons, only Texas ones. Try Googling "boss prison slang" and see what you get. Three years? DUI got you on a trustee camp...big whoop.
Wow.....what a different time. I wish I had a Delorean with a flux capacitor to drive by but never park...
@mherbert Does George say that in the film?
The faces of hopelessness...
Trivia question: What other famous New Orleans musician spent some time on the Angola Ponderosa?
Can't remember. Found it years ago.
ahhhhh.. sittin by the pool drinking some rum and tropical juice listening to leadbelly getting my feet massaged by my girl's mom...... don't get any better than that
pic or you is lyin givitup
o m g .....
wow
Did John Lomax always travel with a large string orchestra or were they inmates of Angola? Lead Belly is the king without corny enhancements.
Lomax hired the prison guards to find their most talented black men to "write" songs. Leadbelly was their man. Law enforcement profited from Leadbelly, but Lomax could only hire him as a song writer. But, as an artist, he was LOVED. So, Lomax agreed to "hire" him, as was the need to get out early from his second felony (attempted murder), as a "driver", but everyone involved knew he would be singing. He got out early, and Lomax and Leadbetter sold his bad boy rep, to sell more. He performed in his prison garb. After a while, the prison garb disappeared, and Leadbetter appeared in a suit, and more articulate. (So, it all appears to be an act). He even got interviews and a radio gig. In NY, he also got convicted of another stabbing (his second), but this time he only got 8 months. For a man in that time in history, there is a shocking amount of recordings of speaking, and singing from him.
Django Reinhardt
Lomax profited from Leadbelly, while he was in prison. What is going on here, is Lomax, agreed to be responsible for Leadbelly, and employ him (but they were already paying the prison). They employed him as a "driver", to get him out, but this was not true. Leadbelly, performed in the prison garb. Leadbelly, later stabbed a third man in NY, but only served eight months for his final felony. He had a radio show, he got back to. So, after Lomax helped him out, Lomax profited, and Leadbelly profited, but Leadbelly, got an early release, and they both exploited his bad boy rep, to sell. and sell they did. Leadbelly, was out of prison only 14 years after his second incarceration, but in those 14 years, he amassed 100K in net worth. Others have made millions off of his song, but they have not spent most of their adult life in prison. What's also weird, if you think about it, that the Louisiana officials profited, by farming Leadbelly out to write/sing songs, while he was in prison. Everyone was bragging about their discovered talent. (weird). Leadbelly had radio shows, and interviews.
It is said that Leadbelly put shoe polish in his hair, to cover up the fact that he as significantly older than Martha! Great video! Ami, Israel
This is almost Tim and Erric vibes
He's actually John Lomax, Alan Lomax's father. Alan Lomax is the one who recorded Muddy Waters, and was much more aware of issues with race and power structures.
Lead Belly needed a job to remain on parole. There were not many jobs available during the Great Depression. Lomax did him a big favor by hiring him.
There is a great book "The Land where the Blues Began" it was written by Lomax's son. It documents the Blues, race segregation and the fact that African Americans were responsible for the development of the South's Economy. African Americans built the railroads, canals, levy banks and roads in most Southern states. Many of these works are still in existence and still useful. and African Americans were never compensated for them.
Of course you are right. I've corrected my silly mistake.
@adamtheskunk That's the one and only Leadbelly.
Was that Lead singing to his wife near the end? x
This was when America really was the land of opportunity,We have to get this spirit back.The story is inspirational and should be seen in all ghetto towns in the USA.
Best comment ever, indeed.
Ah I got you.
Is that Fred from I Love Lucy?
@joecain123 wasn't the newsreel a real event? I thought that's what we were talking about.
where do you get all these footages?
Leadbelly, my hero!!
Leadbelly Somebody's Diggin' My Potatoes
how the fuck did you do that, the hyperlink?
no seriously how did you do that
@joecain123 so are telling me that a news event is not an event? What is then?
The Pete Seeger film is not live. Leadbelly is miming in that one.
Why was he called Lead Belly? Was it something to do with lead or his belly?
He was called “Leadbelly” as a nick name because his real name was Huddie Leadbetter.
I couldn't watch the whole thing Leadbelly could run circles around these people
Isso foi gravado em 1934
@357ism umm, they call it a reenactment because no cameras were on hand to film the real event, if it actually even went down this way which i doubt
@bluesgurugod your spot on my friend, and they say downloading of the internet is killing music, it may be killing the music industry but at the end when ppl can't make great wads of cash from it anymore we will be left with just music again and at that time all music will be as good as this. If there had never been a music industry I am pretty sure the likes of Lennon and Michael Jackson would still be with us, they would still be rich but not stoopid rich.
@357ism its a "reenactment" which suggests by its very name that it is a reenactment of an event and not the event itself.........
The truth is far more interesting, yet this mythologized (and now offensive) version of the Leadbelly-Lomax story is, nonetheless, a rare precious document of America's greatest folksinger. A handful of photos and only a few minutes of film exist, besides the many wonderful songs. See the Smithsonian Last Sessions recordings and the Moses Asch/Alan Lomax, eds., The Leadbelly Songbook.
This is awesome to watch! He was a strange man, but he made good music
There was nothing strange about him, what was strange though was the oppression that he was under by Lomax and the white power structure. Really, I think a lot of you guys on this thread need a serious education because you are insulting black people left and right and don't even realize it.
Leadbelly has the charm and the voice of a googleplex of angels and makes my heart flutter and my balls tingle everytime I hear the vibrations of his vocal cords reaching my ears
If that's really Leadbelly why does it say reenactment? I'm guessing the guys are real and the scenario is reenacted?
yes it is the real article acting out his scenes and its pure gold
this is inspiring but sad.
Actually, the conversation is almost humane compared to how our ancestors treated men like Lead Belly. Women, Hispanics and immigrants went through the same soul-crushing experiences and slavery was the ghastliest of all of these. Many survived and could tell the tale.
There's a couple of stories about it, one was that he was shot in the stomach with buck shot
Is Lead Belly playing himself too, or is that an actor?
That's him.
@pe4cefrog Yep, that's Martha.
that was an actor playing lead belly was it not ?