Lead Belly

USA, 1918–1949

American folk and blues musician with an unusually broad repertoire of traditional song, much of it recorded for the Library of Congress, which became a principal source for the later folk revival.

MusicRoots documents 1 artist who influenced Lead Belly and 10 artists Lead Belly influenced in turn. Every connection cites a published source.

Who influenced Lead Belly?

• Blind Lemon Jefferson — Lead Belly worked as Blind Lemon Jefferson's guide and musical partner in Texas — he recorded 'My Friend Blind Lemon' in his memory.

Which artists did Lead Belly influence?

• Bob Dylan — Lead Belly was one of the first sounds that struck Dylan: 'Those songs went straight through me.'
• Joan Baez — Lead Belly was one of the first voices that opened Baez to the depth of folk music.
• Grateful Dead — Lead Belly's folk tradition informed the acoustic side of Grateful Dead's eclectic repertoire.
• Creedence Clearwater Revival — Willy and the Poor Boys (1969) sets Fogerty's own writing beside two reworked Lead Belly songs, 'Cotton Fields' and 'Midnight Special'.
• Van Morrison — Morrison grew up on Lead Belly's folk-blues — part of the blues and songster tradition beneath his sound.
• Nirvana — The 'Unplugged' finale was a cover of Lead Belly's 'Where Did You Sleep Last Night'.
• Odetta — Odetta's core repertoire — work songs, spirituals, 'Take This Hammer' — came directly from Lead Belly's songbook.
• Lonnie Donegan — Donegan's breakthrough 'Rock Island Line' was Lead Belly's arrangement — the founding record of skiffle is a Lead Belly song.
• Pete Seeger — Seeger learned songs and 12-string technique directly from Lead Belly in the New York folk circle of the early 1940s.
• Ram Jam — 'Black Betty' is Lead Belly's 1939 recording of a work song, played at volume. The whole of Ram Jam's reputation rests on that one borrowing.