Wolfe, Charles and Kip Lornell.

Wolfe, Charles and Kip Lornell. (1992). The Life and Legend of Leadbelly. NY: Harper

Collins.

While it is often said that America loves to give people a second chance, there was perhaps no more unlikely 'second chance' than that of the blues and folk singer, the master of the 12-string guitar, known as Leadbelly. In 1934, Leadbelly was incarcerated in the notorious Louisiana prison of Angola for stabbing a white man. In 1935, despite of the fact it was the height of the Great Depression, the African-American guitar player was in New York, living the life of a celebrity musician, the toast of the town, and the guest of some of the most prestigious (white) academics. This sudden shift in fortune was due to the fact that during his time in prison historian and musicologist John Lomax went to the Southern state prison with the interest of recording and collecting traditional African-American songs for the Library of Congress. The book shows that the power of a second chance and finding a calling, in this case the calling of music, can be redemptive for a convict, as can the trust of another individual. It also shows how the racism of Leadbelly's day caused African-Americans to more often be accused, and be harshly judged of crime, without ignoring the violent environment and that were a part Leadbelly's life and attitude.

Summary

Huddie "Leadbelly" Ledbetter had worked as professional itinerant musician before the time of imprisonment that lead to his fateful meeting with Lomax. From his wanderings and roaming through the Deep South he knew almost every conceivable folk, country, and traditional African-American song -- plus a great deal of popular music. The often-overlooked influence of Tin Pan Alley style music on Leadbelly forms one of the central musical claims of the book, given that Leadbelly has at times been inaccurately been portrayed as a kind of 'pure' artifact of traditional folk culture (Wolfe & Lornell 1992: 89).

After getting out of jail, Leadbelly went to New York City and asked for a job with Lomax. At first, he worked as a handyman, chauffer, and assistant/'warm up act' to Lomax's archival project. But gradually the ex-convict began to become famous as a musician in his own right. During his relatively short career as an artist of national fame, he created such hits as "Good Night Irene" "Midnight Special," and "Pick a Bale of Cotton" and his influence lingers on in music to this day.

Analysis

Lomax was lucky to have gotten to know Leadbelly before it was too late, else an entire history and treasure trove of American folk music would have been lost. Leadbelly was born in a very different era -- the son of sharecroppers, he began his work life picking cotton as well as singing and playing the guitar, He became partners with bluesman Blind Lemon Jefferson from whom he learned many of his songs, although Leadbelly was a gifted composer of lyrics as well as musician in his own right.

The world where Leadbelly grew up was often violent and lawless. He was said to have shot a man when he was in his teens, and was imprisoned three times for murder and assault, although the only homicide he committed was in self-defense (the race of his victim proved his undoing). Leadbelly was known for carrying guns and knives until his dying day, and before Lomax traveled with him, he told Leadbelly if he ever wanted his car and money just to ask him, saying he would never have to attack him -- but Leadbelly never stole from or harmed Lomax. He knew that Lomax trusted him, and that inspired him to act in a trustworthy manner.

Leadbelly's career highlights the complicated relationship between academics and their subjects -- Lomax discovered Leadbelly and gave him fame, acting as patron and counselor, but he had to accept Leadbelly's a violent past. He had to find ways to mitigate the violent lifestyle Leadbelly had learned from birth to unearth the good within him. Unlike the slightly patronizing about the way that some privileged elite New Yorkers regarded Leadbelly, as an 'exotic' and 'Negro' musician who had 'done time' Lomax treated Leadbelly as a kind of equal.

Reaction

Today, the Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections, although not directly inspired by the story of Leadbelly and his legacy, has infused some of the hope that Lomax's prison journey created in the hearts of inmates by creating rehabilitative programs. Lomax gave inmates dignity by taking a real and heartfelt interest in their culture. He did not do so by regarding them as exotic, as curiosities, but as human beings. His relationship with Leadbelly he saw as an education, and Leadbelly furthered the success of Lomax's project by enabling the academic to have a better rapport with inmates.

In a way, the book is just as much a story of Lomax's emotional and intellectual journey as Leadbelly's because without Lomax, Leadbelly would never have found an audience and redemption through a lucrative musical career. But Leadbelly also taught Lomax about the culture that fascinated the academic. Lomax was genuinely interested as a musicologist to hear what African-American inmates had to say and give to the world as a result of his contact with Leadbelly. Lomax's interest and first visit to Angola encouraged Leadbelly to take proactive action and change his life. Leadbelly who sought Lomax out up North, looking for a second chance. For the other inmates Lomax encountered on his journey through the prisons of the South and collecting songs, Leadbelly was an example of hope. Leadbelly's impromptu concerts loosened up the inmate's memories, hearts, and tongues, so they shared and opened up to others.

In Louisiana today, rather than simply force convicts to work and toil with sweat and tears on chain gangs the department takes a new vision of humanity and punishment. It has switched from retribution to a philosophy of restorative justice, which stresses rehabilitating the criminal by enabling him to give back to the community. By doing something good for the community, the criminal gains a sense that he is repairing the harm he did through his behavior, and thus can repair or redeem his own soul. This is an important step in the criminal's rehabilitation -- accepting responsibility and working to mitigate some of the harm done to the community, even if the harm to the actual victim cannot be undone ("Rehabilitative Justice," 2008, Louisiana Department of Correction).