Leadbelly Subculture

The roots of the blues are connected to poverty and misery. Farmers, sharecroppers and prisoners relied on music to alleviate the labours of their works. A drastic change in a common life can be seen through the stories of Leadbelly, Fred McDowell and Muddy Waters. Then, an overview of the works of John and Alan Lomax will analyze the contribution of them for the preservation and the sharing of the American folk music. The third point consists of the difficult relationships between the recorders and the up-and-coming singers who very often had a complex personality or were bad-tempered.

Huddie William Ledbetter, universally known as Leadbelly, was one of the most important blues singers. Leadbelly’s life can ideally be divided into two parts:
The success of Leadbelly as a singer came gradually when he was alive, he achieved fame only after his death in 1949. At first, the organization of concerts (including those of charity) and music recording sessions helped to make Leadbelly known to the general public.

The influence of Leadbelly extends to today's music, inspiring rock stars like Bruce Springsteen and Bob Dylan. His songs are also covered because through the years they became traditional and sung in a modern way by punk rock bands and country music performers. Many awards were given to Leadbelly, considered a key figure from which genres like rock, pop, and blues originated. Considering the various musical achievements of Leadbelly, particularly important are the halls of fame of 1988 and 1986 that entered him among the greatest founders of Blues and rock and roll.

Another concerning point is analyzing why Leadbelly in the eyes of Lomaxes seemed so interesting. He represented the last bond with the American folk music and traditions that were fading away. Leadbelly spent eleven years in prison without having contact with the outside world and consequently, he had any influences by the radio or the phonograph. Leadbelly surprised the Lomaxes in terms of songs, in fact, he is remembered as a storehouse of songs from past
Leadbelly was also active politically, in fact, he is remembered as a populist spokesman.

He attracted the sympathies of the Left and afterwards, he performed at campaign events and political conferences. As Filene (1991) states the political activity of Leadbelly give him an image of a “consummate folk artist”. One phenomenon analyzed by Filene in Our Singing Country (1991) is the “outsider populism”. As outlined above, in the thirties there was an attraction to ambiguous personalities such as Leadbelly. In fact, themes such as loneliness, marginalization and poverty charmed the Left and the people. With time they became symbols of American virtues.

A great advantage of Leadbelly’s style was to be incompatible with the common musical tastes of the time and the popular folk power in his songs was the basis of his commercial success. Leadbelly is described by the African-American community as a folksinger, that is, as a singer able to sing any type of song. The main characteristic of Leadbelly's style is storytelling. In his lyrics, there are some spoken sections that make understanding easier for new listeners by explaining allegories and they also serve to unite and link the verses between