Leadbelly Newsreel

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'.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Leadbelly
• folk music
• blues Lomax
• newsreels

[lifestraight]

If that's really Leadbelly why does it say reenactment? I'm guessing the guys are real and the scenario is reenacted?

[colujomes]

@lifestraight Exactly. The newsreel producers made Leadbelly and Lomax re-enact these moments.

[miniraptorX]

I was always told that Pick a bale of cotten was the only footage of leadbelly, I'm just curious, how do you know that this is actually Leadbelly?

[colujomes]

@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'.

[adamtheskunk]

is that leadbelly or an actor it looks and sounds enough like him.

[colujomes]

@adamtheskunk That's the one and only Leadbelly.

[JustinMills24GC]

They have him speaking and acting like a damn slave.. it's great too footage of a blues legend but it hurts me to see him like that..

[wagz420]

its said he wore that bandana to cover up a nasty scar. cause when he was in prison one of the times a man stabbed him in the neck. well leadbelly took the knife from him and damn near killed that man who attacked him

[23hooey]

wow that gotta be leadbelly the one and only he should have done movies

[TheGODOFDEBAUCHERY]

SANG HIS WAY OUT OF ANGOLA THE SAME PLACE WHRE C-MURDER AND DUMB ASS BOSIE-JUST= GOES TO SHOW IF U HAVE TALENT U CAN SING YA WAY OUT OF JAIL --BUT U CAN'T RAP YA WAY OUT OF PRISON

[crayhead]

The Negros 2day need to act more like Leadbelly..

[slepycitron]

The tone of Lomax is patronising and Leadbelly's responses make me ashamed for the way I imagine he was obliged to speak. He was worth far more than the film allowed to be seen.

[77montana77]

I've read that Lomax in real life was actually scared shitless of Leadbelly, who really was a genuine badass...

[AAtaak]

This is one of the best songsters I've ever heard. I believe Texas let him go for murder. Damn, no overdubs just good music.

[allenshepard]

This is why I love folk music... the stories and the history is wonderful

[joecain123]

well its pretty self explanatory, has nothing to do with lighting..... its a REENACTMENT