Where Did You Sleep Last Night? [Gold Vinyl]

by Lead Belly, Huddie Ledbetter

Overview

The bulk of the best performances by Leadbelly -- whose influence on the folk revival of the 1950s and '60s cannot be overstated -- were recorded during the '40s for Folkways Records founder Moses Asch. Inferior copies and re-recordings of these tunes have appeared over the years, but the original masters have sat in the vaults of Folkways. The three-volume Where Did You Sleep Last Night: Lead Belly Legacy collection shows what we've been missing: the compilers dug out the best available versions of Leadbelly's finest songs and carefully transferred them from the original acetate masters. As the liner notes promise, "these recordings can again be heard the way they sounded in the early 1940s, for in the original masters you can still hear the ringing of the guitar and thumping of the bass." This 34-song first volume is a must for anyone interested in the roots of American folk. It opens with "Irene," which (as "Goodnight Irene") became a national hit for the Weavers less than a year after Leadbelly died on welfare; it includes many more of his most-famous tunes, among them "Rock Island Line," "Cotton Fields," and "Good Morning Blues." ~ Jeff Burger

Product Details

Release Date:	04/30/2021
Label:	Goldenlane
UPC:	0889466224911

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Lead Belly   Primary Artist,Piano,Guitar,Vocals,Accordion,Button Accordion,Guitar (12 String)
Huddie Ledbetter   Primary Artist
The Oleander Quartet   Vocals
George Hall   Vocals
Pops Foster   Guitar (Bass),Bass
Josh White   Featured Artist
Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee   Harmonica
Willie "The Lion" Smith   Piano
Sonny Terry   Harmonica,Featured Artist
Howard Scott   Vocals
Brownie McGhee   Guitar

Technical Credits

John A. Lomax   Arranger,Composer
Mary Monseur   Compilation Producer
Michael Maloney   Compilation Producer
Joe Gastwirt   Analog Transfer,Mastering
Don Raye   Composer
Jeff Place   Liner Notes
Paul Campbell   Composer
Traditional   Arranger,Composer
Lead Belly   Arranger,Composer,Lyricist
Leroy Carr   Composer
Moses Asch   Engineer
Alan Lomax   Composer
Georgia Turner   Composer