This is an incredible Leadbelly record, which he did for a mainstream commercial recording company, Capitol Records (as opposed to Folkways), out in Hollywood, CA in 1944. These were his last sessions for a major label and he really seems to have put everything into the recordings he made here. They’re great! This might be my favorite Leadbelly. He plays 12 string guitar, piano, and is accompanied by Paul Mason Howard on what is supposed to be zither, but seems to in fact be a Dolceola, a very small piano like instrument seen below. This record was loaned to me by a friend and as with all the records I post here I fed it into my computer, chopped it up into tracks, and here it is! Hope you enjoy.
CLICK HERE to download Leadbelly on Capitol Records
If you have problems downloading this leave a comment
or email me at DownHomeRadio@hotmail.com .
See below for the back of the record / notes / song list
Dolceola:
Thanks – great to see this old treasure out there in the wild again 🙂
Many many thanks….my friend had a copy of this way back and we listened to many, many times with a glass or two of beer….it’s brought back happy memories, so thanks once again. WHAT A FIND!
thank you very much for this wonderful l.p..i enjoyed it so much.
i hace a copy of this album. i would like to sell it.
the record is in very good condition; the cover is in fair condition
There’s a lot of interesting stuff about the dolceola (with links to more) at http://www.minermusic.com/dolceola/dolceola.htm.
Thanks for sharing this album….
I’m so gratified to find this. It was one of my favorite albums when I was a young fellow and collected folk music. My original album of it is long gone and, thanks to you, I can hear it once again!…..Thank you!
This is one of the strangest sounding Leadbelly records I’ve heard – but still great! Thank you very much for sharing!
Delighted to see this. I’ve still to listen. I have the four-track EP record, with a near identical sleeve, and featuring IRENE GOODNIGHT. I bought it in the 1960s. The sound is great, compared with a lot of the other stuff available.