Various Artists: Leadbelly: A Tribute

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Track List

Album Notes

Personnel includes: Arlo Guthrie, Lunenberg Travelers, Pete Seeger, Sonny Terry, Brownie McGhee, Leadbelly, Alan Lomax.

Producers: Tiny Robinson, Kent Cooper, Heiner Stadler.

Recorded live at the Assembly Hall, Hunter College, New York, New York on March 15, 1976.

Includes liner notes by Tiny Robinson and Robert Palmer.

Leadbelly: A Tribute (which also has been released under the title A Tribute to Leadbelly) is the recording of a concert held at Hunter College in New York City organized by Leadbelly's nephew, Tiny Robinson, and featuring three acts: Pete Seeger & Arlo Guthrie, Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee, and the Lunenberg Travelers. Serving as openers, the Lunenberg Travelers present the gospel side of Leadbelly in the songs "You Must Have That True Religion" and "I Know It Was the Blood." Terry and McGhee have a four-song set devoted to Leadbelly the bluesinger that includes a tribute song, "The Best of Friends," and a ten-minute exploration of "John Henry." Headliners Seeger & Guthrie then take up the bulk of the program with a Leadbelly-oriented version of their usual folk tag team, alternately exhorting and instructing the audience in how to sing along on Leadbelly favorites they have performed extensively elsewhere. Seeger traces the development of the folk song that became the Weavers hit "Kisses Sweeter Than Wine" through Leadbelly's intercession, while Guthrie repeats his version of "On a Monday" previously heard on the Seeger/Guthrie album Together in Concert. Everyone comes back for a three-song encore of "Midnight Special," "Meeting at the Building," and "Good Night Irene." It makes for an excellent representation of some of Leadbelly's most memorable material, performed by people directly influenced by him. ~ William Ruhlmann

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