Leadbelly was born on a plantation in Louisiana. When he was about five years old, his family moved to Texas. That's about the time he became involved in music. He was encouraged by an uncle who bought him his first musical instrument, of all things, an accordion.

Leadbelly was a character, he would tell you himself he was the world's best cotton picker, rail road track liner, lover, drinker, and guitar player. And everybody didn�t agree, and sometimes those disagreements landed him in jail. During his time in jail, which was kind of hard on anyone, he wrote the governor a letter and a song. And it went:

And the poem worked, he got his pardon.

It wasn't too long before Leadbelly found himself again,in the Louisana State Penitentiary. There he met folklorist John Lomax and his son, who were touring the South collecting unwritten ballads and folk songs using the latest recording technology.

It was in 1935 that Leadbelly got his big break and went North and became a sensation. Over a nine year period his fame and success continued to increase. While on a European tour he became ill and died on December 6, 1949.

A lot of people don't know it, but every time we sing the song "On Top of Old Smokey," we're singing a Leadbelly song, and "Goodnight Irene," and "The Midnight Special".