Talk:Lead Belly

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Association with Blind Lemon Jefferson

It should be mentioned in the article that early in his career Lead Belly worked in partnership with Blind Lemon Jefferson, leading him around. In fact, Lead Belly's artistic beginnings and musical talents on the twelve-string guitar (an instrument that is uniquely associated with him) are somewhat slighted in this article.

Huddie Ledbetter's history was almost entirely wrong, as told by a white racist

Sheila Curran Bernard's book - she is an associate history professor at University at Albany - titled “Bring Judgment Day: Reclaiming Lead Belly’s Truths from Jim Crow’s Lies,” in July of 2024, completely blows away the history written and designed by John Lomax and his son Alan who profited by depicting Huddie Ledbetter as a violent man who grateful manservant after he was "discovered" by Lomax. It also recasts his convictions, and shows who profited from them, in America during Jim Crow era's lies. Criminal justice in post-Reconstruction South was brutal on Black men, Ledbetter included. All of this history needs to be reconsidered and reconstructed, rather than just accepting the long-held version by a man who literally profited from telling it a certain way. 2601:681:8A01:980:5190:FDD:7B8F:6F37 (talk) 09:13, 31 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]

This review in the Telegraph (https://web.archive.org/web/20240630074418/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/books/non-fiction/bring-judgement-day-sheila-curran-bernard-review/) covers some of those points, and the recent podcast episode by Andrew Hickey expands on the topic: (https://500songs.com/podcast/song-177-never-learn-not-to-love-by-the-beach-boys-part-3-mister-can-you-give-me-some-direction/#more-2421) DepthsInspired (talk) 22:02, 1 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

I note the Telegraph piece says 'But Lead Belly was a nickname for which the man himself never much cared, acquired in prison during one of several spells for murder (subsequently pardoned), attempted murder and assault. He always introduced himself by his given name: Huddie Ledbetter.'

Accordingly, would it be appropriate to reduce the number of instances that 'Lead Belly' is used and instead use 'Ledbetter' (this would also apply to a range of other articles, including the one on John Lomax) DepthsInspired (talk) 22:28, 1 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]