ARCHIVE Consisting of AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED (ALS), AUTOGRAPH MANUSCRIPT (AM), and 3 Other Pieces

Documents. Flyer bears some moderate, uneven toning; photograph is creased at edges and corners. Mostly Fine and scarce. An archive of 5 exceptional pieces related to the famous musician (1888 or 1889-1949) who spent much of his life in and out of prisons and was "discovered" after 30 years of playing music during a 1933 visit by folklorists John Lomax and his son Alan Lomax to Angola Penitentiary when they recorded him for the Library of Congress project. Included are 1.) A rare AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED in pencil “H Ledbetter,” one page, 7-3/4” x 9-3/4,” New York , 28 March 1949 to one of his managers Austen C. Fairbanks. 2.) Martha Promise Ledbetter (truncated) (1904-1968) AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED, “Martha Ledbetter,” two pages, 5-3/4" x 8-3/4," New York, 10 May 1949 in green ink to Ledbetter's other manager, Marjorie Fairbanks (Austen's mother). 3.) An original promotional flyer for a “'High-Cost-of-Living’ Hootenanny” featuring Ledbetter, Woody Guthrie, and other folk singers, 7” x 11,” New York, December 1947. 4.) A superb and possibly unpublished 8" x 10" black-and-white photograph showing Ledbetter in a suit, strumming his guitar surrounded by a crowed of adoring schoolchildren. And 5.) AUTOGRAPH MANUSCRIPT, one page in blue pencil, 8-1/2” x 4,” no place, no date, but c. late 1948 to early 1949, being a set list used in a live performance.

1.) Of particular interest is Ledbetter’s letter to his manager, Austen Fairbanks, whom, together with his mother, Marjorie Fairbanks, took over his management in early 1948. Ledbetter’s letter reads in most part [with original spellings retained]: “i rec[eived a Check for $150 was ok But we did not rec[eive] no money order for $25 so if you got the Stub Keep it we waundered what was the mat[ter] so far the month of mar[ch] we Have at this time rec[eived] $175 that['s] all. So the mein time Don['t] for get april Pleas[e]. your Letter was fine the Harvard Concert they Call agon say it was for the 21 of april so if they call agon I [kno[w] what to do it was from the order of Rudie Blosh…." By the time he composed this letter, Ledbetter was already cognizant that he was losing control of his muscles, though he lacked an accurate diagnosis. He had been recently released from the hospital after finding himself unable to walk. Writing that he had a doctor who was “fixing” him up, he announced he was “walking near Perfect now.” Following his recovery, Ledbetter remained in New York performing mainly in jazz clubs and on the radio preparing for his trip to Europe in May.

2.) Martha Promise’s letter was written soon after Ledbetter’s departure for Europe, his only time ever spent outside of the United States. She writes in most part [with original spellings retained]: “How goes every Thing Well I hope as that’s leaves me ok felling much better Since I read your letters and also I got the check and thank[s] a million I am not worried about Huddie as longs I know he is with you and Aussten becurse I know he will be Taking Care of and I Am Sure any kind of care he needs you will see to that I am a[w]full Thrilled to here every thing is going fine. Any kind of clippings you can send me will be very Thankfull of Them. I were very surprised how Quick they made the trip I couldn[‘t] believe my eyes when I got the telegram he were there already every thing is very lonesome and Quiet here Thursday were ladys day at the Ball game and I enjoyed it very much ladys can always go for 50¢ That[‘s] one thing grand about it ‘ha ha’ Well this here to be a very short letter becourse There is no news give Clayton my love and also the rest of the Boys.…” Ledbetter's trip would be cut short due to his deteriorating health. While in France, a Paris physician diagnosed him with ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease) and Ledbetter returned to the United States at the end of May. He played only two more shows, one with Woody Guthrie in Chicago, and then a tribute to the late John A. Lomax in Austin, Texas on 15 June 1949. By July he was admitted to Bellevue and would be in and out of the hospital after that. For some time, Lead Belly would sing and play his guitar. The day he found himself unable to play, he cried. Huddie Ledbetter died on 6 December 1949.

3.) The flyer advertises “The Hootenanny,” held at Town Hall in New York on the evening of 27 September 1947 (BROOKLYN DAILY EAGLE, 27 September 1947, page 12). The program featured not only Ledbetter closing the show, but other greats including Woodie Guthrie. Interestingly, the listing of the various artists on the bill also lists the songs they planned to perform save for Lead Belly, who intended to “announce his own numbers” during the program.

4.) The period 8” x 10” photograph shows Ledbetter, dressed in a suit and bow tie, singing amidst a throng of adoring school children, one of which, a little girl, gleefully rests her ear upon his guitar, eyes shut with a huge smile on her face. Apparently unpublished, we have not discovered another example of this photograph which contradicts one of the great myths of Lead Belly -- the image of a rough, ex-convict (the wild-eyed “murderous minstrel,” a label that TIME magazine bestowed upon him in 1935). Actually, Ledbetter enjoyed a wonderful rapport with children, many of whom sensed something special about the man.

5.) The set list, which appears to date from 1948, features thirteen songs, including [with original spellings retained] “They Hung Him on the Cross,” “work song,” “July on Johnson,” “Bring me Little Water Silvie,” “The Gray goos[e],” “Bushwhase [i.e.Bourgeois] Blues,” “mid night on the see,” “Tell me where did Sleep Las night,” “Mory don’t you weep,” “459 Blues,” “Com[e] Long all you Cow Boys,” and “One a Little Boy walking Down the Road.” Perhaps the most profound among these great songs is Lead Belly's 1939 song “Bourgeois Blues.” Following a recording session with Alan Lomax at the Library of Congress in Washington, Lomax, Ledbetter, and their wives decided to celebrate over dinner, but they found it difficult to find a restaurant willing to seat blacks and whites together. The song became a favorite among left-wing groups: Lead Belly was invited to sing it at Camp Unity, the Communist Party U.S.A.’s summer retreat.

Novelist Richard Wright wrote about Lead Belly as a heroic figure in the DAILY WORKER, though the musician was more or less apolitical. More famous for his renditions of folk standards such as "In the Pines," "Goodnight, Irene," "Midnight Special," and "Cotton Fields," Lead belly also wrote songs including "The Bourgeois Blues," which has class-conscious and anti-racist lyrics. His work has influenced many including The Weavers (their version of "Good Night, Irene" was the first folk song to reach #1 on the U.S. charts), Bob Dylan (who credited Lead Belly for getting him into folk music), the Beatles (George Harrison was quoted as saying, "If there was no Lead Belly, there would have been no Lonnie Donegan; no Lonnie Donegan, no Beatles. Therefore no Lead Belly, no Beatles."), and Kurt Cobain. He is also considered to be the first person to use the term "woke" in its current meaning today. Lead Belly urged Black listeners to “stay woke” in the spoken afterword to a 1938 recording of his song “Scottsboro Boys,” which tells the story of nine Black teenagers and young men falsely accused of raping two white women in Alabama in 1931. Lead Belly warns his listeners, “So I advise everybody, be a little careful when they go along through there -- best stay woke, keep their eyes open.” (Inventory #: 022001)