Duncan Wu

The irrepressible musical gift of Huddie Ledbetter

Before his genius was widely recognised, the blues singer known as Lead Belly survived not only America’s most brutal prisons but cruel betrayal by his racist ‘manager’

Huddie Ledbetter in later life. His wife described him as a gentle man, and his best friends insisted: ‘He loved children and he loved people’. [Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images]
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  • Bring Judgment Day: Reclaiming Lead Belly’s Truths from Jim Crow’s Lies

    Sheila Curran Bernard

    Cambridge University Press, pp. 243, £25

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