Photograph: Leadbelly in Prison, Angola, Louisiana

By Jack Brummet, Music Editor

click to enlarge

photograph courtesy of the Library of Congress

Prints and Photographs Division

This photograph, by the great ethno-musicologist Alan Lomax, shows Leadbelly a/k/a Hudie Ledbetter in prison in Angola, Louisiana.  That is Leadbelly in the foreground.  The picture was shot in 1934.  On the back of the photo, in Lomax's hand, is written:   "Prison compound No 1. Angola, La. Leadbelly in foreground."  This photograph is included in the Lomax collection of photographs, mostly depicting folk (country, blues, bluegrass).  The photos of musicians were taken as he traveled the south and recorded local musicians.  This music changed modern American music, and inspired several generations of roots, folk, country, and rock musicians.

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