In 1917, Leadbelly was sent to prison for 30+ years for killing a man during an argument, presumably over a woman. In 1925, Leadbelly earned himself a pardon by singing a plea for freedom to prison governor Pat Neff. Five years later, Leadbelly ended up in Louisiana’s notorious Angola Prison Farm, after a conviction for attempted murder. In 1933, folk historians Alan and John Lomax found Leadbelly in Angola Prison, while on their first field trip to document and record Southern folklore and music. Through the influence of the Lomaxes, Leadbelly was freed again! (Source: The Encyclopedia of Jazz & Blues by Keith Shadwick)
Top Photo: Leadbelly (Huddie Ledbetter) with a twelve string acoustic guitar.
Bottom Photo: Huddie Ledbetter’s mugshots. Note the placard reads “NYC Police” and is dated 3/5/39, (after his two pardons). These particular mugshots are from an arrest for assault when Leadbelly stabbed a man during a fight in Manhattan.
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