Eric Bibb &
JJ Milteau Hit Paydirt on New Lead Belly’s Gold CD, Coming November 6 on
Stony Plain Records
New Album
Includes Live Tracks Recorded at Famed Parisian Jazz Club, The Sunset, Plus New
Studio Recordings
EDMONTON, AB – Stony Plain Records announces a November 6
release date for Lead Belly’s Gold, the new album tribute to the
legendary blues and folk musician from award-winning roots musician Eric Bibb
and acclaimed French harmonica player JJ Milteau. Lead Belly’s Gold features
11 live tracks recorded at famed Paris jazz club, The Sunset, as well as five
new studio recordings.
“It’s hard to remember when I first heard Lead Belly’s music
because, somehow, he’s always been around,” writes Eric Bibb’s in the album’s
liner notes. “Most likely, I heard recordings of others (The Weavers and Woody
Guthrie) singing songs from his huge repertoire before hearing his actual
voice. In any case, I have an early memory from the mid-1950s of listening to a
recording of Lead Belly singing a children’s song, ‘Ha Ha This-a-Way’. At that
time, my dad, Leon, was beginning to make his name known in New York City folk
music circles. He recently told me he remembered hearing Lead Belly perform at
The Village Vanguard in the late 1940s.
So, the soundtrack of my childhood included more than a few
of the great bard’s songs. The sound of his 12-string guitar is part of my DNA.
“What I hear now, when I listen to Lead Belly’s recordings
and YouTube clips, and what I must have sensed when I was a boy, is the man’s
personal power and independence. His sound made it clear that he was his own
man. The fatalism and resignation that I heard later in the voices of many of
my prewar blues heroes was missing in Lead Belly. He was way ahead of his time.
The path he cut through a world that conspired to rob him of his humanity,
dignity and manhood was a personal triumph that will inspire for generations to
come,” adds Bibb.
Indeed, the music of Huddie Ledbetter (aka “Lead Belly”)
that he either wrote or popularized from traditional songs, resonated with
everyone from folk and blues musicians of the 1940s/1950s, to rock and roll
artists starting in the 1960s/1970s and continuing to the present day. Songs
like “Midnight Special” became a part of the set lists of such rock acts as
Creedence Clearwater Revival and Johnny Rivers, to name a few; while classic
tunes “Good Night Irene” and “Rock Island Line” were staples in the repertoire
of folkies such as The Weavers and Woodie Guthrie, and blues performers still
regularly record and perform songs associated with Lead Belly.
“Endowed with an uncommon talent, he generated around his
person a sense of fraternity that awarded him the protective help of the
Lomaxes, favored artistic collaborations with Pete Seeger and other liberals in
the 1940s, and aroused the empathy of the young audiences he loved to
entertain,” states JJ Milteau.
“Yet his main claim to fame is linked to his personal power
and conviction as an interpreter. No one is left unscathed by Lead Belly’s
voice, by the sound of his guitar, both distant and familiar. Only great
artists showcase such timelessness while chronicling their times.
“Working with Eric on this project has been a real treat.
Each and every song came to us in a natural and spontaneous way. The majority
of titles present on this album were recorded live, with or without an
audience, in order to preserve this freshness. I’m looking forward to more
stage performances around this project,” Milteau says.
Lead Belly’s Gold features both material from
the Lead Belly canon, as well as original songs written by Eric Bibb and JJ
Milteau as a salute to their mentor. Additional musicians on the album include
Larry Crockett - drums and percussion; Big Daddy Wilson and Michael Robinson -
backing vocals; Gilles Michel – bass; Glen Scott - drums, bass and Wurlitzer;
and Michael Jerome Browne - 12-string guitar and mandolin.
“Lead Belly was a human jukebox,” summarizes Eric Bibb. “He
knew hundreds of songs that he’d either heard somewhere and adapted, or written
himself. Authorship of many of the songs he sang has long been a controversial
topic of heated debate in folk music circles. What is clear is this: if not for
Lead Belly and the collectors who first recorded him, we might never have heard
many of these timeless songs.
“Jean-Jacques and I chose songs from Lead Belly’s vast
repertoire that we could make our own. We wanted to pay homage to not only a
great musician, but to the rich tradition he embodied. Staying pretty close to
his renditions, we had a lot of fun collaborating on these new arrangements.
“Lead Belly spread his music by performing live in front of
mostly smaller audiences and recordings. We decided that the energy from a
small, enthusiastic audience would help us dive deep into the songs.
Fortunately, our good friend Stéphane at The Sunset, a famous Parisian jazz
club, was happy to make his venue available. We also took a few songs from
those club recordings and augmented them in the studio, as well as including
some original, new studio tracks. The result is this album, Lead Belly’s
Gold.”
Lead Belly’s Gold Album Track Listing
1.
Grey
Goose - 5:30
2.
When
That Train Comes Along / Swing Low, Sweet Chariot - 3:59
3.
On
A Monday - 2:52
4.
The
House Of The Rising Sun - 3:30
5.
Midnight
Special - 3:58
6.
Bring
A Little Water, Sylvie - 3:18
7.
Where
Did You Sleep Last Night - 3:27
8.
When
I Get To Dallas - 1:41
9.
Pick
A Bale Of Cotton - 2:57
10. Goodnight, Irene - 3:39
11. Rock Island Line - 3:53
12. Bourgeois Blues - 3:21
13. Chauffeur Blues - 2:52
14. Stewball - 3:29
15. Titanic - 3:03
16. Swimmin' In A River Of Songs - 3:23
1-11 Live Recording / 12-16 Studio Recording
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