LEADBELLY

A British test pressing (10" 78rpm) of the song "The Boll Weevil" (side A) and "The Bourgeois Blues" (side B) by blues musician, Huddie Ledbetter...better known as Leadbelly (1885-1949), October 15, 1934, Both songs were written and performed by Leadbelly. Working as a driver and field assistant, Leadbelly recorded the song, Boll Weevil for Alan Lomax in Shreveport, LA and again the following year in Wilton, CT. This version has since been covered by dozens of artists, from Tex Ritter to Woodie Guthrie to the White Stripes, who ended almost every live performance with the tune. A 1961 version by Brook Benton became a #2 pop hit.

Listen to "The Bourgeois Blues"

>>> A genuine Musicraft 78rpm record with "The Bourgeois Blues" and "The Boll Weevil" by Leadbelly.
"The Bourgeois Blues" was written after Lead Belly went to Washington, DC at the request of Alan Lomax, to record a number of songs for the Library of Congress. After they had finished, they decided to go out with their wives to celebrate, but were thrown out of numerous establishments for being an interracial party. The song rails against racism, classism, and discrimination in general, with such verses as "The home of the Brave / The land of the Free / I don't wanna be mistreated by no "bourgeoisie."
Lyrics:  Me and my wife went all over town, And everywhere we went people turned us down. Lord, in a bourgeois town. It's a bourgeois town, I got the bourgeois blues. Gonna spread the news all around. Well, me and my wife we were standing upstairs, We heard the white man say'n I don't want no niggers up there. Lord, in a bourgeois town. Uhm, bourgeois town. I got the bourgeois blues. Gonna spread the news all around. Home of the brave, land of the free. I don't wanna be mistreated by no bourgeoisie. Lord, in a bourgeois town. Uhm, the bourgeois town. I got the bourgeois blues. Gonna spread the news all around. Well, them white folks in Washington they know how To call a colored man a nigger just to see him bow. Lord, it's a bourgeois town. Uhm, the bourgeois town. I got the bourgeois blues. Gonna spread the news all around. I tell all the colored folks to listen to me. Don't try to find you no home in Washington, DC, 'Cause it's a bourgeois town. Uhm, the bourgeois town. I got the bourgeois blues. Gonna spread the news all around.
--- Test Pressing (10" 78rpm) of Lead Belly's  "Frankie and Albert (Part One)" and the acapella version of "Looky, Looky, Yonder / Black Betty / Yellow Woman's Doorbell" medley. 1939. Lyrics: Looky looky yonder, Looky looky yonder, Looky looky yonder, Where the sun done gone. The cap'in' (captain) can't hold 'em ("him" or "them"), Cap'in' can't hold 'em, Cap'in' can't hold 'em, The way I do. Yes Addie gotta (got a) gold mine, Addie gotta gold mine, Addie gotta gold mine, Way above her knee.
"Frankie and Albert" tells the story of a woman, Frankie, who finds that her man Johnny was "making love to" another woman and shoots him dead. Frankie is then arrested; in some versions of the song she is also executed. The first published version of the music to "Frankie and Johnny" appeared in 1904, credited to and copyrighted by Hughie Cannon. At least 256 different recordings of "Frankie and Johnny" have been made since the early 20th century, including the Leadbelly version with "Frankie and Albert."
    BIO: Ledbetter, born on Jan. 29, 1885 on the Jeter Plantation near Mooringsport, La., would spend several stints in jail, once reportedly lived as a recluse from the law under an assumed name, and was known to resolve every-day conflict with violence right up until his early passing on Dec. 6, 1949. He had a huge impact upon British rock-n-roll musicians.