Musical Heros...

While walking around downtown Shreveport we stopped to socialize with the statue of one of Louisiana's favorite sons the folk singer Leadbelly. He's special to me because me and old Lead have a couple of connections and one connection that goes way back. 

If you don't recall Leadbelly wrote such famous songs as Midnight Special and In the Pines. His descendants still live on the royalties his music makes. He was quite a persuasive character because he was able to talk the Governor of Texas, Pat Morris Neff into giving him parole in 1925 after being sentenced to the pen for murder. Old Lead was a sweet talker. Neff had ran on a no parole platform. Best I can tell Lead was in prison 4 times, once escaping and serving his final term in 1930 after stabbing a man in Manhattan. He was patriotic, attempting to enlist in the army during WW 2. He was turned down because of his age  and died in 1949 at the age of 61. Leadbelly recordings are easily available on any medium you wish today. 

Me and Lead share the same birthday. Once I gave Ben at Blackspot Tattoo a couple of recordings and said listen to these and draw me a tattoo. Ben called Jace, who was working at KRBA at the time and asked him to run the song In the Pines through an oscilloscope and send him a photo. Ben then tattooed the design in a band around my left upper arm. I carry Lead with me and me and Cathy sometimes perform this song at gigs. The song has a couple of sets of lyrics and I don't know which ones Lead wrote but one set is about murder and the other is about trains. I usually do the train version. 

        

Lead's real name was Huddie Ledbetter. I have a 6th great grandfather, Henry Ledbetter born in Charles City County Virginia in 1690. On his death in 1751 his will specified the inheritance by his son Henry Jr. born in 1728, two boys Abraham and Cato. History shows us that with the buying and selling of people these boys or their descendants could have easily ended up traveling by slave coffle to Louisiana.  Who knows, this might be another connection.   

Looked like down town had stars on the sidewalks dedicated to more musical performers. Here's one to Hank. I took this photo and there were more but about this time a drunk or stoned guy took up with me and started telling me his life story as we walked through the area. Twenty five or or more years ago before we quit drinking guys like this used to single Cathy out and talk to her, kind of like she had a sign on her head that only certain people could see that said CRAZY PEOPLE TALK TO ME. Now, in our sober years her sign seems to have gone off but there is now one on my head and they all head for me. That's what this guy did and began telling his life story as we walked along. 

After a bit he asked me why I was not talking and I told him that sometimes the best thing one human could do for another was to listen, besides if I start telling what I have done with my life it will sound as if I'm trying to get in a pissing contest of some sort. He went on and left us alone. Later we spotted him again but he avoided us. 

I did not get a chance to check out anymore stars.