Where Did You Sleep Last Night: Lead Belly Legacy, Vol. 1

WHERE DID YOU SLEEP LAST NIGHT? is, in part, a reissue of the first two volumes (Folkways 2004 and 2014) of the four-volume set LEADBELLY'S LEGACY, originally released on 10-inch LPs in the early 1950s. WHERE DID YOU SLEEP uses different versions of some of the songs, and adds outtakes and previously-unreleased recordings.
Personnel includes: Leadbelly (vocals, guitar, button accordion, piano); Brownie McGhee (guitar); Sonny Terry (harmonica); Willie "The Lion" Smith (piano); Pops Foster (bass).
The Oleander Quartet: George Boyd, Cecil Murray, Howard Scott, George Hall (vocals).
Compilation producers: Jeff Place, Anthony Seeger, Matt Walters, Pete Reiniger.
Principally recorded at Asch Recording Studios, New York, New York between 1941 and 1947. Includes liner notes and song-by-song annotations by Jeff Place.
This fine 34-track compilation, collected from sessions produced by Folkways founder Moses Asch and featuring cameos from Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee, is a strong compilation of some of Leadbelly's finest recordings. For those confused by the album's name, the titular composition--one of Huddie "Leadbelly" Ledbetter's most haunting and celebrated works--is included here under its original name "In the Pines."
Leadbelly classics like "Cotton Fields" and an early version of "Goodnight Irene" sit beside traditional folk standards like "Pick a Bale of Cotton" and "Grey Goose" and hard blues like "Moanin'," showcasing Leadbelly's remarkable versatility. However, it's the surprise inclusion of five outstanding previously unreleased songs, including a fairly obscure variant of "House of the Rising Sun" called "New Orleans Blues," that makes this compilation essential to Leadbelly fans. As always with Folkways reissues, the sound is excellent.