Eric Bibb\u2019s father Leon was a regular on the 1960s folk scene, so it is only natural that Eric followed in his musical footsteps. He has always\u00a0taken more of a blues approach than his father and his music has expanded in a number of directions at times, but\u00a0at its heart,\u00a0his foundation remains folk music.<\/p>\n
Huddie Ledbetter, better known as Lead Belly, has influenced three generations of musicians. His primitive folk and blues songs are pure Americana at its most basic. His original compositions and adjusting a number of traditional songs have been passed down to thousands of folk and blues musicians. Now, Eric Bibb and harp player JJ Milteau have issued a tibute album that comes straight from the heart.<\/p>\n
Lead Belly\u2019s Gold <\/i>contains 11 live tracks recorded at The Sunset Jazz\u00a0 Club in Paris, plus five studio tracks tacked on at the end. While the majority of the music is straight from the Lead Belly songbook, there are several original tribute songs.<\/p>\n
Bibb\u2019s voice is lighter and more easygoing,\u00a0and his approach to the music is more complex, which adds up to a good modern day approach to Lead Belly\u2019s music. Milteau is a superb harp player and brings new textures to the music. For the purist, Lead Belly only rarely used harpist Sonny Terry, so these are modern day additions to the music.<\/p>\n
\u201cRock Island Line,\u201d \u201cPick A Bale Of Cotton,\u201d \u201cGoodnight Irene,\u201d and \u201cWhen I Get To Dallas\u201d are fine\u00a0live versions that channel Lead Belly\u2019s Stage presence. His take on \u201cThe Midnight Special\u201d and the traditional \u201cHouse Of The Rising Sun\u201d show Bibb\u2019s ability to transform a song and make it his own while still paying homage to its roots.<\/p>\n
Perhaps the best song is a spiritual medley of \u201cWhen That Train Comes Along\/Swing Low Sweet Chariot.\u201d It is a place where his and Lead Belly\u2019s sensibilities meet.<\/p>\n
The studio recordings are different from the live tracks. More effort seems to have gone into them, which hurts the spontaneity and energy that was\u00a0built up with the live recordings. He probably should have recorded one disc live and one in the studio and kept them separate. Ledbetter\u2019s \u201cStewball,\u201d \u201cBourgeois Blues,\u201d and \u201c\u201dTitanic\u201d all have a traditional approach. Bibb\u2019s own \u201cChauffeur Blues\u201d could have been written by Lead Belly. His \u201cSwimmin\u2019 In A River Of Songs\u201d is a heartfelt tribute to his idol.<\/p>\n
Eric Bibb\u2019s decision to record the music of Lead Belly has been over four decades in the making.\u00a0This release is a good reinvention of the music of one of America\u2019s legendary troubadours.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":59,"featured_media":32597,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[9762],"rating":[5617],"class_list":["post-44363","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-eric-bibb-and-jj-milteau","rating-rating-b-plus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/44363","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/59"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44363"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/44363\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32597"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44363"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=44363"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=44363"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}