Leadbelly (1976) Movie Script
1
Go down, Ol' Hannah
Don't you rise no more
Well, if you rise in the mornin'
Bring Judgment Day
You oughta been on the brazis
Nineteen and ten
They was drivin' the women
Like they do the men
Oh, the sun was shinin'
And the men was flyin'
Oh, the cap'n was a-hollerin'
And the men was dyin'
Go down, Ol' Hannah
Doncha rise no more
Well, if you rise in the mornin'
Bring Judgment Day
Ledbetter!
Come on!
They want you in the office.
I'm Professor Lomax,
this is my assistant Tom.
Want to take his chains off?
Orders are to leave 'em on.
This nigger's a real bad one.
Right this way.
Have a seat.
I guess they told ya,
we're here collectin' songs.
There ain't a damn thing
I can do for you,
'cept maybe a sack of Bull Durham,
couple of hours out of the sun.
Heard a lot about you.
That's why I've come
all the way down here
to record you.
I knows a lots of songs.
Some of 'em I made up,
some of 'em I changed
from other folks's.
You got some picks for me?
Yeah, here.
What are you in for?
Murder.
I calls it self-defense.
He stuck me with a knife,
but I stuck him better.
He stuck me with a knife,
but I stuck him better.
You see, it's easy.
Lord.
I ain't never sung
in no machine before.
Well, this is a song
I used to sing back home
in Mooringsport, Louisiana.
It's around 1907.
My uncle, Terrell, taught it to me.
Saturday night
we used to have
play party dancin'.
Sukey Jumps we calls it.
Yes, sir.
Everybody come to dance.
Just had a fine time.
Heh. Weren't no white folks
maybe 10, 15 miles around.
Pshaw!
I used to ride my daddy's horse,
sashay around them girls,
lookin' like Saturday night
all the way to Sunday mornin'!
Yes, sir. And everybody
knew everybody them days.
Y'know, it was like it was a family.
Evenin', ladies,
y'all goin' to the party?
Hah!
Now, there was this ol' Archie Macoomb.
Look out!
Here come Archie!
He had a team of bays,
and before you know it,
Lord, he'd come boilin' down the road
and I'd just take out after 'im.
Hah!
Hah!
Come on! Hah!
Hah!
Hah! Come on!
Green corn,
green corn
Green corn,
come along cholly
Green corn,
go 'n tell polly
Green corn, green corn
Stand around,
stand around
Two little boys
to call me poppa
One named Sop
and th' other named Gravy
Green corn, green corn
Green corn,
come along cholly
Green corn,
go 'n tell polly
Green corn,
green corn
Two little boys
to call me poppa
One named Sop
and th' other named Gravy
One named Sop
and th' other named Gravy
One's gonna put up
an' the other's gonna save it
Green corn,
green corn
Green corn,
come along cholly
Green corn,
go 'n tell polly
Green corn,
green corn
Wake, snake,
day's a-breakin'
Peas in the pot,
the whole cake's bakin'
Green corn,
green corn
Green corn,
come along cholly
Green corn,
go 'n tell polly
Green corn,
green corn
Stand around,
stand around the jimmy-john
Stand around,
stand around the jimmy-john
Stand around,
stand around
Come on, Margaret,
I'll take you on with me
in my new buggy.
Uh-uh.
Don' you be mule stubborn.
Come on.
This here seat's made outta real oak.
No, thank you kindly.
Promise to let Huddie carry me home.
Yeah, well, Huddie Ledbetter
ain't gonna take you nowheres!
Archie Macoomb, you let go me.
You all liquored up, else you wouldn't!
Oh!
Archie, please!
Stop, Huddie!
Archie, stop!
Oh, my God.
Y'all are liquored,
throw it away!
Archie... Oh, my God.
Stop! No!
Huddie!
Black girl
Black girl,
where did ya sleep last night?
Did you shiver
the whole night through?
Supposin'
you killed Archie,
just supposin'?
No.
You can't hit
the inside of a barn wall
with one of these pistols.
You know, one day
I'm gonna get away
from here.
What you mean, "Away from here"?
Shreveport, that's what I mean.
Shreveport.
Way away from here.
My daddy say
there ain't nothin'
in Shreveport,
but the white man you owes money to
and his co'thouse and his jail.
Oh, no!
There's Fannin Street.
That's what there is
in Shreveport.
Fannin Street.
Huddie honey,
I don't want to hear
nothin' more
'bout no Fannin Street.
Unless you ever been to Fannin Street,
well, you won't never know.
Listen, honey, we gotta get married.
What?
I missed my time.
Twice.
Fan Belle said I'm gonna have a baby.
You can't go nowhere now.
Aw, come on.
That's what
you said last Christmas
and you come 'round.
Huddie,
it's gonna be real sweet
when we married, baby.
Huddie?
Are you listenin' to me, Huddie?
Uh, yeah, I'm listenin' to you, honey.
Hmm. I'm listenin'.
Mornin', Wes.
Morning, Sheriff.
Your boy at home?
No.
He didn't come home last night.
Well, then that's what
I'm 'bliged to believe.
Fact is, Leonard Macoomb
come into town this mornin'
to swear out a complaint.
Seems your Huddie
laid open his boy's head
with a pistol barrel.
Now, you know me, Ledbetter.
Fact is, Wes, I come out here
'cause I got a deal of respect for you.
But I'm worried about your boy.
Why, you just let him run wild!
Nobody tell me how to raise my own boy.
I respect that.
What'd you
come into my dooryard
to tell me, Sheriff?
Bring your boy into town, hear?
I won't pay no mind
to no assault truck,
I'll just fine the boy $25
for carryin' concealed weapons
and that'll be an end on it.
Now, you watch your boy, Ledbetter.
That's a word to the wise.
Hiyah!
Come outta there, boy.
Wes, Wes!Shut up!
Shut up, woman!
Goddamnit, boy, you listen to sense.
I told you never
to take that gun
outta this house
without good reason.
Where you gonna go?
You got the Sheriff
down on you.
Shreveport.
Fannin Street, that's where I go.
Play my music.
All of a heap you in a hurry?
Wes, he's just a child.
No, he ain't.
Sam Judd come by on his way to meetin'.
You been lyin' with that gal of his?
Answer me, boy.
Yeah.
What?
Yes, sir.
When?This mornin'.
Judd say
he'd come around
with all his menfolks
with their duck pieces and rifle guns,
make Huddie marry that gal.
Sheriff's down on him for a bad nigger.
Judd's bad mouthin' him
around the parish.
Give a dog a bad name,
folks gonna chunk rocks
at him.
By and by, he gonna
bite somebody for sure.
You leave the horse
with Will Farrell
in Mooringsport.
Yes, I will, Pa.
Huddie...
I'll be givin' help to the Judd girl
when that child o' hers come.
You best keep your mind
on helpin' her, too,
whenever you can.
Yes, sir.
And you come back
home some day,
you hear, Huddie?
Well, you better
be gettin' on
down the road.
My mama told me
My papa told me, too
The women
in Shreveport, son,
gonna be the death of you
Mmm...
Mmm, mmm, mmm
Mmm, mmm, mmm, mmm
Mmm, mmm, mmm, mmm
I got a woman,
live on Stony Hill
Been settin' down gamblin'
with Buffalo Bill
Mmm, mmm, mmm
Follow me down,
follow me down
Follow me down
to Mr. Tom Hughes' town
Mmm, mmm, mmm
Laura, put your hand on your hip.
Sugar Tit, look far over the fan.
Now, hold it there, all of you.
Thank you.
Hey! You lookin'
for somethin'?
He lookin' for his plow.
Done follered his mule
clear down Fannin Street.
Hey, watch your feet, Country Boy.
You get cow shit
on Miss Eula's
Turkey carpet,
she have your ass!
Hey, plow this, Country Boy.
Acres an' acres, and it's all yours.
This here's, uh, Sugar Tit.
She does specials.
I'm Sugar Tit,
and you ain't gonna do no better
on Fannin Street, Country Boy.
Now, which one you want, mmm?
Take your pick.
I choose you.
'Cause I like to see them sassy ones
holler and screamin' for more.
Ooh!
Country Boy, I got
a boss longshoreman
comin' in
for his regular in half an hour,
and I ain't gonna
even be breathin' hard.
Right, right!
Mercy, mercy!
Ooh!Point it upstairs
and follow me.
'Bye, Country Boy.Bye-bye.
Bye, Country Boy.
Hello, girls.
Good day, Miss Eula.
Uh, the longshoreman's
on his way, where's Sugar Tit?
Um, upstairs, takin' a nap.
Takin' a nap?
Ah!
Well!
I don't see no money.
This ain't no four-bit crib.
This is a parlor house.
You take one of
my girls upstairs,
you owe me $5.
Have you got $5?
Albert!
Albert!
What's your name?
Huddie Ledbetter.
Ledbetter.
Leadbelly!
Albert, stay right where you are.
Good mornin', blues
Blues, how do you do?
That Miss Eula,
she really turned out to be somethin'.
I stayed with that woman
for quite some time.
I learned a lot from her.
She even taught me
how to sing the blues.
That's not it.
You ain't playin' it at all.
Well, that's the tune.
Ain't got nothin' to do with the tune.
You're talkin' 'bout the blues.
You got to feel the blues.
New Orleans blues,
woman blues,
whore blues.
It's gonna cost you dear
to learn the blues.
Nobody can turn you around, can they?
Tonight it's the blues,
tomorrow night
it'll be the barrelhouse.
That's it! That's it!
Come on, now.
Good mornin', blues
Blues, how do you do?
Good mornin', blues
Blues, how do you do?
Well, I'm doin' all right
Good mornin'
How are you?
Lay down
last night
I was turnin'
from side to side
Oh...
Turnin' from side to side
I was not sick,
but I was just dissatisfied
Well, I got up
this mornin'
Blues walkin'
'round my bed
Oh...
Blues walkin'
'round my bed
Well, I went
to eat my breakfast
The blues
was all in my bread
Hey, hey, hey!
Drinks for everybody.
Drinks for everybody!
How about that?
Y'all go and get
some drinks!
Keep your hands
off her
Keep your hands off her
Keep your hands off her...
Bitch!
You're fired outta my house.
You can go on back
to that sidewalk crib
and peddle your
skinny ass on the street
two for a quarter.
Customers are
always complainin'
about that girl.
I tell her,
"Wiggle your ass
sometimes, honey,
"so people know
you're alive."
It's time to come on home, honey.
I said come on home.
We got Saturday
night company,
I need you.
Albert.
Come on, honey.
Britt, bring me my guitar.
Woman, don't bother me none,
I am playin' my music.
What are you talkin' about?
Tellin' me when to come and when to go,
and don't do this and don't do that.
I ain't one of your whores.
No, you ain't one of my whores,
'cause they are hard-working girls
and they earn their keep.
You come here, you a green country boy,
didn't know nothin'
'cept play party hollers,
wanderin' on Fannin Street
without the price of a piece of ass.
I bought you that guitar!
I went your bail
when Sheriff Tom Hughes
dragged you in for drunk fighting.
And when you went and dipped
your wick in some chippie
and caught the clap.
I cured you with Lafayette Mixture.
I'm tellin' you...
Nobody make me small, ya hear?
If I walk out of here by myself,
that's the way it's gonna stay!
You hear what I'm tellin' you?
You're born for trouble,
and you're hurryin' out to catch it
like it was the railroad train
to New Orleans.
You ain't never goin' home.
You're goin' to die alone
and a million miles away!
You comin' home now?
Well, whatcha y'all wanta hear?
Anything.
Oh,
we're gonna party
for long now, man.
Come on, we can still have a good time.
Come on, y'all!
Join me. Step right up
and have a drink.
Guys, order whatever y'all want, hear?
Gimme a bottle o' liquor, Shorty.
Miss Eula.
Hmm.
What you talkin', she got Albert?
Huh!
He ain't nothin'
but a damn piano player.
If you want to make music,
you got to sing the songs.
Ain't that right?
Come on, now!
Ain't that right?
I was the best singer
around Caddo Lake.
I is the best on Fannin Street!
That's right.
The king, that's it.
The king, the king of Fannin Street.
Ain't that right, Shorty?
Ain't many better.
Goddamnit, ain't none better!
Goddamnit,
I put my money
where my mouth is.
Now!
$10 gold, double eagle.
Here, we can put that
right there in the kitty.
Anybody...
Now, anybody think
he can out pick
and out-sing me?
Let him step right on up here and try.
And this here will be his.
And then I'll just go on back
and sing at play parties
for the children.
Now, how about that?
What you reachin' for?
I picks guitar some.
You goin' to out pick me?
That's fair enough.
Shorty,
pour this here
guitar-pickin' fool a drink.
Come on over here, y'all,
ya'all goin' to hear.
Get that chair over here...
We'll find out who's the king.
Bring the chairs out over here.
Uh-huh.
Oh.
What kinda guitar
is that you got, ol' man?
Just an old guitar.
Well, how many strings you got there?
Twelve.
Ooh-hoo!
Whoo-e!
Two to one, huh?
Well, I guess
I'm the scratch horse
in this race!
You ready, ol' man?
Sheriff Tom Hughes is comin'!
Sheriff!
Sheriff's comin'!
Oh, my God!
He'll lock up the whole street!
What's he doin'?
I thought we pay protection.
Huddie, Huddie, come in the house.
Sheriff Tom Hughes
never come in my place.
I got an arrangement.
Don't just stand there, come on inside.
You're safe in my place.
Huddie, Huddie!
Damn fool.
Hey, old man, come here.
Come on, hurry up!
Where is this place?
This is Texas cotton country.
Well, this's where I'm gettin' off.
Some fool plowboy
stomped on my guitar
back there.
I still got that $10 gold.
I ain't sayin' you won it, mind you.
You take it easy, ol' man.
When I was a little baby
My mother would a rock me
in the cradle
In them old cotton fields
at home
When I was a little baby
My mother would a rock me
in the cradle
In them old cotton fields
at home
When them cotton bolls
got rotten
You couldn't pick
very much cotton
In them old cotton fields
at home
It was down in Louisiana,
just a mile from Texarkana
In them old cotton fields
at home
Hey, girl.
You, good-lookin' girl.
It may sound a little funny
But you didn't make
very much money
In them old cotton fields
at home
It may sound a little funny
But you didn't make
very much money
In them old cotton fields
at home
When them cotton bolls
got rotten
You didn't pick
very much cotton
In them old cotton fields
at home
It was down in Louisiana,
just a mile from Texarkana
In them old cotton fields
at home
Whoo!
Quittin' time, y'all!
Ooh, what's that?
Gun oil, that's sovereign
for a pickin' back.
You're not bad at it...
For a Louisiana man.
How you know where I'm from?
Oh, I know.
You play that
big ol' twelve-string guitar
over in the saloons.
You a whiskey drinker.
And you got your eye on every gal
in Marshall, Texas,
twixt twelve and too old!
Mmm.
Lethe, how come you ain't got
no man hangin' his pants
on your bedpost every night?
Like you, maybe?
Yeah.
Mmm-mmm.
I chooses you one night,
that's my lookout.
When you're done ramblin',
when you ready to live my way
in one place, with one woman,
you come back, see me then.
Oh, you got a lot of ramblin'
left in your bones.
So it's just...
Thank you kindly now.
And make sure that latch
catch on the way out
the door in the mornin'.
O' the Rock Island Line
is a mighty good road
O' the Rock Island Line
is the road to ride
O' the Rock Island Line
is a mighty good road
If you want to ride,
you got to ride it
like you find it
Get your ticket
at the station on
the Rock Island Line
Tyler. Tyler next.
Tyler!
Jesus died to save our sins
Glory to God
We gonna meet him againTyler!
Tyler, Texas! O' the Rock Island Line
is a mighty good road
O' the Rock Island Line
is the road to ride
O' the rock island line
Is a mighty good roadTyler, Texas!
If you want to ride it,
you got to ride it
like you find it
Get your ticket
at the station
on the Rock Island Line
I may be right,
I may be wrong
Know you gonna miss me
when I'm gone
O' the Rock Island Line
is a mighty good road
O' the Rock Island Line
is the road to ride
O' the Rock Island Line
is a mighty good road
If you want to ride it,
you got to ride it
like you find it
Get your ticket
at the station
on the Rock Island Line
Shut off that pig squealin'
so's a man can sleep.
What I hear you say?
I said it sound like
a hog with his whanger
caught in the hinge side of a gate.
Whyn't I just cut yours off
and stick it in your ear?
Well, leastways
then I wouldn't have to hear
that jackass hollerin'.
Come on, fool.
Come on!
You know it's hog killin' time now.
Just shut off that laughin'
or I'm gonna shut it for you.
I'm gonna,
I'm gonna stick you
right in your gizzard.
You hear?
Dammit! Somebody
gimme my knife,
do ya hear?
Who the hell took my knife?
Fat boy, I got your knife.
How you want this pig-sticker back,
open or closed?
What's your name?
Huddie Ledbetter.
Nickname, Leadbelly.
Lemon Jefferson.
They call me Blind Lemon.
It's a damn lie.
I can see...
Some.
You're, you're that
blues-shoutin' Lemon
I hear so much about!
Yeah, that's me.
Uh, I figure
I better take that
knife back closed.
Silver City bound
Silver City bound
Oh, tell my baby
I'm Silver City bound
Me and Blind Lemon
gonna ride on down
Silver City bound
I'm Silver City bound
I'm gonna tell my baby
I'm Silver City bound
Me and Leadbelly
gonna ride on down
Catch me by the hand
Oh, baby
Blind Lemon
was a blind man
Catch me by the hand
Oh, baby
Leadbelly
was a fine man
Silver City bound
Silver City bound
Mmm, tell my baby
I'm Silver City bound
Me and Blind Lemon
gonna ride on down
Catch me by the hand
Catch me by the hand
Oh, baby
Oh, baby, baby
Blind Lemon
was a blind man
Catch me by the hand
Catch me by the hand
Oh, baby Oh, baby, baby
Blind Lemon
was a blind man
Silver City bound
Silver City bound
Oh, tell my baby
I'm Silver City bound
Me and Blind Lemon
gonna ride on down
What you doin'?
You been boozin'
all night in that
saloon,
you can't drive, you drunk.
You blind.
You ever drive
one of these things
before?
Nope.
There's one kind of favor
I asks of you
There's one kind of favor
I asks of you
There's one kind of favor
I asks of you
See that my grave
is kept clean
It's a long lane,
ain't got no end
It's a long lane,
ain't got no end
It's a long lane,
ain't got no end
Feel so bad
It is a miserable shame
Have you ever heard
a coffin sound?
Have you ever heard
a coffin sound?
Have you ever heard
a coffin sound?
Then you know
the po' boy's in the ground
Oh, dig my grave
with a silver spade
Dig my grave
with a silver spade
Dig my grave
with a silver spade
You may place four diamonds
on my grave
Have you ever heard
a death bell toll?
Have you ever heard
a death bell toll?
Have you ever heard
a death bell toll?
Then you know
the po' boy's dead and gone
Then you know
the po' boy's dead and gone
That's what is the blues,
not that sticky
sweet whore blues
you learned in Shreveport.
Well, we's doin' all right.
What, playin' in saloons?
We bein' nickel-and-dimed to death.
What are we?
Well I was the King of Fannin Street.
King?
King?
Hey, man, you ever hear
them Victrola records?
Yeah, plenty times.
They make 'em in Chicago and Memphis,
see that's where I'm goin' some day.
They gonna know who I am.
Ain't nobody gonna say,
"Hey you, Fat Boy."
They gonna know my name.
Your songs got too much misery in 'em.
Keep you hungry and evil all the time.
Oh!
You like a chicken tied to a pole.
Runnin' around in circles
and cacklin' a lot,
but you ain't goin' no place.
And some day
somebody gonna
catch up with you
and wring your goddamn neck.
Hee-hee-hee!
Lemme get outta here, boy,
nature done callin' me.
Well, I hope you miss
and hit yourself in the shoe.
And one more thing, Leadbelly...
Leadbelly?
Let's get outta here, Lemon.
Hey, boy.
Who the hell told you to stop playin'?
It's gettin' late.
You keep playin'.
Man, it's after 2:00
in the mornin'.
What the hell do you care
what time it is?
You keep on playin'.
You said $3 till midnight.
God dammit, don't argue with me, boy!
We'll just take our $3.
You'll take shit
if you don't start playin'.
I say that's it.
God damn it, don't sass me, boy!
You spoilin' the party,
you hear, nigger?
Now, you pick up
the goddamn guitar
and you play!
Lead!
Damn ol' nigger.
Lead.
Lead.
Hey, man, you all right, man?
Hey, that bartender,
he kicked you in the balls
before the Sheriff come.
Yeah.
Somebody knocked my tooth out.
Stole my watch, too.
What you doin' out there
with me in here?
I went through the window in the dark.
Listen, I ain't got much time.
It cost me six bits to get...
Oh!
Here.
Cost me six bits to get in.
You get the money
outta the snuff can
to pay my fine.
Ain't no fine.
They holdin' you
till Judge Baines get back
from Dallas, Saturday.
You on your way to the
Harrison County Chain Gang.
Tsk.
Man say, a year on the inside.
What you study on doin'?
Get me a train to Memphis,
maybe Chicago.
Make me some of them Victrola
records on the Bluebird
or OKeh label.
Hey, Huddie, we got $14 and four cents.
$14 four bits in the snuff can.
Now, half's yours.
Time's up.
Money ain't gonna
do me no good
on no Chain Gang.
With $14...
I can get me
a regular one-way ticket
to Memphis.
$14.
Huddie, you keep
the bottle, okay, you hear?
Hear?
Look, now I'll see ya.
Bring a little water, SilvyYah, yah!
Bring a little water now
Bring a little water, Silvy
Ev'ry little once in a while
Huddie!
Ev'ry little once in a whileYeah.
Huddie!
Don't you see me comin'?
Don't you see me now?
Don't you see me comin'
Ev'ry little once in a while
Ev'ry little once in a while
Brought you some water.
Ow!
Don't you hear me comin'?
Don't you hear me now?
Don't you hear me comin'?
Ev'ry little once in a while
Ev'ry little once in a while
Oh, someday
I aim to take you
a long way from here.
'Way from all this
white man's trouble
and this white man's land.
Bring a little water, Silvy
Bring a little water now
Bring a little water, SilvyAhh!
Ev'ry little
once in a while
Ain't you gonna get ready?
For what?
For de dance at the Kingston place.
I ain't goin'.
What you talkin' 'bout?
Ain't no particular pleasure
watchin' all them womens
climbin' all over you.
They can't help it.
Pshaw!
I can just sing as sweet and tender.
I don't pay 'em no mind now, do I?
Anyway, it's too dangerous.
Sheriff ain't but a few miles away.
Nobody 'round here know me by my name.
I'm Walter Boyd.
Ain't no sheriff
lookin' for no Walter Boyd.
Sure.
And when you get to playin' on that ol'
twelve-string guitar,
you ain't study about
being no Walter Boyd.
Ain't nothin' matter
but bein' King of Music.
How long you think it's goin' be,
'fore that sheriff hear 'bout you
and your fame get spread all around?
Well, there's gonna be friends there,
uh, Alex Griffin
and Will Stafford,
they's all friends.
Time they get
that whiskey in 'em,
friend don't mean nothin'.
Oh, listen at ya.
Oh, honey, ya stay with me tonight.
Don't you go.
Oh.
They countin' on me for the music.
And we can use that extra money
if I'm ever gonna get you outta here.
Two or three greasy dollars
and a bellyful of corn whiskey,
that's all you're gonna get.
"Two or three greasy dollars
"and a bellyful
of corn whiskey."
Well, them "two or three dollars"
will buy you
a brand-new travelin' dress.
I love you.
I had this thing going...
Come on, boy, play it.
Dekalb blues,
Lawd Dekalb blues, Lawd
Make me feel so bad
Make me feel so bad
Dekalb blues, Lawd...
Make me think about
The good times I've had
Yeah!
She longed for the powder
and the string and comb
Lord!
Dekalb womanGet away from me.
Would not
have a home
Spent all my money
on that store dress
for that gal
and she spend all her time
with anybody come along
with two legs in his pants.
She spent most of her time
listenin' to ol' Walter
here singin',
that's what she done.
Hey, Walter, how 'bout
that time you went
outdoors to pee?
Huh?
What you
talkin' 'bout?When you went out to pee!
That ain't all you was doin'
with that thing
out of your pants.
Not with Alex's gal
just beggin' for it!Shh!
You prong my gal
and you laugh in my face?
Watch out, Walter!
It's your fault.
What'd you make me do that for?
What'd you go and mess with me for?
Walter Boyd done killed Alex Griffin!
What'd you do that for?
Huh?
Huh?
We was just friends, man.
We's all good friends.
Oh!
Oh!
How long?
Thirty years.
There you go.
That's a lotta years.
Law say you're
supposed to stop whippin'
when the blood come.
They don't pay
no mind here in Sugarland.
Ally George, he the trusty.
He ain't got no leg irons,
how come he walk
all cripped up like that?
Him and three others
done cut their hamstrings
to keep from goin' out in the field.
He shoulda cut his throat.
Move it!
What's wrong with the Bossman?
Stomach gripes.
Too much whiskey last night.
When his gut gets to him,
stay outta his way.
Move it on, move it!
Well he ain't gonna
lick me with no whip.
Yeah.
Sure.
Oh!
What's the matter, old man?
You all right?
Come on, get movin',
old man. Get movin'!
You goddamn son of a bitch, you!
You black bastard, you!
Put down that hoe, Walter Boyd.
Put down that goddamn hoe!
Nigger, I said put down that hoe!
Dick licker, Henry, Foster!
Get in there, and move your ass!
Get that hoe!
Hey, Walter, it ain't no use.
You're just gonna get whipped.
Walter, put down the hoe.
Put it down.
How many is that?
Fourteen.
What the hell...
Go get 'im, go get 'im.
Hey, Boss!
Walter Boyd's runnin', Boss!
Where'd he go?
He went out through there,
I tried to stop him.
Come on here.
Let's go.
Come on here, Vic.
Let's go, Vic.
Come on here, Vic.
Come on here.
Come on!
Stop with that noise!
Next one's goin' in
somebody's black ass!
You men sit down!
Sit down!
Ol' Riley walked the water
Ol' Riley walked the water
In them long hot summer days
Ol' Riley, he's gone
Ol' Riley, he's gone,
long gone
Like a turkey
through the corn
Ol' Riley walked the water
Here, Rattler, here
Ol' Riley walked the water
Here, Rattler, here
Ol' Riley's gone
like a turkey through the corn
Now, here, Rattler, here
Ol' Riley's gone
like a turkey through the corn
Here, Rattler, here
Child, get in the house.
Get in the house.
What you want, sonny?
You gonna help me
get these chains off,
ol' lady?
Oh, yeah, that be's what they say.
Come 'round here botherin' a body.
Any time o' day, just come a-runnin'.
Don't care nothin' about
no manners. No, sir.
Lutie, bring the ax and wedge.
Hurry, child.
Well, look at that.
They ain't makin' the chains
like they used to.
If you listen careful, sonny,
you can hear them
dogs back there
where you come from.
You get
the shovel later, Lutie,
you bury them, right?
Ol' Riley walked the water
Here, Rattler, here
Ol' Riley walked the water
Here, Rattler, here
Ol' Riley gone
like a turkey through the corn
Here, Rattler, here
Ol' Riley gone
like a turkey through the corn
Here, Rattler, here
Rattler come
when I blow my horn
Here, Rattler, here
Rattler come
when I blow my horn
Here, Rattler, here
Toot, toot, toot
Here, Rattler, here
Toot, toot, toot
Here, Rattler, here
Come on!
Here, Rattler,
here, Rattler
Here, Rattler, here
Here, Rattler,
here, Rattler
Here, Rattler, here
Come on.
Ol' Riley walked the water
Here, Rattler, here
Ol' Riley walked the water
Here, Rattler, here
There's something going on there.
Get down from there!
No!We're takin' you back to camp.
No!Come on down, Walter.
We're goin' back to camp.
No!
Ol' Riley walked the water
Ol' Riley walked the water
In them long,
hot summer days
Walter.
Walter!
Here are your vittles, Walter.
Hey, let go, let go, let go!
I brung your vittles, ya ol' fool.
I hear you holler on me.
"Boss, Walter's runnin'!"
When I get you, I'm gonna kill you.
You hear me.
When I went down, I knowed
I wasn't gonna make it.
And the Boss was comin'.
It didn't matter to you
one way or the other,
so I hollered.
Saved myself a lickin'.
In times like these,
you got to live the way you got to.
I look at it this way.
That ol' white man
don't care if I live
or die.
Fact is, he'd just as soon I die.
Every day, I say to myself...
"Forget him!"
Ain't gonna die.
Ya suit your ways to the situation.
Some other time, you can
chonk that white man
on his head.
But now, you just study
on livin' till tomorrow.
You gonna learn.
Now you take these peas
and you eats every crumb
and bide your time.
That's the way you live.
'Course when
they wants to kill you,
just livin' is winnin'.
Here.
Here!
Can I help you?
I come to get my boy.
Come with me.
Captain, here's that Ledbetter fella.
All right, send him in.
Have a seat.
Thank you.
So you're Walter Boyd's father.
That's right.
He my boy.
Your name Ledbetter?
Wesley Ledbetter?
Well, Walter was a stepson.
That's how come he got the name Boyd.
All right, all right.
Walter Boyd is good enough.
Now...
what can I do for you?
I took 15 acres of good bottom land
and I sold it
to Mr. Braithwaite
over in Mooringsport.
I got the money right here.
Every dollar.
Captain...
You take this here money
and you turn my boy loose.
Hold on, old man.
I can't take your money.
I ain't...
Asking for no mercy or nothin'.
You take it, hear, Captain!
My wife died last corn-plantin'
and I need my boy back on the farm.
Listen to me, ol' man,
it don't work that way.
You can't buy your boy free.
Your boy's been sentenced to 30 years
under the laws of the
sovereign state of Texas.
I can't turn your boy loose.
Now, you just take your money
and run on home, hear, uncle?
I ain't no kind o' kin to you, Captain.
You want me to bring him
in so's you can see him?
No.
I just as soon as not see him here.
Captain, I'd like to leave
some money for him then.
No cash money.
That's against all regulations.
Supposin' I left some money
for you to give to him...
Listen, I told you...
Hear...
Hear me!
You take it
and get my boy
the kind of guitar
he plays.
Don't cost
but $15 or $20
in a hock shop.
If that's all I can do for him,
well, so be it.
All right, Ledbetter.
Anything you want me to tell him?
No.
No, there ain't nothin'
you can tell him for me.
Anything I got to
hand down to my boy
I already done.
Just goodbye.
Ain't likely I'm gonna see him again.
Irene, goodnight
Irene, goodnight
Goodnight, Irene
Goodnight, Irene
I'll kiss you
in my dreams
Sometimes I live
in the country
Sometimes
I live in town
Sometimes I have
a great notion
To jump in the river
and drown
Irene, goodnight
Irene, goodnight
Goodnight, Irene
Goodnight, Irene
I'll kiss you
in my dreams
You caused me to weep
You caused me to moan
You caused me
to leave my home
The last words
I heard her say
I want you
to sing me a song
Irene, goodnight
Walter Boyd, Governor Pat Neff's here.
The Captain wants you to sing for him.
Come on, we'll take your chains off.
What's his name?
Walter Boyd.
Hey, you!
You sing me a song now, ya hear?
Mary, sweet Mary
1923
The judge took my liberty
away from me
1923
The judge took my liberty
away from me
I'm your servant,
compose this song
Please, Governor Neff,
let me go back home
I'm your servant,
compose this song
Please, Governor Neff,
let me go back home
Goin' back to Mary
Oh, Mary
Ain't nothin' can sing like a darkie
when he puts his mind to it.
Ah, great.
Please, Governor Neff,
be good and kind
If I don't get a pardon,
will you cut my time?
Please, Governor Neff,
be good and kind
If I don't get a pardon,
will you cut my time?
If I had you, Governor Neff,
like you got me
I'd wake up in the mornin'
and set you free
Look there,
playin' darkie for
the white folks.
If I had you, Governor Neff,
like you got me
I'd wake up in the mornin'
and set you free
You know, I'll bet he's
been makin' that song up
for the last week.
That's like one of 'em.
They'll think of every way in the world
to get out of payin', you know that.
Shoot.
Well, ol' Walter,
you know I could give you a pardon.
But then...
I wouldn't have you
down here to sing for me
when I came down next time.
Listen to this.
Ol' Walter, you know what I'm gonna do?
Tell you what I'm gonna do for you.
Just 'cause I like
your singin' so much.
Last thing I do while I'm in office,
put your pardon papers on my desk.
Yes, sir, I'm gonna set you free.
Here.
Have one of
Captain Freeman's
15-cent cigars.
Gov'nor goin' to turn me loose.
Pig shit!
Are you callin' me a liar?
I said to that Pat Neff, I said...
"You redneck
cracker chicken plucker."
I said, "You goin'
to turn me loose!"
He say,
"Yes, yes, yes, yes!"
Bastard ain't gonna turn nobody loose.
You a damn fool,
shufflin' your feets
in the dirt for him,
playin' nigger.
Ain't gonna do you no good.
Like you said,
you suit yourself
to the situation.
And that son of a bitch
is goin' to turn me loose!
Walter Boyd!
Get your ass over here,
the Captain wants to see you.
Captain sir?
Walter, you go on home.
We can't waste
no more vittles
on you here.
What's the matter with you?
Do you hear me?
Pat Neff's out of office,
Ma Ferguson's the new governor.
He left the pardon paper
behind like he said.
You go on home, Walter.
Open it up.
Take it easy, Walter.
Yon come Miss Rosie
How in the world
do you know?
Well, I knows her
by the apron
And the dress she wore
Umbrella on her shoulder,
a piece o' paper in her hand
Well, she's gonna
tell the gov'nor
Turn loose my man
Let the Midnight Special
shine the light on me
Let the Midnight Special
Shine its ever-lovin'
light on me
If you ever go
to Houston
Boy, you better
walk right
Well,
you better not squabble
and you better not fight
Or that sheriff
will arrest you
And he will take you down
And that judge
will sentence you
penitentiary bound
Let the Midnight Special
shine its light on me
Let the Midnight Special
Shine its ever-lovin'
light on me
Huddie!
That's...
That's Huddie Ledbetter, that's who.
That's you.
Eula?
Eula?
Miss Eula!
Lord!
I guess there's nothin' more pitiful
than a broke ol' whore, is there?
Oh, you all right.
Come, sit. Come.
Come.
Oh.
Lord!
Oh!
There ain't no more
Fannin Street no more.
No.
I can see that.Yeah.
Sheriff Tom Hughes, gone.
Sheriff Tom Hughes.
Well, that's good.
Since you left, I tell you,
nobody play no music here, y'know?
Ain't nothin' here
on Fannin Street no more.
It used to be the place.
Nobody remembers.
Ain't nothin' in the world
harder to remember
than the sweet taste of honey
when you was young.
Oh.
You know, I think...
I think I might just
open me another house.
The way things is goin'...
Yeah, that's what I'll do.
I'll...
God almighty! You're still
a hard man, Leadbelly.
What you doin' all these years?
I been doin' lots of time.
Lots of bad time.
You know, I guess
I'm gonna do what you...
You told me to do way back ago.
Ol' Lead's goin' home.
Thank, you, Jesus.
Yes, ol' Lead's goin' home.
Uh-huh.
Say, you still got your ol' guitar?
I still picks a little.
Uh...
I got somethin' I kept...
All these years I kept for you.
It's two of your favorite picks.
You take care now, you hear?
Good mornin', blues
Blues, how do you do?
Good mornin', blues
Blues, how do you do?
Well, I'm doin' all right
Good mornin'
How are you?
Lay down
last night
I was turnin'
from side to side
Oh...
Turnin' from side to side
Good mornin', blues
Blues, how do you do?
Good mornin', blues
Blues, how do you do?
Amy!
You better come on here,
or Mama's goin' to whip you.
Amy, come on!
Betcha, I know who you is.
You sung at a Sukey Jump
on a Saturday night
at Collinses.
Green Corn,
Grey Goose
and Yellow Gal.
The Collinses?
You wasn't
even born yet, girl.
How you know that?
My mama told me.
What's your mama's name?
Miss Margaret Hayes.
Mar...
Lawd today!
What's your name?
Amy.
Amy.
Amy Judd.
Matt Hayes wouldn't own me
when he married Mama
because I was a woods colt.
Your mama tell you about me?
Uh-huh.
She said you were the best
songster 'round Caddo Lake
before you went off.
And...
You was in the penitentiary.
What's it like there?
Hard work mostly.
But I was number one roller
on the number one gang.
That's good?
It's a way of stayin' alive.
Keeps you from thinkin'.
'Bout what?
'Bout home mostly.
Hey, where you goin'?
Don't go up there.
Hey, Ma!
Come on, get in the house, hurry up.
Get in the house.
Hurry up.
Henry, Henry!
Here!
What do you want here?
Nothin'.
This here used to be my daddy's land.
This here used to be our house.
No more it ain't.
Belong to
Mr. Braithwaite.
I know you.
You Huddie Ledbetter.
You been in a penitentiary in Texas.
This used to be
my daddy's land,
that's all.
You go on now, hear?
Land don't belong
to no Ledbetter no more.
Mr. Braithwaite own it.
I sharecrop for him.
I know 'bout you.
You a murderer.
You go on now, hear?
Ain't nothin' for you here no more.
You got no claim.
This here been
Ledbetter land
since the War.
You get away from here.
You don't belong here.
Black girl,
black girl
Where will you go?
I'll go where
the cold winds blow
Whatcha gonna do now?
Don't know.
Mama say you sure know
how to play that guitar.
Well, ain't nobody can
outpick and outholler me,
now that's for sure.
I was the king of, uh...
King of what?
Uh, somewhere...
Somewhere in this world I'm gonna...
You want to be king to me?
Hey! Hey!
Mr. Braithwaite!
That Ledbetter fellow was here
messin' around the house.
Lookin' all over the place.
Yeah, I told him to get
the hell outta here.
Where'd he go?
Down the road, straight ahead.
Y'all get home, it's gettin' late now.
I'll be talking to you later.
Go! Go, now,
and don't look back.
How do you do there, gents?
You some kind of tough nigger?
You goin' back to jail, ol' boy.
Come on!
That's the way it all happened.
Songs and everything else.
Tom.
Huddie...
Time to go back.
What you goin' to do
with all them songs?
Well for one thing,
we'll take 'em to Washington
to the Library of Congress.
What for?
We collect songs.
Like they was butterflies or somethin'?
Somethin like that.
Then you goin' to kill 'em.
You goin' to stick pins
through 'em and kill 'em.
They'll be dead for sure then.
Songs got to fly free
like the butterflies.
Well, that's why
we write 'em down
and put 'em on record
so they won't be forgotten.
You got my whole damn life there.
My mama, my papa...
And everything that ain't gone yet...
'Cept me singin' about 'em.
You ain't goin' to stick
no pins in my songs.
Hide 'em in some Washington library.
They be dead for sure then.
I gotta get outta here.
Sing my papa alive,
else won't be nothin' left of him.
Professor, you through with that boy?
Just a minute.
Professor...
Couldn't we take his pardon song,
the one he sang for the Governor?
We'll be in Baton Rouge next week
and well, it worked in Texas
with Pat Neff.
Now listen, Mr. Lomax,
you can take my song
to that Governor O.K. Allen,
but I ain't gonna
stand for him in the dust
like I did for that
Governor Neff in Texas.
Huddie, we can't promise you anything.
Well, I ain't askin'!
Six months I be turned loose
from here under the Hog Law.
I be free.
Be my own man.
I'm gonna sing my songs
in your Washington
Congress Library
and in Memphis
and Chicago
and New York!
I will.
Come on, boy.
Hey, you!
Move your ass!
Six more months.
That's all, just six more months.
And after seven years,
you ain't broke my body,
you ain't broke my mind,
and you ain't broke my spirit!
Go down, Ol' Hannah
Don't you rise no more
Well, if you rise
in the mornin'
Bring Judgment Day
You oughta been
on the brazis
Nineteen and ten
They was drivin' the women
Like they do the men
Oh, the sun was shinin'
And the men was flyin'
Oh, the cap'n
was a-hollerin'
And the men was dyin'
Go down, Ol' Hannah
Doncha rise no more
Well, if you rise
in the mornin'
Bring Judgment Day
Go down, Ol' Hannah
Don't you rise no more
Well, if you rise in the mornin'
Bring Judgment Day
You oughta been on the brazis
Nineteen and ten
They was drivin' the women
Like they do the men
Oh, the sun was shinin'
And the men was flyin'
Oh, the cap'n was a-hollerin'
And the men was dyin'
Go down, Ol' Hannah
Doncha rise no more
Well, if you rise in the mornin'
Bring Judgment Day
Ledbetter!
Come on!
They want you in the office.
I'm Professor Lomax,
this is my assistant Tom.
Want to take his chains off?
Orders are to leave 'em on.
This nigger's a real bad one.
Right this way.
Have a seat.
I guess they told ya,
we're here collectin' songs.
There ain't a damn thing
I can do for you,
'cept maybe a sack of Bull Durham,
couple of hours out of the sun.
Heard a lot about you.
That's why I've come
all the way down here
to record you.
I knows a lots of songs.
Some of 'em I made up,
some of 'em I changed
from other folks's.
You got some picks for me?
Yeah, here.
What are you in for?
Murder.
I calls it self-defense.
He stuck me with a knife,
but I stuck him better.
He stuck me with a knife,
but I stuck him better.
You see, it's easy.
Lord.
I ain't never sung
in no machine before.
Well, this is a song
I used to sing back home
in Mooringsport, Louisiana.
It's around 1907.
My uncle, Terrell, taught it to me.
Saturday night
we used to have
play party dancin'.
Sukey Jumps we calls it.
Yes, sir.
Everybody come to dance.
Just had a fine time.
Heh. Weren't no white folks
maybe 10, 15 miles around.
Pshaw!
I used to ride my daddy's horse,
sashay around them girls,
lookin' like Saturday night
all the way to Sunday mornin'!
Yes, sir. And everybody
knew everybody them days.
Y'know, it was like it was a family.
Evenin', ladies,
y'all goin' to the party?
Hah!
Now, there was this ol' Archie Macoomb.
Look out!
Here come Archie!
He had a team of bays,
and before you know it,
Lord, he'd come boilin' down the road
and I'd just take out after 'im.
Hah!
Hah!
Come on! Hah!
Hah!
Hah! Come on!
Green corn,
green corn
Green corn,
come along cholly
Green corn,
go 'n tell polly
Green corn, green corn
Stand around,
stand around
Two little boys
to call me poppa
One named Sop
and th' other named Gravy
Green corn, green corn
Green corn,
come along cholly
Green corn,
go 'n tell polly
Green corn,
green corn
Two little boys
to call me poppa
One named Sop
and th' other named Gravy
One named Sop
and th' other named Gravy
One's gonna put up
an' the other's gonna save it
Green corn,
green corn
Green corn,
come along cholly
Green corn,
go 'n tell polly
Green corn,
green corn
Wake, snake,
day's a-breakin'
Peas in the pot,
the whole cake's bakin'
Green corn,
green corn
Green corn,
come along cholly
Green corn,
go 'n tell polly
Green corn,
green corn
Stand around,
stand around the jimmy-john
Stand around,
stand around the jimmy-john
Stand around,
stand around
Come on, Margaret,
I'll take you on with me
in my new buggy.
Uh-uh.
Don' you be mule stubborn.
Come on.
This here seat's made outta real oak.
No, thank you kindly.
Promise to let Huddie carry me home.
Yeah, well, Huddie Ledbetter
ain't gonna take you nowheres!
Archie Macoomb, you let go me.
You all liquored up, else you wouldn't!
Oh!
Archie, please!
Stop, Huddie!
Archie, stop!
Oh, my God.
Y'all are liquored,
throw it away!
Archie... Oh, my God.
Stop! No!
Huddie!
Black girl
Black girl,
where did ya sleep last night?
Did you shiver
the whole night through?
Supposin'
you killed Archie,
just supposin'?
No.
You can't hit
the inside of a barn wall
with one of these pistols.
You know, one day
I'm gonna get away
from here.
What you mean, "Away from here"?
Shreveport, that's what I mean.
Shreveport.
Way away from here.
My daddy say
there ain't nothin'
in Shreveport,
but the white man you owes money to
and his co'thouse and his jail.
Oh, no!
There's Fannin Street.
That's what there is
in Shreveport.
Fannin Street.
Huddie honey,
I don't want to hear
nothin' more
'bout no Fannin Street.
Unless you ever been to Fannin Street,
well, you won't never know.
Listen, honey, we gotta get married.
What?
I missed my time.
Twice.
Fan Belle said I'm gonna have a baby.
You can't go nowhere now.
Aw, come on.
That's what
you said last Christmas
and you come 'round.
Huddie,
it's gonna be real sweet
when we married, baby.
Huddie?
Are you listenin' to me, Huddie?
Uh, yeah, I'm listenin' to you, honey.
Hmm. I'm listenin'.
Mornin', Wes.
Morning, Sheriff.
Your boy at home?
No.
He didn't come home last night.
Well, then that's what
I'm 'bliged to believe.
Fact is, Leonard Macoomb
come into town this mornin'
to swear out a complaint.
Seems your Huddie
laid open his boy's head
with a pistol barrel.
Now, you know me, Ledbetter.
Fact is, Wes, I come out here
'cause I got a deal of respect for you.
But I'm worried about your boy.
Why, you just let him run wild!
Nobody tell me how to raise my own boy.
I respect that.
What'd you
come into my dooryard
to tell me, Sheriff?
Bring your boy into town, hear?
I won't pay no mind
to no assault truck,
I'll just fine the boy $25
for carryin' concealed weapons
and that'll be an end on it.
Now, you watch your boy, Ledbetter.
That's a word to the wise.
Hiyah!
Come outta there, boy.
Wes, Wes!Shut up!
Shut up, woman!
Goddamnit, boy, you listen to sense.
I told you never
to take that gun
outta this house
without good reason.
Where you gonna go?
You got the Sheriff
down on you.
Shreveport.
Fannin Street, that's where I go.
Play my music.
All of a heap you in a hurry?
Wes, he's just a child.
No, he ain't.
Sam Judd come by on his way to meetin'.
You been lyin' with that gal of his?
Answer me, boy.
Yeah.
What?
Yes, sir.
When?This mornin'.
Judd say
he'd come around
with all his menfolks
with their duck pieces and rifle guns,
make Huddie marry that gal.
Sheriff's down on him for a bad nigger.
Judd's bad mouthin' him
around the parish.
Give a dog a bad name,
folks gonna chunk rocks
at him.
By and by, he gonna
bite somebody for sure.
You leave the horse
with Will Farrell
in Mooringsport.
Yes, I will, Pa.
Huddie...
I'll be givin' help to the Judd girl
when that child o' hers come.
You best keep your mind
on helpin' her, too,
whenever you can.
Yes, sir.
And you come back
home some day,
you hear, Huddie?
Well, you better
be gettin' on
down the road.
My mama told me
My papa told me, too
The women
in Shreveport, son,
gonna be the death of you
Mmm...
Mmm, mmm, mmm
Mmm, mmm, mmm, mmm
Mmm, mmm, mmm, mmm
I got a woman,
live on Stony Hill
Been settin' down gamblin'
with Buffalo Bill
Mmm, mmm, mmm
Follow me down,
follow me down
Follow me down
to Mr. Tom Hughes' town
Mmm, mmm, mmm
Laura, put your hand on your hip.
Sugar Tit, look far over the fan.
Now, hold it there, all of you.
Thank you.
Hey! You lookin'
for somethin'?
He lookin' for his plow.
Done follered his mule
clear down Fannin Street.
Hey, watch your feet, Country Boy.
You get cow shit
on Miss Eula's
Turkey carpet,
she have your ass!
Hey, plow this, Country Boy.
Acres an' acres, and it's all yours.
This here's, uh, Sugar Tit.
She does specials.
I'm Sugar Tit,
and you ain't gonna do no better
on Fannin Street, Country Boy.
Now, which one you want, mmm?
Take your pick.
I choose you.
'Cause I like to see them sassy ones
holler and screamin' for more.
Ooh!
Country Boy, I got
a boss longshoreman
comin' in
for his regular in half an hour,
and I ain't gonna
even be breathin' hard.
Right, right!
Mercy, mercy!
Ooh!Point it upstairs
and follow me.
'Bye, Country Boy.Bye-bye.
Bye, Country Boy.
Hello, girls.
Good day, Miss Eula.
Uh, the longshoreman's
on his way, where's Sugar Tit?
Um, upstairs, takin' a nap.
Takin' a nap?
Ah!
Well!
I don't see no money.
This ain't no four-bit crib.
This is a parlor house.
You take one of
my girls upstairs,
you owe me $5.
Have you got $5?
Albert!
Albert!
What's your name?
Huddie Ledbetter.
Ledbetter.
Leadbelly!
Albert, stay right where you are.
Good mornin', blues
Blues, how do you do?
That Miss Eula,
she really turned out to be somethin'.
I stayed with that woman
for quite some time.
I learned a lot from her.
She even taught me
how to sing the blues.
That's not it.
You ain't playin' it at all.
Well, that's the tune.
Ain't got nothin' to do with the tune.
You're talkin' 'bout the blues.
You got to feel the blues.
New Orleans blues,
woman blues,
whore blues.
It's gonna cost you dear
to learn the blues.
Nobody can turn you around, can they?
Tonight it's the blues,
tomorrow night
it'll be the barrelhouse.
That's it! That's it!
Come on, now.
Good mornin', blues
Blues, how do you do?
Good mornin', blues
Blues, how do you do?
Well, I'm doin' all right
Good mornin'
How are you?
Lay down
last night
I was turnin'
from side to side
Oh...
Turnin' from side to side
I was not sick,
but I was just dissatisfied
Well, I got up
this mornin'
Blues walkin'
'round my bed
Oh...
Blues walkin'
'round my bed
Well, I went
to eat my breakfast
The blues
was all in my bread
Hey, hey, hey!
Drinks for everybody.
Drinks for everybody!
How about that?
Y'all go and get
some drinks!
Keep your hands
off her
Keep your hands off her
Keep your hands off her...
Bitch!
You're fired outta my house.
You can go on back
to that sidewalk crib
and peddle your
skinny ass on the street
two for a quarter.
Customers are
always complainin'
about that girl.
I tell her,
"Wiggle your ass
sometimes, honey,
"so people know
you're alive."
It's time to come on home, honey.
I said come on home.
We got Saturday
night company,
I need you.
Albert.
Come on, honey.
Britt, bring me my guitar.
Woman, don't bother me none,
I am playin' my music.
What are you talkin' about?
Tellin' me when to come and when to go,
and don't do this and don't do that.
I ain't one of your whores.
No, you ain't one of my whores,
'cause they are hard-working girls
and they earn their keep.
You come here, you a green country boy,
didn't know nothin'
'cept play party hollers,
wanderin' on Fannin Street
without the price of a piece of ass.
I bought you that guitar!
I went your bail
when Sheriff Tom Hughes
dragged you in for drunk fighting.
And when you went and dipped
your wick in some chippie
and caught the clap.
I cured you with Lafayette Mixture.
I'm tellin' you...
Nobody make me small, ya hear?
If I walk out of here by myself,
that's the way it's gonna stay!
You hear what I'm tellin' you?
You're born for trouble,
and you're hurryin' out to catch it
like it was the railroad train
to New Orleans.
You ain't never goin' home.
You're goin' to die alone
and a million miles away!
You comin' home now?
Well, whatcha y'all wanta hear?
Anything.
Oh,
we're gonna party
for long now, man.
Come on, we can still have a good time.
Come on, y'all!
Join me. Step right up
and have a drink.
Guys, order whatever y'all want, hear?
Gimme a bottle o' liquor, Shorty.
Miss Eula.
Hmm.
What you talkin', she got Albert?
Huh!
He ain't nothin'
but a damn piano player.
If you want to make music,
you got to sing the songs.
Ain't that right?
Come on, now!
Ain't that right?
I was the best singer
around Caddo Lake.
I is the best on Fannin Street!
That's right.
The king, that's it.
The king, the king of Fannin Street.
Ain't that right, Shorty?
Ain't many better.
Goddamnit, ain't none better!
Goddamnit,
I put my money
where my mouth is.
Now!
$10 gold, double eagle.
Here, we can put that
right there in the kitty.
Anybody...
Now, anybody think
he can out pick
and out-sing me?
Let him step right on up here and try.
And this here will be his.
And then I'll just go on back
and sing at play parties
for the children.
Now, how about that?
What you reachin' for?
I picks guitar some.
You goin' to out pick me?
That's fair enough.
Shorty,
pour this here
guitar-pickin' fool a drink.
Come on over here, y'all,
ya'all goin' to hear.
Get that chair over here...
We'll find out who's the king.
Bring the chairs out over here.
Uh-huh.
Oh.
What kinda guitar
is that you got, ol' man?
Just an old guitar.
Well, how many strings you got there?
Twelve.
Ooh-hoo!
Whoo-e!
Two to one, huh?
Well, I guess
I'm the scratch horse
in this race!
You ready, ol' man?
Sheriff Tom Hughes is comin'!
Sheriff!
Sheriff's comin'!
Oh, my God!
He'll lock up the whole street!
What's he doin'?
I thought we pay protection.
Huddie, Huddie, come in the house.
Sheriff Tom Hughes
never come in my place.
I got an arrangement.
Don't just stand there, come on inside.
You're safe in my place.
Huddie, Huddie!
Damn fool.
Hey, old man, come here.
Come on, hurry up!
Where is this place?
This is Texas cotton country.
Well, this's where I'm gettin' off.
Some fool plowboy
stomped on my guitar
back there.
I still got that $10 gold.
I ain't sayin' you won it, mind you.
You take it easy, ol' man.
When I was a little baby
My mother would a rock me
in the cradle
In them old cotton fields
at home
When I was a little baby
My mother would a rock me
in the cradle
In them old cotton fields
at home
When them cotton bolls
got rotten
You couldn't pick
very much cotton
In them old cotton fields
at home
It was down in Louisiana,
just a mile from Texarkana
In them old cotton fields
at home
Hey, girl.
You, good-lookin' girl.
It may sound a little funny
But you didn't make
very much money
In them old cotton fields
at home
It may sound a little funny
But you didn't make
very much money
In them old cotton fields
at home
When them cotton bolls
got rotten
You didn't pick
very much cotton
In them old cotton fields
at home
It was down in Louisiana,
just a mile from Texarkana
In them old cotton fields
at home
Whoo!
Quittin' time, y'all!
Ooh, what's that?
Gun oil, that's sovereign
for a pickin' back.
You're not bad at it...
For a Louisiana man.
How you know where I'm from?
Oh, I know.
You play that
big ol' twelve-string guitar
over in the saloons.
You a whiskey drinker.
And you got your eye on every gal
in Marshall, Texas,
twixt twelve and too old!
Mmm.
Lethe, how come you ain't got
no man hangin' his pants
on your bedpost every night?
Like you, maybe?
Yeah.
Mmm-mmm.
I chooses you one night,
that's my lookout.
When you're done ramblin',
when you ready to live my way
in one place, with one woman,
you come back, see me then.
Oh, you got a lot of ramblin'
left in your bones.
So it's just...
Thank you kindly now.
And make sure that latch
catch on the way out
the door in the mornin'.
O' the Rock Island Line
is a mighty good road
O' the Rock Island Line
is the road to ride
O' the Rock Island Line
is a mighty good road
If you want to ride,
you got to ride it
like you find it
Get your ticket
at the station on
the Rock Island Line
Tyler. Tyler next.
Tyler!
Jesus died to save our sins
Glory to God
We gonna meet him againTyler!
Tyler, Texas! O' the Rock Island Line
is a mighty good road
O' the Rock Island Line
is the road to ride
O' the rock island line
Is a mighty good roadTyler, Texas!
If you want to ride it,
you got to ride it
like you find it
Get your ticket
at the station
on the Rock Island Line
I may be right,
I may be wrong
Know you gonna miss me
when I'm gone
O' the Rock Island Line
is a mighty good road
O' the Rock Island Line
is the road to ride
O' the Rock Island Line
is a mighty good road
If you want to ride it,
you got to ride it
like you find it
Get your ticket
at the station
on the Rock Island Line
Shut off that pig squealin'
so's a man can sleep.
What I hear you say?
I said it sound like
a hog with his whanger
caught in the hinge side of a gate.
Whyn't I just cut yours off
and stick it in your ear?
Well, leastways
then I wouldn't have to hear
that jackass hollerin'.
Come on, fool.
Come on!
You know it's hog killin' time now.
Just shut off that laughin'
or I'm gonna shut it for you.
I'm gonna,
I'm gonna stick you
right in your gizzard.
You hear?
Dammit! Somebody
gimme my knife,
do ya hear?
Who the hell took my knife?
Fat boy, I got your knife.
How you want this pig-sticker back,
open or closed?
What's your name?
Huddie Ledbetter.
Nickname, Leadbelly.
Lemon Jefferson.
They call me Blind Lemon.
It's a damn lie.
I can see...
Some.
You're, you're that
blues-shoutin' Lemon
I hear so much about!
Yeah, that's me.
Uh, I figure
I better take that
knife back closed.
Silver City bound
Silver City bound
Oh, tell my baby
I'm Silver City bound
Me and Blind Lemon
gonna ride on down
Silver City bound
I'm Silver City bound
I'm gonna tell my baby
I'm Silver City bound
Me and Leadbelly
gonna ride on down
Catch me by the hand
Oh, baby
Blind Lemon
was a blind man
Catch me by the hand
Oh, baby
Leadbelly
was a fine man
Silver City bound
Silver City bound
Mmm, tell my baby
I'm Silver City bound
Me and Blind Lemon
gonna ride on down
Catch me by the hand
Catch me by the hand
Oh, baby
Oh, baby, baby
Blind Lemon
was a blind man
Catch me by the hand
Catch me by the hand
Oh, baby Oh, baby, baby
Blind Lemon
was a blind man
Silver City bound
Silver City bound
Oh, tell my baby
I'm Silver City bound
Me and Blind Lemon
gonna ride on down
What you doin'?
You been boozin'
all night in that
saloon,
you can't drive, you drunk.
You blind.
You ever drive
one of these things
before?
Nope.
There's one kind of favor
I asks of you
There's one kind of favor
I asks of you
There's one kind of favor
I asks of you
See that my grave
is kept clean
It's a long lane,
ain't got no end
It's a long lane,
ain't got no end
It's a long lane,
ain't got no end
Feel so bad
It is a miserable shame
Have you ever heard
a coffin sound?
Have you ever heard
a coffin sound?
Have you ever heard
a coffin sound?
Then you know
the po' boy's in the ground
Oh, dig my grave
with a silver spade
Dig my grave
with a silver spade
Dig my grave
with a silver spade
You may place four diamonds
on my grave
Have you ever heard
a death bell toll?
Have you ever heard
a death bell toll?
Have you ever heard
a death bell toll?
Then you know
the po' boy's dead and gone
Then you know
the po' boy's dead and gone
That's what is the blues,
not that sticky
sweet whore blues
you learned in Shreveport.
Well, we's doin' all right.
What, playin' in saloons?
We bein' nickel-and-dimed to death.
What are we?
Well I was the King of Fannin Street.
King?
King?
Hey, man, you ever hear
them Victrola records?
Yeah, plenty times.
They make 'em in Chicago and Memphis,
see that's where I'm goin' some day.
They gonna know who I am.
Ain't nobody gonna say,
"Hey you, Fat Boy."
They gonna know my name.
Your songs got too much misery in 'em.
Keep you hungry and evil all the time.
Oh!
You like a chicken tied to a pole.
Runnin' around in circles
and cacklin' a lot,
but you ain't goin' no place.
And some day
somebody gonna
catch up with you
and wring your goddamn neck.
Hee-hee-hee!
Lemme get outta here, boy,
nature done callin' me.
Well, I hope you miss
and hit yourself in the shoe.
And one more thing, Leadbelly...
Leadbelly?
Let's get outta here, Lemon.
Hey, boy.
Who the hell told you to stop playin'?
It's gettin' late.
You keep playin'.
Man, it's after 2:00
in the mornin'.
What the hell do you care
what time it is?
You keep on playin'.
You said $3 till midnight.
God dammit, don't argue with me, boy!
We'll just take our $3.
You'll take shit
if you don't start playin'.
I say that's it.
God damn it, don't sass me, boy!
You spoilin' the party,
you hear, nigger?
Now, you pick up
the goddamn guitar
and you play!
Lead!
Damn ol' nigger.
Lead.
Lead.
Hey, man, you all right, man?
Hey, that bartender,
he kicked you in the balls
before the Sheriff come.
Yeah.
Somebody knocked my tooth out.
Stole my watch, too.
What you doin' out there
with me in here?
I went through the window in the dark.
Listen, I ain't got much time.
It cost me six bits to get...
Oh!
Here.
Cost me six bits to get in.
You get the money
outta the snuff can
to pay my fine.
Ain't no fine.
They holdin' you
till Judge Baines get back
from Dallas, Saturday.
You on your way to the
Harrison County Chain Gang.
Tsk.
Man say, a year on the inside.
What you study on doin'?
Get me a train to Memphis,
maybe Chicago.
Make me some of them Victrola
records on the Bluebird
or OKeh label.
Hey, Huddie, we got $14 and four cents.
$14 four bits in the snuff can.
Now, half's yours.
Time's up.
Money ain't gonna
do me no good
on no Chain Gang.
With $14...
I can get me
a regular one-way ticket
to Memphis.
$14.
Huddie, you keep
the bottle, okay, you hear?
Hear?
Look, now I'll see ya.
Bring a little water, SilvyYah, yah!
Bring a little water now
Bring a little water, Silvy
Ev'ry little once in a while
Huddie!
Ev'ry little once in a whileYeah.
Huddie!
Don't you see me comin'?
Don't you see me now?
Don't you see me comin'
Ev'ry little once in a while
Ev'ry little once in a while
Brought you some water.
Ow!
Don't you hear me comin'?
Don't you hear me now?
Don't you hear me comin'?
Ev'ry little once in a while
Ev'ry little once in a while
Oh, someday
I aim to take you
a long way from here.
'Way from all this
white man's trouble
and this white man's land.
Bring a little water, Silvy
Bring a little water now
Bring a little water, SilvyAhh!
Ev'ry little
once in a while
Ain't you gonna get ready?
For what?
For de dance at the Kingston place.
I ain't goin'.
What you talkin' 'bout?
Ain't no particular pleasure
watchin' all them womens
climbin' all over you.
They can't help it.
Pshaw!
I can just sing as sweet and tender.
I don't pay 'em no mind now, do I?
Anyway, it's too dangerous.
Sheriff ain't but a few miles away.
Nobody 'round here know me by my name.
I'm Walter Boyd.
Ain't no sheriff
lookin' for no Walter Boyd.
Sure.
And when you get to playin' on that ol'
twelve-string guitar,
you ain't study about
being no Walter Boyd.
Ain't nothin' matter
but bein' King of Music.
How long you think it's goin' be,
'fore that sheriff hear 'bout you
and your fame get spread all around?
Well, there's gonna be friends there,
uh, Alex Griffin
and Will Stafford,
they's all friends.
Time they get
that whiskey in 'em,
friend don't mean nothin'.
Oh, listen at ya.
Oh, honey, ya stay with me tonight.
Don't you go.
Oh.
They countin' on me for the music.
And we can use that extra money
if I'm ever gonna get you outta here.
Two or three greasy dollars
and a bellyful of corn whiskey,
that's all you're gonna get.
"Two or three greasy dollars
"and a bellyful
of corn whiskey."
Well, them "two or three dollars"
will buy you
a brand-new travelin' dress.
I love you.
I had this thing going...
Come on, boy, play it.
Dekalb blues,
Lawd Dekalb blues, Lawd
Make me feel so bad
Make me feel so bad
Dekalb blues, Lawd...
Make me think about
The good times I've had
Yeah!
She longed for the powder
and the string and comb
Lord!
Dekalb womanGet away from me.
Would not
have a home
Spent all my money
on that store dress
for that gal
and she spend all her time
with anybody come along
with two legs in his pants.
She spent most of her time
listenin' to ol' Walter
here singin',
that's what she done.
Hey, Walter, how 'bout
that time you went
outdoors to pee?
Huh?
What you
talkin' 'bout?When you went out to pee!
That ain't all you was doin'
with that thing
out of your pants.
Not with Alex's gal
just beggin' for it!Shh!
You prong my gal
and you laugh in my face?
Watch out, Walter!
It's your fault.
What'd you make me do that for?
What'd you go and mess with me for?
Walter Boyd done killed Alex Griffin!
What'd you do that for?
Huh?
Huh?
We was just friends, man.
We's all good friends.
Oh!
Oh!
How long?
Thirty years.
There you go.
That's a lotta years.
Law say you're
supposed to stop whippin'
when the blood come.
They don't pay
no mind here in Sugarland.
Ally George, he the trusty.
He ain't got no leg irons,
how come he walk
all cripped up like that?
Him and three others
done cut their hamstrings
to keep from goin' out in the field.
He shoulda cut his throat.
Move it!
What's wrong with the Bossman?
Stomach gripes.
Too much whiskey last night.
When his gut gets to him,
stay outta his way.
Move it on, move it!
Well he ain't gonna
lick me with no whip.
Yeah.
Sure.
Oh!
What's the matter, old man?
You all right?
Come on, get movin',
old man. Get movin'!
You goddamn son of a bitch, you!
You black bastard, you!
Put down that hoe, Walter Boyd.
Put down that goddamn hoe!
Nigger, I said put down that hoe!
Dick licker, Henry, Foster!
Get in there, and move your ass!
Get that hoe!
Hey, Walter, it ain't no use.
You're just gonna get whipped.
Walter, put down the hoe.
Put it down.
How many is that?
Fourteen.
What the hell...
Go get 'im, go get 'im.
Hey, Boss!
Walter Boyd's runnin', Boss!
Where'd he go?
He went out through there,
I tried to stop him.
Come on here.
Let's go.
Come on here, Vic.
Let's go, Vic.
Come on here, Vic.
Come on here.
Come on!
Stop with that noise!
Next one's goin' in
somebody's black ass!
You men sit down!
Sit down!
Ol' Riley walked the water
Ol' Riley walked the water
In them long hot summer days
Ol' Riley, he's gone
Ol' Riley, he's gone,
long gone
Like a turkey
through the corn
Ol' Riley walked the water
Here, Rattler, here
Ol' Riley walked the water
Here, Rattler, here
Ol' Riley's gone
like a turkey through the corn
Now, here, Rattler, here
Ol' Riley's gone
like a turkey through the corn
Here, Rattler, here
Child, get in the house.
Get in the house.
What you want, sonny?
You gonna help me
get these chains off,
ol' lady?
Oh, yeah, that be's what they say.
Come 'round here botherin' a body.
Any time o' day, just come a-runnin'.
Don't care nothin' about
no manners. No, sir.
Lutie, bring the ax and wedge.
Hurry, child.
Well, look at that.
They ain't makin' the chains
like they used to.
If you listen careful, sonny,
you can hear them
dogs back there
where you come from.
You get
the shovel later, Lutie,
you bury them, right?
Ol' Riley walked the water
Here, Rattler, here
Ol' Riley walked the water
Here, Rattler, here
Ol' Riley gone
like a turkey through the corn
Here, Rattler, here
Ol' Riley gone
like a turkey through the corn
Here, Rattler, here
Rattler come
when I blow my horn
Here, Rattler, here
Rattler come
when I blow my horn
Here, Rattler, here
Toot, toot, toot
Here, Rattler, here
Toot, toot, toot
Here, Rattler, here
Come on!
Here, Rattler,
here, Rattler
Here, Rattler, here
Here, Rattler,
here, Rattler
Here, Rattler, here
Come on.
Ol' Riley walked the water
Here, Rattler, here
Ol' Riley walked the water
Here, Rattler, here
There's something going on there.
Get down from there!
No!We're takin' you back to camp.
No!Come on down, Walter.
We're goin' back to camp.
No!
Ol' Riley walked the water
Ol' Riley walked the water
In them long,
hot summer days
Walter.
Walter!
Here are your vittles, Walter.
Hey, let go, let go, let go!
I brung your vittles, ya ol' fool.
I hear you holler on me.
"Boss, Walter's runnin'!"
When I get you, I'm gonna kill you.
You hear me.
When I went down, I knowed
I wasn't gonna make it.
And the Boss was comin'.
It didn't matter to you
one way or the other,
so I hollered.
Saved myself a lickin'.
In times like these,
you got to live the way you got to.
I look at it this way.
That ol' white man
don't care if I live
or die.
Fact is, he'd just as soon I die.
Every day, I say to myself...
"Forget him!"
Ain't gonna die.
Ya suit your ways to the situation.
Some other time, you can
chonk that white man
on his head.
But now, you just study
on livin' till tomorrow.
You gonna learn.
Now you take these peas
and you eats every crumb
and bide your time.
That's the way you live.
'Course when
they wants to kill you,
just livin' is winnin'.
Here.
Here!
Can I help you?
I come to get my boy.
Come with me.
Captain, here's that Ledbetter fella.
All right, send him in.
Have a seat.
Thank you.
So you're Walter Boyd's father.
That's right.
He my boy.
Your name Ledbetter?
Wesley Ledbetter?
Well, Walter was a stepson.
That's how come he got the name Boyd.
All right, all right.
Walter Boyd is good enough.
Now...
what can I do for you?
I took 15 acres of good bottom land
and I sold it
to Mr. Braithwaite
over in Mooringsport.
I got the money right here.
Every dollar.
Captain...
You take this here money
and you turn my boy loose.
Hold on, old man.
I can't take your money.
I ain't...
Asking for no mercy or nothin'.
You take it, hear, Captain!
My wife died last corn-plantin'
and I need my boy back on the farm.
Listen to me, ol' man,
it don't work that way.
You can't buy your boy free.
Your boy's been sentenced to 30 years
under the laws of the
sovereign state of Texas.
I can't turn your boy loose.
Now, you just take your money
and run on home, hear, uncle?
I ain't no kind o' kin to you, Captain.
You want me to bring him
in so's you can see him?
No.
I just as soon as not see him here.
Captain, I'd like to leave
some money for him then.
No cash money.
That's against all regulations.
Supposin' I left some money
for you to give to him...
Listen, I told you...
Hear...
Hear me!
You take it
and get my boy
the kind of guitar
he plays.
Don't cost
but $15 or $20
in a hock shop.
If that's all I can do for him,
well, so be it.
All right, Ledbetter.
Anything you want me to tell him?
No.
No, there ain't nothin'
you can tell him for me.
Anything I got to
hand down to my boy
I already done.
Just goodbye.
Ain't likely I'm gonna see him again.
Irene, goodnight
Irene, goodnight
Goodnight, Irene
Goodnight, Irene
I'll kiss you
in my dreams
Sometimes I live
in the country
Sometimes
I live in town
Sometimes I have
a great notion
To jump in the river
and drown
Irene, goodnight
Irene, goodnight
Goodnight, Irene
Goodnight, Irene
I'll kiss you
in my dreams
You caused me to weep
You caused me to moan
You caused me
to leave my home
The last words
I heard her say
I want you
to sing me a song
Irene, goodnight
Walter Boyd, Governor Pat Neff's here.
The Captain wants you to sing for him.
Come on, we'll take your chains off.
What's his name?
Walter Boyd.
Hey, you!
You sing me a song now, ya hear?
Mary, sweet Mary
1923
The judge took my liberty
away from me
1923
The judge took my liberty
away from me
I'm your servant,
compose this song
Please, Governor Neff,
let me go back home
I'm your servant,
compose this song
Please, Governor Neff,
let me go back home
Goin' back to Mary
Oh, Mary
Ain't nothin' can sing like a darkie
when he puts his mind to it.
Ah, great.
Please, Governor Neff,
be good and kind
If I don't get a pardon,
will you cut my time?
Please, Governor Neff,
be good and kind
If I don't get a pardon,
will you cut my time?
If I had you, Governor Neff,
like you got me
I'd wake up in the mornin'
and set you free
Look there,
playin' darkie for
the white folks.
If I had you, Governor Neff,
like you got me
I'd wake up in the mornin'
and set you free
You know, I'll bet he's
been makin' that song up
for the last week.
That's like one of 'em.
They'll think of every way in the world
to get out of payin', you know that.
Shoot.
Well, ol' Walter,
you know I could give you a pardon.
But then...
I wouldn't have you
down here to sing for me
when I came down next time.
Listen to this.
Ol' Walter, you know what I'm gonna do?
Tell you what I'm gonna do for you.
Just 'cause I like
your singin' so much.
Last thing I do while I'm in office,
put your pardon papers on my desk.
Yes, sir, I'm gonna set you free.
Here.
Have one of
Captain Freeman's
15-cent cigars.
Gov'nor goin' to turn me loose.
Pig shit!
Are you callin' me a liar?
I said to that Pat Neff, I said...
"You redneck
cracker chicken plucker."
I said, "You goin'
to turn me loose!"
He say,
"Yes, yes, yes, yes!"
Bastard ain't gonna turn nobody loose.
You a damn fool,
shufflin' your feets
in the dirt for him,
playin' nigger.
Ain't gonna do you no good.
Like you said,
you suit yourself
to the situation.
And that son of a bitch
is goin' to turn me loose!
Walter Boyd!
Get your ass over here,
the Captain wants to see you.
Captain sir?
Walter, you go on home.
We can't waste
no more vittles
on you here.
What's the matter with you?
Do you hear me?
Pat Neff's out of office,
Ma Ferguson's the new governor.
He left the pardon paper
behind like he said.
You go on home, Walter.
Open it up.
Take it easy, Walter.
Yon come Miss Rosie
How in the world
do you know?
Well, I knows her
by the apron
And the dress she wore
Umbrella on her shoulder,
a piece o' paper in her hand
Well, she's gonna
tell the gov'nor
Turn loose my man
Let the Midnight Special
shine the light on me
Let the Midnight Special
Shine its ever-lovin'
light on me
If you ever go
to Houston
Boy, you better
walk right
Well,
you better not squabble
and you better not fight
Or that sheriff
will arrest you
And he will take you down
And that judge
will sentence you
penitentiary bound
Let the Midnight Special
shine its light on me
Let the Midnight Special
Shine its ever-lovin'
light on me
Huddie!
That's...
That's Huddie Ledbetter, that's who.
That's you.
Eula?
Eula?
Miss Eula!
Lord!
I guess there's nothin' more pitiful
than a broke ol' whore, is there?
Oh, you all right.
Come, sit. Come.
Come.
Oh.
Lord!
Oh!
There ain't no more
Fannin Street no more.
No.
I can see that.Yeah.
Sheriff Tom Hughes, gone.
Sheriff Tom Hughes.
Well, that's good.
Since you left, I tell you,
nobody play no music here, y'know?
Ain't nothin' here
on Fannin Street no more.
It used to be the place.
Nobody remembers.
Ain't nothin' in the world
harder to remember
than the sweet taste of honey
when you was young.
Oh.
You know, I think...
I think I might just
open me another house.
The way things is goin'...
Yeah, that's what I'll do.
I'll...
God almighty! You're still
a hard man, Leadbelly.
What you doin' all these years?
I been doin' lots of time.
Lots of bad time.
You know, I guess
I'm gonna do what you...
You told me to do way back ago.
Ol' Lead's goin' home.
Thank, you, Jesus.
Yes, ol' Lead's goin' home.
Uh-huh.
Say, you still got your ol' guitar?
I still picks a little.
Uh...
I got somethin' I kept...
All these years I kept for you.
It's two of your favorite picks.
You take care now, you hear?
Good mornin', blues
Blues, how do you do?
Good mornin', blues
Blues, how do you do?
Well, I'm doin' all right
Good mornin'
How are you?
Lay down
last night
I was turnin'
from side to side
Oh...
Turnin' from side to side
Good mornin', blues
Blues, how do you do?
Good mornin', blues
Blues, how do you do?
Amy!
You better come on here,
or Mama's goin' to whip you.
Amy, come on!
Betcha, I know who you is.
You sung at a Sukey Jump
on a Saturday night
at Collinses.
Green Corn,
Grey Goose
and Yellow Gal.
The Collinses?
You wasn't
even born yet, girl.
How you know that?
My mama told me.
What's your mama's name?
Miss Margaret Hayes.
Mar...
Lawd today!
What's your name?
Amy.
Amy.
Amy Judd.
Matt Hayes wouldn't own me
when he married Mama
because I was a woods colt.
Your mama tell you about me?
Uh-huh.
She said you were the best
songster 'round Caddo Lake
before you went off.
And...
You was in the penitentiary.
What's it like there?
Hard work mostly.
But I was number one roller
on the number one gang.
That's good?
It's a way of stayin' alive.
Keeps you from thinkin'.
'Bout what?
'Bout home mostly.
Hey, where you goin'?
Don't go up there.
Hey, Ma!
Come on, get in the house, hurry up.
Get in the house.
Hurry up.
Henry, Henry!
Here!
What do you want here?
Nothin'.
This here used to be my daddy's land.
This here used to be our house.
No more it ain't.
Belong to
Mr. Braithwaite.
I know you.
You Huddie Ledbetter.
You been in a penitentiary in Texas.
This used to be
my daddy's land,
that's all.
You go on now, hear?
Land don't belong
to no Ledbetter no more.
Mr. Braithwaite own it.
I sharecrop for him.
I know 'bout you.
You a murderer.
You go on now, hear?
Ain't nothin' for you here no more.
You got no claim.
This here been
Ledbetter land
since the War.
You get away from here.
You don't belong here.
Black girl,
black girl
Where will you go?
I'll go where
the cold winds blow
Whatcha gonna do now?
Don't know.
Mama say you sure know
how to play that guitar.
Well, ain't nobody can
outpick and outholler me,
now that's for sure.
I was the king of, uh...
King of what?
Uh, somewhere...
Somewhere in this world I'm gonna...
You want to be king to me?
Hey! Hey!
Mr. Braithwaite!
That Ledbetter fellow was here
messin' around the house.
Lookin' all over the place.
Yeah, I told him to get
the hell outta here.
Where'd he go?
Down the road, straight ahead.
Y'all get home, it's gettin' late now.
I'll be talking to you later.
Go! Go, now,
and don't look back.
How do you do there, gents?
You some kind of tough nigger?
You goin' back to jail, ol' boy.
Come on!
That's the way it all happened.
Songs and everything else.
Tom.
Huddie...
Time to go back.
What you goin' to do
with all them songs?
Well for one thing,
we'll take 'em to Washington
to the Library of Congress.
What for?
We collect songs.
Like they was butterflies or somethin'?
Somethin like that.
Then you goin' to kill 'em.
You goin' to stick pins
through 'em and kill 'em.
They'll be dead for sure then.
Songs got to fly free
like the butterflies.
Well, that's why
we write 'em down
and put 'em on record
so they won't be forgotten.
You got my whole damn life there.
My mama, my papa...
And everything that ain't gone yet...
'Cept me singin' about 'em.
You ain't goin' to stick
no pins in my songs.
Hide 'em in some Washington library.
They be dead for sure then.
I gotta get outta here.
Sing my papa alive,
else won't be nothin' left of him.
Professor, you through with that boy?
Just a minute.
Professor...
Couldn't we take his pardon song,
the one he sang for the Governor?
We'll be in Baton Rouge next week
and well, it worked in Texas
with Pat Neff.
Now listen, Mr. Lomax,
you can take my song
to that Governor O.K. Allen,
but I ain't gonna
stand for him in the dust
like I did for that
Governor Neff in Texas.
Huddie, we can't promise you anything.
Well, I ain't askin'!
Six months I be turned loose
from here under the Hog Law.
I be free.
Be my own man.
I'm gonna sing my songs
in your Washington
Congress Library
and in Memphis
and Chicago
and New York!
I will.
Come on, boy.
Hey, you!
Move your ass!
Six more months.
That's all, just six more months.
And after seven years,
you ain't broke my body,
you ain't broke my mind,
and you ain't broke my spirit!
Go down, Ol' Hannah
Don't you rise no more
Well, if you rise
in the mornin'
Bring Judgment Day
You oughta been
on the brazis
Nineteen and ten
They was drivin' the women
Like they do the men
Oh, the sun was shinin'
And the men was flyin'
Oh, the cap'n
was a-hollerin'
And the men was dyin'
Go down, Ol' Hannah
Doncha rise no more
Well, if you rise
in the mornin'
Bring Judgment Day