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Lead Belly - Boll Weevil (from WNYC Radio archive) Ram Jam - Black Betty Lead Belly - Black Betty Nirvana - Where Did You Sleep Last Night? Lead Belly - Black Girl Lead Belly - Rock Island Line The Beach Boys - Cotton Fields (The Cotton Song) Lead Belly - Whoa Back, Buck Lead Belly - Chicken Crowing for Midnight (from WNYC Radio archive) Lead Belly - Didn't Ol' John Cross the Water Lonnie Donegan - Pick a Bale of Cotton Lead Belly - Pick a Bale of Cotton (from WNYC Radio archive) The Beach Boys - Cotton Fields (The Cotton Song) Lead Belly - Cotton Fields Lead Belly - Goodnight, Irene Lead Belly - Cow Cow Yicky Yea / Out On the Western Plains Lead Belly - If It Wasn't for Dicky Andy Williams - Kisses Sweeter than Wine Jean Ritchie - Hangman Lead Belly - Gallis Pole Led Zeppelin - Gallows Pole Lead Belly - Fannin Street Lead Belly - C. C. Rider The Animals - C C Rider Lead Belly - Good Morning Blues Lead Belly - Red Cross Store Blues Lead Belly - TB Blues Lead Belly - Don't You Love Your Daddy No More? Lead Belly - Ham and Eggs Lead Belly - Go Down Old Hannah Lead Belly - Midnight Special Lead Belly - Blind Lemon

BBC Radio Special. It's staggering to contemplate just how different popular music would sound today had the blues remained the sole preserve of rural communities in the American South. Without the influence of field hollers and 12-bar chord progressions, it's doubtful that rock 'n' roll would have happened at all. One of the most authentic exponents of early blues was Huddie Ledbetter, better known as Lead Belly, whose discovery and promotion by John Lomax in the 1930s introduced a wealth of Louisiana cotton-field folk songs into the public consciousness. Eric Burdon explores Lead Belly's life, work and lasting musical legacy.

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