The Smithsonian Channel Brings His Story to a New Generation

In February 2015 — Black History Month — the Smithsonian Channel did something that needed to be done. They put Huddie Ledbetter on television and asked the world to pay attention.

Legend of Lead Belly, directed by Alan Ravenscroft and produced by Eagle Rock Entertainment for the Smithsonian Channel, is a one-hour documentary that traces Huddie’s life from the Louisiana plantations where he was born to the New York stages where he performed, through the prisons that tried to hold him and the music that always set him free. The film premiered on February 23, 2015 — timed deliberately to coincide with the release of the landmark Lead Belly: The Smithsonian Folkways Collection box set the following day.

The documentary builds its portrait through a remarkable collection of voices. Van Morrison — who has said repeatedly that the British music scene of the 1960s would not have happened without Lead Belly — appears on screen to call him an artist who simply did not limit himself to any genre. Roger McGuinn of The Byrds, Robby Krieger of The Doors, Judy Collins, and Eric Burdon of The Animals all speak to his reach and his relevance. Family members and scholars fill in the personal story. Rare archival footage — including striking color footage of Huddie performing in a cotton field — gives the film a visual texture that no modern recreation could replicate.

The film was screened at institutions across the country, including a special debut at Fairleigh Dickinson University in New Jersey and a sneak preview at the History Colorado Center in Denver, each followed by panel discussions with Smithsonian archivist Jeff Place — one of the chief architects of the Folkways collection. At each screening, audiences encountered Huddie Ledbetter, many for the first time, and left with his music in their heads.

Van Morrison’s message in the film is simple and definitive. Lead Belly’s story, he says, is one of survival against all odds.

That is exactly right. And this film makes sure you feel every inch of it.