In the pantheon of blues legends, few figures loom as large as Leadbelly, the peripatetic, gun-toting guitar player with the constitution of iron. The gifted composer of such standards as "Goodnight Irene," "Midnight Special," and "Where Did You Sleep Last Night," Leadbelly led a troubled life. Thrice consigned to imprisonment in the deep south, twice he had his sentence commuted on the strength of his musicianship alone. But his penchant for trouble was inextricably linked to his genius, and like Robert Johnson and Blind Lemon Jefferson, his hard times became interwoven with his musical abilities. The years of Leadbelly's fame would be short and far from remunerative, and he would not live to see his songs become standards and his talent revered.

Huddie (Leadbelly) Ledbetter

Born Huddie Ledbetter in the backwoods of Northern Louisiana near Shreveport, Ledbetter's family was relatively affluent, with a fair-sized farm on...