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| Images courtesy of Wienerworld Presentation |
MVD Entertainment has been picking up and rereleasing
preexisting documentaries or concert films and publishing them in new disc
editions. Recently one of them was The
Fabulous Thunderbirds – Live in Houston originally made in 2006 but
remastered for blu-ray disc in 2025 and the latest one couldn’t have had more
impeccable timing for the street date if it tried: Curt Hahn’s 2021 documentary
Lead Belly: Life, Legend, Legacy or as it was originally titled and
represented here Lead Belly: The Man Who Invented Rock & Roll. While the story of American blues singer and multi-talented
musician Huddie William Ledbetter nicknamed Lead Belly is familiar to many,
defining the standards for what would become folk music, blues music and
eventually rock music, this documentary film is an intimate unbiased look at
the artist that all but fully introduces him to newcomers. Newly released on DVD for the first time by
indie releasing label Wienerworld Presentation, Lead Belly: The Man Who
Invented Rock & Roll is an indelible companion piece to the hottest new
Hollywood film Sinners which has its claws dug deep into the heart of
blues music.
Filmed on digital video and comprised of retrospective
interviews with B.B. King, Joan Baez, Pete Seeger, Harry Belafonte and more,
the documentary running around eighty minutes dives deep into the life story
and the work of Lead Belly. From his
rise from the ashes of a Harrison County chain gang before singing his way out
of two prison sentences to the eventual formation of a musical career and
induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, the story of Lead Belly is one
fraught with tragedy. Nevertheless,
despite the deaths experienced and sometimes caused by the performer, Lead Belly
amassed a reputation as a ‘King of the Twelve-String Guitar’ as well as the
accordion which he is often seen in photographs of playing both
instruments. The documentary itself intersperses
between archival recordings and footage of Lead Belly as well as newly filmed
interviews building up a comprehensive portrait of the man’s overarching
influences on modern music.
As aforementioned, the doc is hitting DVD not only years
after the film’s original inception but right as the popularity of blues in
modern cinema is at an all-time high with the bluesiest action film to hit
theaters since The Blues Brothers or Kansas City. Though the technical merits of the
documentary aren’t wonderful with blurry aliasing footage of musicians and
historians, the story being conveyed here is indelible and points to a whole
century of musical influences all stemming from one man’s work. All in all, an enriching viewing experience
that filled in many historical musical gaps for me and it felt absolutely right
to watch this immediately after taking a deep dive down Ryan Coogler’s
masterpiece. Those who are already
familiar with the story of Lead Belly are also inclined to give this their time
as it has the capacity to convert the uninitiated into fans and might teach
those who know him a thing or two they didn’t think of before. This one’s a keeper!
--Andrew Kotwicki
