Leadbelly (film) title card stating that Leadbelly was released from prison and pursued his music career. Leadbelly (film) Leadbelly is a 1976 film chronicling the life of folk singer Huddie William Ledbetter (better known as "Lead Belly"). The film was directed by Gordon Parks, and starred Roger E. Mosley in the title role. The film focuses on the troubles of Lead Belly's youth in the segregated South including his time in prison, and his efforts to use his music to gain release. Huddie Ledbetter leaves his father's house just barely into his twenties and arrives at a brothel on Fannin' Street ran
Lil Johnson (blues singer) Blues". She sang in a vigorous and sometimes abrasive manner. All her songs have been anthologized on later blues collections. There is no record of what became of Johnson after her recording career ended in 1937. Lil Johnson (blues singer) Lil Johnson (fl. 1920s-1930s, dates and places of birth and death unknown) was an African-American singer who recorded dirty blues and hokum songs in the 1920s and 1930s. Her origins and early life are not known. She first recorded in Chicago in 1929, accompanied by the pianists Montana Taylor and Charles Avery on five songs, including "Rock That Thing". She