9. He was soon back in jail, after trying to murder a man who tried to interrupt his singing
Leadbelly was soon making up for lost time after his release in 1925, and returned to the life of a travelling bluesman and occasional farm labourer. As usual, trouble was never far behind: one night in Oil City, Leadbelly later recalled, a man came up to him from behind, ‘stuck his knife in my neck an’ was pullin’ it aroun’ my throat jes’ tryin’ to cut my head off’. Undaunted, Leadbelly walked to the local police station ‘bleedin’ like a stuck hawg’, and was told never to come back to Oil City again.
In 1930, Leadbelly was once again back in jail. Accounts of what happened are confused, but according to his niece, Viola Batts, Leadbelly happened upon a group of men performing a Negro Spiritual incorrectly near Mooringsport. When Leadbelly took it upon himself to correct their mistakes by joining in, the group took offence at his constructive criticism, and a white member kicked him. Big mistake. ‘You don’t do that to Uncle Huddie’, recalled Viola. ‘That was the end of that —he was out with his knife and started cutting him. And they sent him to Angola [Prison Farm]’.
