6. In 1939, he stabbed a man 12 times, and ended up back in prison aged 51
As a rural Southerner in such a cosmopolitan setting, Leadbelly was something of a curiosity, and was seen by some of the Harlem intelligentsia as the embodiment of authentic African-American experience. 1930s Harlem was a heady mixture of great music, violence, and hedonism. In fact, just the sort of place Leadbelly felt right at home. After availing himself of the opportunities to perform, party, drink, and womanise, Leadbelly was involved in yet another violent incident in March 1939. This time, he was accused of stabbing and slashing a man a dozen times, which he admitted, pleading self-defence.
Fortunately for Leadbelly, this time his victim, Henry Burgess, wasn’t white, and so whilst he was convicted of third-degree assault, the jury urged clemency to the at-least 51-year-old musician. Leadbelly was sentenced to a year on Riker’s Island, but good behaviour saw him released after six months. It was to be the last time he went to jail. At his trial Leadbelly had described himself as a ‘musician, song composer, and dancer’, and he continued to perform whilst the prosecution arranged their case, which suggests that he was determined to add professionalism and reliability to his many-stringed bow.
