Welcome to lame-dog.com — Lead Belly sings about the coffee in the army
For my virgin clip, I’ve selected a recording by Huddie Leadbetter. “Lead Belly”, as he is better known, was discovered by famed musicologists John and Alan Lomax in 1933, while he was serving a sentence for attempted murder in the Louisiana State Penitentiary. Following his release, he enjoyed a successful career in New York in the 1940’s. But my focus here is less on the singer than the song.
It’s known by various titles: “Army Life,” “Gee Mom I Wanna Go Home,” or, as I always called it, “The Coffee in the Army.” I associate it with my late father who would sing it in the car during summer drives to the beach. Among the verses he knew, which probably date from his days as a World War II army private, are two variations I have not seen recorded elsewhere: (more…)