The first time i was imprisoned it was for carrying a pistol and i sentenced to 30 days on the Harrison County chain gang but i waited until the guard wasn't looking and simply ran away and found work in nearby Bowie County under the assumed name of Walter Boyd.
That went well for about a year until i killed one of my relatives in a fight over a woman and got sentenced to seven to 35 years but it was during this second spell surrounded by people who could easily fold me in half, that i earned my Lead Belly nickname due to the scars on my belly from when i was wounded in the stomach with buckshot and i began writing music on my guitar.
The Governor let me put on shows for the guards and other prisoners which went down really well. Another inmate stabbed me in the neck after one show but hey, there will always be critics but it was the song i wrote for the Governor himself that impressed him and it was a pretty good song and it worked and he released me, explaining that on my current trajectory my future looked as stony as a biblical execution but i had the talent to turn my life around and earn a decent living as a proper musician.
I was a hit and the press called me the singing convict who was so good that i sung my way out of prison and i traveled around the South with my 12 string guitar and even cut some albums with some traditional songs and original songs including Black Betty, Cotton Fields, Where Did You Sleep Last Night? and Ain’t It A Shame.
Things looked good until i got into a knife fight with group of white dudes and wound up back in the slammer for six to 10 years for attempted murder.
I figured that if something ain't broke, don't fix it, so i wrote another song for the Governor asking for my release and he goddamn did, who would have thought that my music could override the legal system so on my release i picked up my career and played in nightclubs and was part of the New York folk music scene and had my own radio show and went to Califonia to record for Capitol Records and i even achieved success in Europe.
I was in France when i fell ill and got diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's disease and i died a few months later but i did provide hits for Creedence Clearwater Revival, Nirvana, The Animals, Aerosmith, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Meat Loaf, Bryan Ferry and Ram Jam but my advice for anyone, based on my life experiences are if someone comes at you and you feel yourself getting angry, take a deep breath and count out loud to 10. Then throw a punch at 8 as they won't be expecting that.
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