Born: January 20, 1888, Mooringsport, Louisiana

Died: December 6, 1949, New York, New York

Based solely on the towering presence of his colorful reputation and the enormous contribution he made to the canon of American popular music, it would be natural enough to imagine William “Huddie” Ledbetter—better known as “Leadbelly” or, more commonly in recent years, “Lead Belly”—as a big man, tall of stature, muscular, imposing. After all, even before he becam...