Strange thread. First, Gallows Pole is a traditional that draws on one of the ballads collected in the 19th century by Francis James Childs, "The Maid Freed From the Gallows." Look it up. So Huddie Ledbetter didn't write it but was the first to record it. The second key fact is that hardly any white person apart from hard-core folkies in the 1950s-1960s had ever heard Gallows Pole, and this song and most traditional blues would very likely have died (as its African-American audiences moved on to other formats) without the first "British invasion," which gave the blues back to American bands who had never listened to Pete Seeger or the folkies apart from the later Dylan. Especially Stones, Animals, then later guitarist-led waves that spring mostly from the Yardbirds: Clapton, Page, Beck--guys that knew more about American blues and bluesmen than any other American not a folkie. Gallows Pole was public domain when Lead Belly recorded it.
To all you people spewing hateful words towards Led Zeppelin in the comments: the only Led Zeppelin fans who will see them are also, likely Leadbelly fans so there's no need for all the hate. Furthermore Led Zepp were obviously Leadbelly fans as well.
Try not to clutter up all this goodness with your hate.
I'm not sure, just guessing but if you tried to find the guitar this was recorded with you can't because almost immediately after cutting this track that guitar violently erupted into flames and burned to a crisp.
I love that Jimmy Page came back to New Orleans and paid a very substantial amount of money to Ledbelly and this tied Led Zeppelin to American Blues for eternity!
Leadbelly is amazing but he never claimed any of these songs as his. He learnt them from someone just as Zepplin learnt them from him. That is what folk music is all about.
This is a traditional folk song that's centuries old. It has gone by the names The Maid Freed from the Gallows, Gallows Pole and The Sycamore Tree. Leadbelly recorded a version in 1939 and Zeppelin did a version in 1970. Stop arguing over who should get the royalties.
