Midnight Special (song)
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"Midnight Special" is a traditional folk song thought to have originated among prisoners in the American South. The song refers to the passenger train Midnight Special and its "ever-loving light."
Lead Belly, photographed by Alan Lomax in the 1940s.
Creedence Clearwater Revival, whose version of the song appeared on their album Willy and the Poor Boys (1969).
Lead Belly
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Huddie William Ledbetter, better known by the stage name Lead Belly, was an American folk and blues singer notable for his strong vocals, virtuosity on the twelve-string guitar, and the folk standards he introduced, including his renditions of "In the Pines", "Goodnight, Irene", "Midnight Special", "Cotton Fields", and "Boll Weevil".
Lead Belly with a melodeon c. 1942
Lead Belly's draft registration card in 1942 (SERIAL NUMBER U2214 and address listed as 604 E 9TH ST., N.Y. N. Y.)
Lead Belly at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. between 1938 and 1948
Lead Belly and Martha Promise Ledbetter, Wilton, Connecticut, February 1935