The Lead Belly Songbook - Lead Belly, no stranger to the blues

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Bring Me Little Water Silvy

Click here to listen to Real Audio format 28.8 modem.

Sweet Honey in the Rock did a very nice blues a cappella rendition of this song, recorded on the Lead Belly and Woody Guthrie tape that was shown on Public TV first in the mid 1980's.

This song is also a favorite of Pete Seeger. Huddie is supposed to have learned it from his Uncle Tyrell, the source also for Goodnight, Irene, whose wife was called Silvy. This song is far from complex, but its simplicity in no way diminishes the beauty of the melody.