Lead Belly was serving time for murder when the folklorist John Lomax recorded him in a Louisiana prison. His singing was so powerful that the governor pardoned him. He had already sung his way out of a Texas prison once before. No other musician in American history has a biography that reads like his.

This episode follows Lead Belly from the cotton fields of Louisiana through two prison sentences, his discovery by the Lomaxes, and his influence on folk, blues, and rock music that was not fully recognized until decades after his death.

• He was pardoned from two separate prison sentences, reportedly after appealing through song
• He was discovered in Angola Prison by folklorists John and Alan Lomax in 1933
• His songs Goodnight Irene, Midnight Special, and Rock Island Line became standards
• He died in poverty in 1949, months before Goodnight Irene became a massive hit for The Weavers