Ledbetter and Lomax set out on an arduous journey to record in Arkansas, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Texas – primarily on prison farms overwhelmingly holding Black prisoners. Ledbetter learns some tunes for which he will later become famous, including “The Rock Island Line.” The strain of their grossly unequal relationship wears Ledbetter down, even as Lomax’s hopes to present the performer to northern audiences build. This chapter explores Ledbetter’s musical aspirations, from his early years as a child prodigy to his time in the Dallas area with Blind Lemon Jefferson.

As the summer progressed, a variety of musical productions were on offer. These included a revival of The Merry Widow; musical comedies concerning class difference, including The Street Singer, about a countess who falls in love with a Parisian street painter, and Tilly, about a wealthy man and an impoverished woman who, planning to marry, meet each other’s families; a modernist work called Midsummer Madness that includes a play-within-a-play and starred Marie Tempest in her return to the musical stage; and Victor Herbert’s final musical, a time-travel fantasy called The Dream Girl, which opened posthumously.

A month into their travels together, tensions between Ledbetter and Lomax are reaching a breaking point. In Montgomery, they record at Kilby Prison, where the Scottsboro “boys” are being held; later, Lomax will write and perform a song to aid their defense. Later in Montgomery, an argument pushes Ledbetter to walk away from Lomax, and their future together seems uncertain. Lomax is working to secure a place for himself and his “discovery” at the annual meeting of the prestigious Modern Language Association, to be held in Philadelphia in late December, and is relieved when Ledbetter re-emerges, ready to try again.

The numerous revues that opened in spring 1924 reflected many different approaches to the popular and profitable genre. Five revues debuted over four days in May in New York (including I’ll Say She Is, starring the Marx Brothers; Innocent Eyes, featuring Mistinguett and on-stage nudity; and The Grand Street Follies, produced away from Times Square at the Neighborhood Playhouse). London had its own revues open that showed tremendous aesthetic contrasts, including Elsie Janis at Home starring the popular American entertainer, and two editions of major series: Ziegfeld’s Follies, which included a sequence dedicated to the memory of Victor Herbert, and George White’s Scandals, the last Scandals for which George Gershwin wrote music, premiered on Broadway.

The fragile alliance has held, and the Modern Language Association (MLA) approved Lomax’s proposal that he unveil Ledbetter at the annual meeting. Joined by Alan Lomax, the trio continue to head north in early December, continuing to collect songs along the way in Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina. They spend Christmas in Washington, D.C. and then head to the MLA gathering, where Lomax insists that Ledbetter be presented not in the suit and bowtie he prefers, but in the outfit of a prisoner: dungaree overalls, a work shirt, and a straw hat. “Lead Belly” is thus introduced to his largest audience ever, and a storm of sensational and racist publicity follows.

Two operettas – Emmerich Kálmán’s Gräfin Mariza (Countess Maritza) and Franz Lehár’s Cloclo – opened in Vienna eight days apart. The works reflect different approaches to the genre: lavishness in the first and modesty in the second. In both works, new styles of syncopated dances appear alongside classic operetta waltzes for specific dramaturgical reasons. Gräfin Mariza is set in Hungary and reflects many of the anxieties being felt in Vienna following the Great War. Cloclo is set in France and. in addition to its many up-to-date elements, including a foxtrot with lyrics referring directly to flapper culture, includes references to Lehár’s biggest hit: The Merry Widow.