11. In jail, he got stabbed in the neck during a knife-fight and almost killed his assailant
Jailhouse Rock may seem dumb and unrealistic, but Leadbelly’s time at Imperial Farm has some peculiar similarities to Elvis’s musical. For he whiled away the long, boring hours cooped up by playing his trusty 12-string guitar and singing to entertain the guards and inmates, who doubtless enjoyed themselves by dancing along to the tunes. Unlike Elvis, however, he also got into a very nasty knife-fight, which nearly cost him his life. Locked up with other violent and foul-tempered men in a pressure cooker of testosterone, it’s unsurprising to learn that Leadbelly was once again in the wars.
The story goes that Leadbelly was jumped by a fellow prisoner with a knife, whom he had doubtless upset in some way. He received a nasty stab to the neck, which would have floored most men. Not Leadbelly. Staying on his feet, Leadbelly wrestled the knife off his attacker and then proceeded to stab him multiple times with his own weapon! The foolish inmate was only saved from being stabbed to death by the timely intervention of guards, who managed to overpower the heavily-bleeding Leadbelly by force of numbers. Leadbelly? More like Leadneck.