Is it really possible that Lead Belly, born Huddie Ledbetter in 1888, has never before been the subject of a comprehensive boxed collection? He was, after all, one of the most important figures in 20th century folk music, a major influence on countless artists within multiple genres, many not yet born when he died at age 61. This five-disc set, housed in a sturdy 12” x 12” box, including a generously annotated and illustrated 140-page book, remedies that situation. It features all of Lead Belly’s most durable studio recordings, (“Goodnight Irene,” “Cotton Fields,” “Rock Island Line,” “The Midnight Special”), as well as radio sessions and 16 previously unreleased tracks, offering an in-depth portrait of a most remarkable artist who seemingly knew no bounds. Whether crafting a tune about his own, well-publicized prison experience, the cowboy life, newsworthy figures of his time (“Hitler Song”), the scourge of racism or the miseries of love and life that form the basis of the blues, Lead Belly, often accompanied by a 12-string guitar that he commanded formidably, was a tirelessly insightful chronicler. Like the Smithsonian Woody Guthrie box that preceded it, this is a long-overdue, quintessential look at a charismatic, larger-than-life, towering American hero.