Ledbetter Heights

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Ledbetter Heights
Studio album by Kenny Wayne Shepherd
Released	October 1995
Recorded	1994-1995
Genre	Blues/Rock
Length	60:55
Label	Giant Records
Producer	Kenny Wayne Shepherd, David Z.
Professional reviews
All Music Guide link
Kenny Wayne Shepherd chronology
Ledbetter Heights (1995) Trouble Is... (1997)

Ledbetter Heights is the debut album by the blues solo artist Kenny Wayne Shepherd. He released it in October 1995 when he was 18 years old. Its name refers to a neighborhood in Shepherd's home town of Shreveport, Louisiana. Ledbetter Heights was certified Gold by the RIAA in 1996, and certified Platinum by the RIAA in 2004.

[edit] Title of album

The Ledbetter Heights neighborhood, traditionally known as "The Bottoms", is one of the earliest parts of Shreveport to be settled outside the original downtown district, dating back to the 19th century. For almost all of its history, it has been predominantly African-American. In the early 20th century, there was a red-light district with legal prostitution within this neighborhood, and musician Huddie "Leadbelly" Ledbetter, after whom the neighborhood is now named, lived and performed there. The renaming of the neighborhood to Ledbetter Heights in the 1990s was part of an effort to rehabilitate the area's image, as it had become known as an economically depressed and crime-ridden area.

Shepherd named his debut album after this neighborhood as an homage to the blues tradition of his home town.

[edit] Track listing

1. "Born With a Broken Heart" (Shepherd/Tate) – 5:56
2. "Déjà Voodoo" (Selby/Shepherd/Sillers) – 6:09
3. "Aberdeen" (White) – 4:15
4. "Shame, Shame, Shame" (Nadeau/Shepherd) – 6:05
5. "One Foot on the Path" (Selby/Shepherd) – 3:49
6. "Everybody Gets the Blues" (Michael) – 5:58
7. "While We Cry" (live) (Shepherd) – 6:17
8. "I'm Leaving You (Commit a Crime)" (Howlin' Wolf) – 4:16
9. "(Let Me up) I've Had Enough" (Nadeau/Selby/Shepherd) – 2:43
10. "Riverside" (Bowe) – 3:46
11. "What's Goin' Down" (Nadeau/Shepherd) – 5:30
12. "Ledbetter Heights " (Shepherd) – 6:11

[edit] Charts

Album - Billboard (North America)

Year	Chart	Position
1995	Heatseekers	1
1995	Top Blues Albums	1
1995	Top Blues Albums	2
1996	The Billboard 200	108

Singles - Billboard (North America)

Year	Single	Chart	Position
1995	"Déjà Voodoo"	Mainstream Rock Tracks	9
1996	"Aberdeen"	Mainstream Rock Tracks	23
1996	"Born With a Broken Heart"	Mainstream Rock Tracks	15