Expert: Abdalla Mohamed Ali - 4/13/2010

Question
Hi, i would like to know why Leadbelly was called the Easy Rider?

Answer
No much clue, but maybe cuz he did a rendition of Easy Rider, or maybe cuz he was a Hobo and a ladies man...

according to Harry's Blues dic:

1 - The easy rider, also known as see see rider or c c rider (see also rider), is a blues metaphor for the sexual partner. Originally it referred to the guitar hung on the back of the traveling bluesman. The word easy has different meanings for the female and male lover: applied to a woman it is an expression of admiration but applied to a male it usually carries the meaning of reckless and unfaithful;
2 - According to Alex Washburn "In one Alan Lomax' folk song collections it says that the abbreviation "C.C." means "Cavalry Corporal" and that they had no female soldiers at that time (19th century). Now the conclusion from this fact was that the singer or the original songwriter must have been a gay... Well, in my opinion the songwriter even could be a woman singing this song to her soldier lover. Anyway, the author then said that "C.C.Rider" became "See See Rider" and "Easy Rider" because of prudery...". Thanks to Alex Washburn;
3 - Southern Louisiana's John "JohnnyB" Bradford says: "An easy rider is the husband or significant other of a whore - thus the name. He doesn't work or pay for sex. It's his easily. Thanks to John "JohnnyB" Bradford for this contribution to the list