In memoriam: folk singer Odetta Gordon Dec 31, 1930-Dec 2, 2008
The one great thing about writing more is that I’m reading more. So true is the statement that knowledge is power. I love folk music but have had limited exposure. Today, I said hello Odetta’s musical life and good bye to Odetta’s physical life.
This is the first video I found on youtube and I’m already hooked. Her music is soulful and resounding. Not many people have the gift of singing in a way that allows you to get in touch with feeling behind the lyrics.
Odetta sings “Glory Halleluja” at “Satyagraha: Gandhi’s ‘Truth Force’ in the Age of Climate Change” presented by the Garrison Institute on April 13, 2008 at the Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine in New York City.
Odetta sings “House Of The Rising Sun” live in concert, 2005
NY Times article entitled “Odetta, Voice of Civil Rights Movement” reporting on her death along with synopsis of Odetta’s life’s work…
Odetta, the singer whose deep voice wove together the strongest songs of American folk music and the civil rights movement, died on Tuesday at Lenox Hill Hospital in Manhattan. She was 77.
The cause was heart disease, said her manager, Doug Yeager. He added that she had been hoping to sing at Barack Obama’s inauguration…
…Odetta sang at the march on Washington, a pivotal event in the civil rights movement, in August 1963. Her song that day was “O Freedom,” dating to slavery days: “O freedom, O freedom, O freedom over me, And before I’d be a slave, I’d be buried in my grave, And go home to my Lord and be free.”
…“a majestic figure in American music, a direct gateway to bygone generations that feel so foreign today.”
Maya Angelou quote from Concerted Efforts website containing bio on Odetta…
“If only one could be sure that every 50 years a voice and a soul like Odetta’s would come along, the centuries would pass so quickly and painlessly we would hardly recognize time”
– Maya Angelou, Poet Laureate
excerpt from Answers.com bio on Odetta…
When she was 19 years old, Odetta landed a role in the Los Angeles production of Finian’s Rainbow, which was staged in the summer of 1949 at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles…The following summer, Odetta was again performing in summer stock in California. This time it was a production of Guys and Dolls, staged in San Francisco. Hanging out in North Beach during her days off, Odetta had her first experience with the growing local folk music scene….
…Pete Seeger and Harry Belafonte had both taken an interest in her career by this time, and her debut album, The Tin Angel, was released in 1954. From this time forward, Odetta worked to expand her repertoire and make full use of what she has always termed her “instrument.” When she began singing, she was considered a coloratura soprano. As she matured, she became more of a mezzo-soprano. Her experience singing folk music led her to discover a vocal range that runs from coloratura to baritone.
Odetta’s most productive decade as a recording artist came in the 1960s, when she released 16 albums, including Odetta at Carnegie Hall, Christmas Spirituals, Odetta and the Blues, It’s a Mighty World, and Odetta Sings Dylan. In 1999 she released her first studio album in 14 years, Blues Everywhere I Go. Vanguard Records has released two excellent Odetta compilations: The Essential Odetta (1989) and Best of the Vanguard Years (1999). On September 29, 1999, President Bill Clinton presented Odetta with the National Endowment for the Arts’ Medal of the Arts, a fitting tribute to one of the great treasures of American music.
The next few years found Odetta releasing some new full-length albums, including Livin’ with the Blues and a collection of Leadbelly tunes, Looking for a Home. She toured North America, Latvia, and Scotland during this time and was mentioned in Martin Scorsese’s 2005 documentary, No Direction Home. That same year Odetta released Gonna Let It Shine, which went on to receive a 2007 Grammy nomination for Best Traditional Folk Album.
RIP Odetta Gordon
