Odetta
Encyclopedia
Odetta Holmes, known as Odetta, was an American singer, actress, guitarist, songwriter, and a human rights activist, often referred to as "The Voice of the Civil Rights Movement". Her musical repertoire consisted largely of American folk music
, blues
, jazz
, and spirituals
. An important figure in the American folk music revival
of the 1950s and 1960s, she was influential to many of the key figures of the folk-revival of that time, including Bob Dylan
, Joan Baez
, Mavis Staples
, and Janis Joplin
.
, grew up in Los Angeles, California
, attended Belmont High School
, and studied music at Los Angeles City College
while employed as a domestic worker
. She had opera
tic training from the age of 13. Her mother hoped she would follow Marian Anderson
, but Odetta doubted a large black girl would ever perform at the Metropolitan Opera
. Her first professional experience was in musical theater in 1944, as an ensemble member for four years with the Hollywood Turnabout Puppet Theatre
, working alongside Elsa Lanchester
; she later joined the national touring company of the musical Finian's Rainbow
in 1949.
While on tour with Finian's Rainbow, Odetta "fell in with an enthusiastic group of young balladeers in San Francisco
", and after 1950 concentrated on folksinging.
She made her name by playing around the United States
: at the Blue Angel nightclub (New York City
), the hungry i
(San Francisco), and Tin Angel (San Francisco), where she and Larry Mohr recorded Odetta and Larry
in 1954, for Fantasy Records
.
A solo career followed, with Odetta Sings Ballads and Blues
(1956) and At the Gate of Horn
(1957). Odetta Sings Folk Songs
was one of 1963's best-selling folk albums.
In 1959 she appeared on Tonight With Belafonte a nationally televised special. Odetta sang Water Boy
and a duet with Belafonte of There's a Hole in My Bucket
.
In 1961, Martin Luther King, Jr.
anointed her "The Queen of American folk music". Also in 1961 the duo Harry Belafonte and Odetta made #32 in the UK Singles Chart
with the song There's a Hole in My Bucket
. Many Americans remember her performance at the 1963 civil rights movement's march to Washington where she sang "O Freedom." She considered her involvement in the Civil Rights movement as being "one of the privates in a very big army."
Broadening her musical scope, Odetta used band
arrangement
s on several albums rather than playing alone, and released music of a more "jazz" style music on albums like Odetta and the Blues
(1962) and Odetta
(1967). She gave a remarkable performance in 1968 at the Woody Guthrie
memorial concert.
Odetta also acted in several films during this period, including Cinerama Holiday (1955
), the film of William Faulkner
's Sanctuary
(1961
) and The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman
(1974
).
Her marriages to Dan Gordon and Gary Shead ended in divorce. Singer-guitarist Louisiana Red
was a former companion.
program, performing "Give Me Your Hand" in the studio, in addition to speaking about her spirituality, the music tradition from which she drew, and her involvement in civil rights struggles.
In 1976, Odetta performed in the U.S. Bicentennial opera "Be Glad Then America" by John LaMontaigne, as the Muse for America; with Donald Gramm
, Richard Lewis and the Penn State University Choir and the Pittsburgh Symphony. The production was directed by Sarah Caldwell who was the director of the Opera Company of Boston at the time.
Odetta released two albums in the 20-year period from 1977-1997: Movin' It On
, in 1987 and a new version of Christmas Spirituals
, produced by Rachel Faro, in 1988.
Beginning in 1998, she began recording and touring. The new CD To Ella
(recorded live and dedicated to her friend Ella Fitzgerald
upon hearing of her passing before walking on stage}, was released in 1998 on Silverwolf Records, followed by three releases on M.C. Records in partnership with pianist/arranger/producer Seth Farber and record producer Mark Carpentieri. These included Blues Everywhere I Go
, a 2000 Grammy Nominated blues/jazz band tribute album to the great lady blues singers of the 1920s and 1930s; Looking for a Home, a 2002 W.C. Handy Award nominated band tribute to Lead Belly; and the 2007 Grammy Nominated Gonna Let It Shine
, a live album of gospel and spiritual songs supported by Seth Farber and The Holmes Brothers. These recordings and active touring led to guest appearance on fourteen new albums by other artists between 1999 and 2006 and the re-release of forty-five old Odetta albums and compilation appearances.
On September 29, 1999, President Bill Clinton
presented Odetta with the National Endowment for the Arts
' National Medal of Arts
. In 2004, Odetta was honored at the Kennedy Center with the "Visionary Award" along with a tribute performance by Tracy Chapman
. In 2005, the Library of Congress
honored her with its "Living Legend Award".
The 2005
documentary film No Direction Home
, directed by Martin Scorsese
, highlights her musical influence on Bob Dylan
, the subject of the documentary. The film contains an archive clip of Odetta performing "Waterboy" on TV in 1959, and we also hear Odetta's songs "Mule Skinner Blues
" and "No More Auction Block for Me".
In 2006, Odetta opened shows for jazz vocalist Madeleine Peyroux
, and in 2006 she toured the US
, Canada
, and Europe accompanied by her pianist, which included being presented by the US Embassy in Latvia
as the keynote speaker at a Human Rights conference, and also in a concert in Riga
's historic 1,000 year old Maza Guild Hall. In December, 2006, the Winnipeg Folk Festival
honored Odetta with their "Lifetime Achievement Award." In February, 2007, The International Folk Alliance awarded Odetta as "Traditional Folk Artist of the Year."
On March 24, 2007 a tribute concert to Odetta was presented at the Rachel Schlesinger Theatre by the World Folk Music Association with live performance and video tributes by Pete Seeger
, Madeleine Peyroux
, Harry Belafonte
, Janis Ian
, Sweet Honey in the Rock
, Josh White
, Jr., (Josh White#Posthumous honors) Peter, Paul and Mary
, Oscar Brand
, Tom Rush
, Jesse Winchester
, Eric Andersen
, Wavy Gravy
, David Amram
, Roger McGuinn
, Robert Sims
, Carolyn Hester
, Donal Leace, Marie Knight, Side by Side
, and Laura McGhee (from Scotland).
In 2007, her album Gonna Let It Shine was nominated for a Grammy, and she completed a major Fall Concert Tour in the "Songs of Spirit" show, which included artists from all over the world. She toured around North America
in late 2006 and early 2007 to support this CD.
, Santa Monica
, and Mill Valley, in addition to being the sole guest for the evening on PBS-TV's The Tavis Smiley Show
.
Odetta was honored on May 8, 2008 at a historic tribute night, hosted by Wavy Gravy
, held at Banjo Jim's in the East Village
.
In summer 2008, at the age of 77, she launched a North American tour, where she sang from a wheelchair
. Her set in recent years included "This Little Light of Mine
(I'm Gonna Let It Shine)", Lead Belly's "The Bourgeois Blues
", (Something Inside) So Strong
", "Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child
" and "House of the Rising Sun".
She made an appearance on June 30, 2008 at The Bitter End
on Bleecker Street
, New York City for a Liam Clancy
tribute concert.
Her last big concert, before thousands of people, was in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park
on October 4, 2008, for the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival. She last performed at Hugh's Room
in Toronto
on October 25.
In November 2008, Odetta's health began to decline and she began receiving treatment at Lenox Hill Hospital
in New York. She had hoped to perform at Barack Obama
's inauguration on January 20, 2009
On December 2, 2008, Odetta died from heart disease in New York City.
At her memorial service in February 2009 at Riverside Church in New York City, participants included Maya Angelou
, Pete Seeger
, Harry Belafonte
, Geoffrey Holder
, Steve Earle
, Sweet Honey in the Rock
, Peter Yarrow
, Tom Chapin
, Josh White, Jr. (son of Josh White
), Emory Joseph, Rattlesnake Annie
, the Brooklyn Technical High School
Chamber Chorus, and videotaped tributes from Tavis Smiley
and Joan Baez
.
, who "cited her as a key influence" on his musical career; Bob Dylan
, who said, "The first thing that turned me on to folk singing was Odetta. I heard a record of hers [Odetta Sings Ballads and Blues
] in a record store, back when you could listen to records right there in the store. Right then and there, I went out and traded my electric guitar and amplifier for an acoustical guitar, a flat-top Gibson
. ... [That album was] just something vital and personal. I learned all the songs on that record."; Joan Baez
who said "Odetta was a goddess. Her passion moved me. I learned everything she sang."; Janis Joplin
, who "spent much of her adolescence listening to Odetta, who was also the first person Janis imitated when she started singing"; poet Maya Angelou
who once said "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."; John Waters
, whose original screenplay
for Hairspray mentions her as an influence on beatnik
s. and Carly Simon
, who cited Odetta as a major influence, and talked about "going weak in the knees" when she had the opportunity to meet her in Greenwich Village
American folk music
American folk music is a musical term that encompasses numerous genres, many of which are known as traditional music or roots music. Roots music is a broad category of music including bluegrass, country music, gospel, old time music, jug bands, Appalachian folk, blues, Cajun and Native American...
, blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
, jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
, and spirituals
Spiritual (music)
Spirituals are religious songs which were created by enslaved African people in America.-Terminology and origin:...
. An important figure in the American folk music revival
American folk music revival
The American folk music revival was a phenomenon in the United States that began during the 1940s and peaked in popularity in the mid-1960s. Its roots went earlier, and performers like Josh White, Burl Ives, Woody Guthrie, Lead Belly, Richard Dyer-Bennett, Oscar Brand, Jean Ritchie, John Jacob...
of the 1950s and 1960s, she was influential to many of the key figures of the folk-revival of that time, including Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
, Joan Baez
Joan Baez
Joan Chandos Baez is an American folk singer, songwriter, musician and a prominent activist in the fields of human rights, peace and environmental justice....
, Mavis Staples
Mavis Staples
Mavis Staples is an American rhythm and blues and gospel singer, actress and civil rights activist who recorded with The Staple Singers, her family's band.-Biography:...
, and Janis Joplin
Janis Joplin
Janis Lyn Joplin was an American singer, songwriter, painter, dancer and music arranger. She rose to prominence in the late 1960s as the lead singer of Big Brother and the Holding Company and later as a solo artist with her backing groups, The Kozmic Blues Band and The Full Tilt Boogie Band...
.
Early life and career
Odetta was born in Birmingham, AlabamaBirmingham, Alabama
Birmingham is the largest city in Alabama. The city is the county seat of Jefferson County. According to the 2010 United States Census, Birmingham had a population of 212,237. The Birmingham-Hoover Metropolitan Area, in estimate by the U.S...
, grew up in Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
, attended Belmont High School
Belmont High School (Los Angeles, California)
Belmont Senior High School is a public high school located at 1575 West 2nd Street in the Westlake community of Los Angeles, California. The school, which serves grades 9 through 12, is part of the Los Angeles Unified School District.-History:...
, and studied music at Los Angeles City College
Los Angeles City College
Los Angeles City College, known as LACC, is a public community college in the East Hollywood section of Los Angeles, California. A part of the Los Angeles Community College District, it is located on Vermont Avenue south of Santa Monica Boulevard...
while employed as a domestic worker
Domestic worker
A domestic worker is a man, woman or child who works within the employer's household. Domestic workers perform a variety of household services for an individual or a family, from providing care for children and elderly dependents to cleaning and household maintenance, known as housekeeping...
. She had opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
tic training from the age of 13. Her mother hoped she would follow Marian Anderson
Marian Anderson
Marian Anderson was an African-American contralto and one of the most celebrated singers of the twentieth century...
, but Odetta doubted a large black girl would ever perform at the Metropolitan Opera
Metropolitan Opera
The Metropolitan Opera is an opera company, located in New York City. Originally founded in 1880, the company gave its first performance on October 22, 1883. The company is operated by the non-profit Metropolitan Opera Association, with Peter Gelb as general manager...
. Her first professional experience was in musical theater in 1944, as an ensemble member for four years with the Hollywood Turnabout Puppet Theatre
Turnabout Theatre
The Turnabout Theatre existed in Hollywood, CA., from 1941 through 1956. Regularly selling out all seats--attracting both the general public as well as many of Hollywood's top stars--it offered entertainment that combined both puppets for the first half of a show and a stage revue for the second...
, working alongside Elsa Lanchester
Elsa Lanchester
Elsa Sullivan Lanchester was an English-American character actress with a long career in theatre, film and television....
; she later joined the national touring company of the musical Finian's Rainbow
Finian's Rainbow
Finian's Rainbow is a musical with a book by E.Y. Harburg and Fred Saidy, lyrics by Harburg, and music by Burton Lane. The 1947 Broadway production ran for 725 performances. Several revivals and a 1968 film version followed. A Broadway revival ran from October 8, 2009 until January 17, 2010...
in 1949.
While on tour with Finian's Rainbow, Odetta "fell in with an enthusiastic group of young balladeers in San Francisco
San Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
", and after 1950 concentrated on folksinging.
She made her name by playing around the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
: at the Blue Angel nightclub (New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
), the hungry i
Hungry i
The hungry i was originally a nightclub in North Beach, San Francisco. It was launched by Eric "Big Daddy" Nord, who sold it to Enrico Banducci in 1950.-The name:How the club's name came about is something of a mystery...
(San Francisco), and Tin Angel (San Francisco), where she and Larry Mohr recorded Odetta and Larry
The Tin Angel
The Tin Angel is now the common name for Odetta & Larry's only album, a collection of all their recordings, originally released in 1954 as "Odetta And Larry".- Background :...
in 1954, for Fantasy Records
Fantasy Records
Fantasy Records is a United States-based record label that was founded by Max and Sol Weiss in 1949 in San Francisco, California. They had previously operated a record-pressing plant called Circle Record Company before forming the Fantasy label...
.
A solo career followed, with Odetta Sings Ballads and Blues
Odetta Sings Ballads and Blues
Odetta Sings Ballads and Blues is the debut solo album by American folk singer Odetta, first released in 1956.Like much of Odetta's early work, Ballads and Blues combines traditional songs with blues covers...
(1956) and At the Gate of Horn
At the Gate of Horn
At the Gate of Horn is the second solo album by American folk singer Odetta, first released in 1957. It was named for the Gate of Horn club in Chicago.Odetta is joined by bassist Bill Lee...
(1957). Odetta Sings Folk Songs
Odetta Sings Folk Songs
Odetta Sings Folk Songs is an album by American folk singer Odetta, first released in 1963. It was her second release on her new label, RCA Victor and is out of print...
was one of 1963's best-selling folk albums.
In 1959 she appeared on Tonight With Belafonte a nationally televised special. Odetta sang Water Boy
Waterboy (song)
"Waterboy" is an American traditional folk song.Originally a black prison work song composed by Jacques Wolfe, a Romanian immigrant, Waterboy became known as a jazz arrangement by Avery Robinson popularized "Water Boy" in the 1920s...
and a duet with Belafonte of There's a Hole in My Bucket
There's a Hole in My Bucket
"There's a Hole in My Bucket" is a children's song, along the same lines as "Found a Peanut". The song is based on a dialogue about a leaky bucket between two characters, called Henry and Liza. The song incorporates an infinite-loop motif: Henry has got a leaky bucket, and Liza tells him to repair...
.
In 1961, Martin Luther King, Jr.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Martin Luther King, Jr. was an American clergyman, activist, and prominent leader in the African-American Civil Rights Movement. He is best known for being an iconic figure in the advancement of civil rights in the United States and around the world, using nonviolent methods following the...
anointed her "The Queen of American folk music". Also in 1961 the duo Harry Belafonte and Odetta made #32 in the UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
with the song There's a Hole in My Bucket
There's a Hole in My Bucket
"There's a Hole in My Bucket" is a children's song, along the same lines as "Found a Peanut". The song is based on a dialogue about a leaky bucket between two characters, called Henry and Liza. The song incorporates an infinite-loop motif: Henry has got a leaky bucket, and Liza tells him to repair...
. Many Americans remember her performance at the 1963 civil rights movement's march to Washington where she sang "O Freedom." She considered her involvement in the Civil Rights movement as being "one of the privates in a very big army."
Broadening her musical scope, Odetta used band
Band (music)
In music, a musical ensemble or band is a group of musicians that works together to perform music. The following articles concern types of musical bands:* All-female band* Big band* Boy band* Christian band* Church band* Concert band* Cover band...
arrangement
Arrangement
The American Federation of Musicians defines arranging as "the art of preparing and adapting an already written composition for presentation in other than its original form. An arrangement may include reharmonization, paraphrasing, and/or development of a composition, so that it fully represents...
s on several albums rather than playing alone, and released music of a more "jazz" style music on albums like Odetta and the Blues
Odetta and the Blues
Odetta and The Blues is an album by folk singer Odetta, released in 1962.Recorded as the 1950s/'60s American folk music revival was getting underway, the album is notable for Odetta's use of a jazz band on the record....
(1962) and Odetta
Odetta (Folkways album)
Odetta is the 1967 album by Odetta. It is viewed as one of her most "commercial" , but it has not subsequently been re-released on CD as many of her other albums were....
(1967). She gave a remarkable performance in 1968 at the Woody Guthrie
Woody Guthrie
Woodrow Wilson "Woody" Guthrie is best known as an American singer-songwriter and folk musician, whose musical legacy includes hundreds of political, traditional and children's songs, ballads and improvised works. He frequently performed with the slogan This Machine Kills Fascists displayed on his...
memorial concert.
Odetta also acted in several films during this period, including Cinerama Holiday (1955
1955 in film
The year 1955 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* November 3 - The musical Guys and Dolls, starring Marlon Brando and Frank Sinatra, debuts.* June 27 - The last ever Republic serial, King of the Carnival, is released....
), the film of William Faulkner
William Faulkner
William Cuthbert Faulkner was an American writer from Oxford, Mississippi. Faulkner worked in a variety of media; he wrote novels, short stories, a play, poetry, essays and screenplays during his career...
's Sanctuary
Sanctuary (novel)
Sanctuary is a novel by the American author William Faulkner. It is considered one of his more controversial, given its theme of rape. First published in 1931, it was Faulkner's commercial and critical breakthrough, establishing his literary reputation...
(1961
1961 in film
The year 1961 in film involved some significant events, with West Side Story winning 10 Academy Awards.-Top grossing films : After theatrical re-issue- Awards :Academy Awards:* Atlantis, the Lost ContinentB...
) and The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman
The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman
The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman is a 1971 novel by Ernest J. Gaines. The story depicts the struggles of African Americans as seen through the eyes of the narrator, a woman named Jane Pittman...
(1974
1974 in film
The year 1974 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*February 7 - Blazing Saddles is released in the USA.*August 7 - Peter Wolf, lead singer of The J...
).
Her marriages to Dan Gordon and Gary Shead ended in divorce. Singer-guitarist Louisiana Red
Louisiana Red
Louisiana Red is an African American blues guitarist, harmonica player, and singer, who has recorded more than 50 albums...
was a former companion.
Later career
In May 1975 she appeared on public television's Say BrotherBasic Black
Basic Black is a weekly television series airing on WGBH in Boston. Originally known as Say Brother, the show was created in 1968 and aims to reflect the concerns and culture of African Americans through short-form documentaries, performances, and one-on-one conversations.Say Brother and Basic...
program, performing "Give Me Your Hand" in the studio, in addition to speaking about her spirituality, the music tradition from which she drew, and her involvement in civil rights struggles.
In 1976, Odetta performed in the U.S. Bicentennial opera "Be Glad Then America" by John LaMontaigne, as the Muse for America; with Donald Gramm
Donald Gramm
Donald Gramm was an American bass-baritone whose career was divided between opera and concert performances. His appearances were primarily limited to the United States, which at the time was unusual for an American singer...
, Richard Lewis and the Penn State University Choir and the Pittsburgh Symphony. The production was directed by Sarah Caldwell who was the director of the Opera Company of Boston at the time.
Odetta released two albums in the 20-year period from 1977-1997: Movin' It On
Movin' It On
Movin' It On is a live album by American folk singer Odetta, released in 1987. It is a recording of a concert at The Wisconsin Union Theatre, Madison, Wisconsin and is her first release in 12 years...
, in 1987 and a new version of Christmas Spirituals
Christmas Spirituals
Christmas Spirituals is the name of two albums recorded by American folk singer Odetta. The first was released in 1960 on Vanguard Records and is available to this day...
, produced by Rachel Faro, in 1988.
Beginning in 1998, she began recording and touring. The new CD To Ella
To Ella
To Ella is an album by American folk singer Odetta, released 1998 on Silverwolf Records. Recorded live at the Kerrville Folk Festival, it features traditional songs including "Amazing Grace" and a 27-minute "Ancestors Suite" containing several songs....
(recorded live and dedicated to her friend Ella Fitzgerald
Ella Fitzgerald
Ella Jane Fitzgerald , also known as the "First Lady of Song" and "Lady Ella," was an American jazz and song vocalist...
upon hearing of her passing before walking on stage}, was released in 1998 on Silverwolf Records, followed by three releases on M.C. Records in partnership with pianist/arranger/producer Seth Farber and record producer Mark Carpentieri. These included Blues Everywhere I Go
Blues Everywhere I Go
Blues Everywhere I Go is an album by American folk singer Odetta, released in 1999. It was her first new release in more than a decade.Allmusic said in their review: "... time doesn't appear to have affected her interpretive skills or the range and quality of her voice, which remains one of...
, a 2000 Grammy Nominated blues/jazz band tribute album to the great lady blues singers of the 1920s and 1930s; Looking for a Home, a 2002 W.C. Handy Award nominated band tribute to Lead Belly; and the 2007 Grammy Nominated Gonna Let It Shine
Gonna Let It Shine
Gonna Let It Shine: A Concert for the Holidays , is a live album by American folk singer Odetta, released in 2005. It was recorded at Fordham University in New York City for a public radio broadcast....
, a live album of gospel and spiritual songs supported by Seth Farber and The Holmes Brothers. These recordings and active touring led to guest appearance on fourteen new albums by other artists between 1999 and 2006 and the re-release of forty-five old Odetta albums and compilation appearances.
On September 29, 1999, President Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
presented Odetta with the National Endowment for the Arts
National Endowment for the Arts
The National Endowment for the Arts is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created by an act of the U.S. Congress in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal government. Its current...
' National Medal of Arts
National Medal of Arts
The National Medal of Arts is an award and title created by the United States Congress in 1984, for the purpose of honoring artists and patrons of the arts. It is the highest honor conferred to an individual artist on behalf of the people. Honorees are selected by the National Endowment for the...
. In 2004, Odetta was honored at the Kennedy Center with the "Visionary Award" along with a tribute performance by Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman is an American singer-songwriter, best known for her singles "Fast Car", "Talkin' 'bout a Revolution", "Baby Can I Hold You", "Give Me One Reason" and "Telling Stories". She is a multi-platinum and four-time Grammy Award-winning artist.-Biography:Tracy Chapman was born in Cleveland,...
. In 2005, the Library of Congress
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress is the research library of the United States Congress, de facto national library of the United States, and the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States. Located in three buildings in Washington, D.C., it is the largest library in the world by shelf space and...
honored her with its "Living Legend Award".
The 2005
2005 in film
- Highest-grossing films :Please note that following the tradition of the English-language film industry, these are the top-grossing films that were first released in the United States in 2005...
documentary film No Direction Home
No Direction Home
No Direction Home is a documentary film by Martin Scorsese that traces the life of Bob Dylan, and his impact on 20th century American popular music and culture. The film does not cover Dylan's entire career; it concentrates on the period between Dylan's arrival in New York in January 1961 and his...
, directed by Martin Scorsese
Martin Scorsese
Martin Charles Scorsese is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, actor, and film historian. In 1990 he founded The Film Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to film preservation, and in 2007 he founded the World Cinema Foundation...
, highlights her musical influence on Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
, the subject of the documentary. The film contains an archive clip of Odetta performing "Waterboy" on TV in 1959, and we also hear Odetta's songs "Mule Skinner Blues
Mule Skinner Blues
"Mule Skinner Blues" is a classic country song written by Jimmie Rodgers; "George Vaughn" is sometimes listed as co-author; the name is a pseudonym for Vaughn Horton, who wrote Bill Monroe's "New Mule Skinner Blues" the second version recorded by Monroe.The song was first recorded by Rodgers in...
" and "No More Auction Block for Me".
In 2006, Odetta opened shows for jazz vocalist Madeleine Peyroux
Madeleine Peyroux
Madeleine Peyroux is an American jazz singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Peyroux is noted for her vocal style, which has been compared to that of Billie Holiday....
, and in 2006 she toured the US
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, and Europe accompanied by her pianist, which included being presented by the US Embassy in Latvia
Latvia
Latvia , officially the Republic of Latvia , is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , to the southeast by Belarus and shares maritime borders to the west with Sweden...
as the keynote speaker at a Human Rights conference, and also in a concert in Riga
Riga
Riga is the capital and largest city of Latvia. With 702,891 inhabitants Riga is the largest city of the Baltic states, one of the largest cities in Northern Europe and home to more than one third of Latvia's population. The city is an important seaport and a major industrial, commercial,...
's historic 1,000 year old Maza Guild Hall. In December, 2006, the Winnipeg Folk Festival
Winnipeg Folk Festival
The Winnipeg Folk Festival is a summer folk music festival held in Birds Hill Provincial Park, near Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. It features a variety of folk artists from all around the world, as well as a number of local folk performers....
honored Odetta with their "Lifetime Achievement Award." In February, 2007, The International Folk Alliance awarded Odetta as "Traditional Folk Artist of the Year."
On March 24, 2007 a tribute concert to Odetta was presented at the Rachel Schlesinger Theatre by the World Folk Music Association with live performance and video tributes by Pete Seeger
Pete Seeger
Peter "Pete" Seeger is an American folk singer and was an iconic figure in the mid-twentieth century American folk music revival. A fixture on nationwide radio in the 1940s, he also had a string of hit records during the early 1950s as a member of The Weavers, most notably their recording of Lead...
, Madeleine Peyroux
Madeleine Peyroux
Madeleine Peyroux is an American jazz singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Peyroux is noted for her vocal style, which has been compared to that of Billie Holiday....
, Harry Belafonte
Harry Belafonte
Harold George "Harry" Belafonte, Jr. is an American singer, songwriter, actor and social activist. He was dubbed the "King of Calypso" for popularizing the Caribbean musical style with an international audience in the 1950s...
, Janis Ian
Janis Ian
Janis Ian is an American songwriter, singer, musician, columnist, and science fiction author. Ian first entered the folk music scene while still a teenager in the mid-sixties; most active musically in that decade and the 1970s, she has continued recording into the 21st century...
, Sweet Honey in the Rock
Sweet Honey in the Rock
Sweet Honey in the Rock is an all-woman, African-American a cappella ensemble. They are an American Grammy Award-winning troupe who express their history as women of color through song, while entertaining their audience. They have together worked from four women to the difficult five-part harmony...
, Josh White
Josh White
Joshua Daniel White , better known as Josh White, was an American singer, guitarist, songwriter, actor, and civil rights activist. He also recorded under the names "Pinewood Tom" and "Tippy Barton" in the 1930s....
, Jr., (Josh White#Posthumous honors) Peter, Paul and Mary
Peter, Paul and Mary
Peter, Paul and Mary were an American folk-singing trio whose nearly 50-year career began with their rise to become a paradigm for 1960s folk music. The trio was composed of Peter Yarrow, Paul Stookey and Mary Travers...
, Oscar Brand
Oscar Brand
Oscar Brand is a folk singer, songwriter, and author. In his career, spanning over 60 years, he has composed at least 300 songs and released nearly 100 albums, among them Canadian and American patriotic songs...
, Tom Rush
Tom Rush
Tom Rush is an American folk and blues singer, songwriter, musician and recording artist.- Life and career :Rush was born in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. His father was a teacher at St. Paul's School, in Concord, New Hampshire. Tom began performing in 1961 while studying at Harvard University after...
, Jesse Winchester
Jesse Winchester
Jesse Winchester is a musician and songwriter who was born and raised in the southern United States. To avoid the Vietnam War draft he moved to Canada in 1967, which is where and when he began his career as a solo artist. His highest charting recordings were of his own tunes, "Yankee Lady" in 1970...
, Eric Andersen
Eric Andersen
Eric Andersen is an American singer-songwriter.-Biography:In the early 1960s, Eric Andersen was part of the Greenwich Village folk scene in New York...
, Wavy Gravy
Wavy Gravy
Wavy Gravy is an American entertainer and activist for peace, best known for his hippie appearance, personality and beliefs. His moniker...
, David Amram
David Amram
David Amram is an American composer, musician, conductor, and writer. As a classical composer and performer, his integration of jazz , ethnic and folk music has led him to work with the likes of Charlie Parker, Thelonious Monk, Dizzy Gillespie, Lionel Hampton, Willie Nelson, Langston...
, Roger McGuinn
Roger McGuinn
James Roger McGuinn is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. He is best known for being the lead singer and lead guitarist on many of The Byrds' records...
, Robert Sims
Robert Sims
Robert Lewis Sims a lyric baritone who specializes in African American folk songs and spirituals, is known for his rich tone, energetic performances and convincing stage presence....
, Carolyn Hester
Carolyn Hester
Carolyn Hester is an American folk singer and songwriter. She was a figure in the early 1960s folk music revival.-Biography:...
, Donal Leace, Marie Knight, Side by Side
Side By Side (band)
Side By Side was an American hardcore punk band on Revelation Records. They were a band from NY of youth crew persuasion. Recorded output was limited to a single 7", You're Only Young Once... Their 7" was the fifth record released by Revelation Records....
, and Laura McGhee (from Scotland).
In 2007, her album Gonna Let It Shine was nominated for a Grammy, and she completed a major Fall Concert Tour in the "Songs of Spirit" show, which included artists from all over the world. She toured around North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
in late 2006 and early 2007 to support this CD.
Final tour
On January 21, 2008, Odetta was the keynote speaker at San Diego's Martin Luther King, Jr. commemoration, followed by concert performances in San Diego, Santa BarbaraSanta Barbara, California
Santa Barbara is the county seat of Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Situated on an east-west trending section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coast of the United States, the city lies between the steeply-rising Santa Ynez Mountains and the Pacific Ocean...
, Santa Monica
Santa Mônica
Santa Mônica is a town and municipality in the state of Paraná in the Southern Region of Brazil.-References:...
, and Mill Valley, in addition to being the sole guest for the evening on PBS-TV's The Tavis Smiley Show
The Tavis Smiley Show
The Tavis Smiley Show is an American public broadcasting radio talk show. A television show, simply titled Tavis Smiley, is a late night television program on Public Broadcasting Service . Both shows feature Tavis Smiley as host....
.
Odetta was honored on May 8, 2008 at a historic tribute night, hosted by Wavy Gravy
Wavy Gravy
Wavy Gravy is an American entertainer and activist for peace, best known for his hippie appearance, personality and beliefs. His moniker...
, held at Banjo Jim's in the East Village
East Village, Manhattan
The East Village is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, lying east of Greenwich Village, south of Gramercy and Stuyvesant Town, and north of the Lower East Side...
.
In summer 2008, at the age of 77, she launched a North American tour, where she sang from a wheelchair
Wheelchair
A wheelchair is a chair with wheels, designed to be a replacement for walking. The device comes in variations where it is propelled by motors or by the seated occupant turning the rear wheels by hand. Often there are handles behind the seat for someone else to do the pushing...
. Her set in recent years included "This Little Light of Mine
This Little Light of Mine
"This Little Light of Mine" is a gospel children's song written by Harry Dixon Loes in about 1920. Loes, who studied at the Moody Bible Institute and the American Conservatory of Music, was a musical composer, and teacher, who wrote, and co-wrote, several other gospel songs. The song has since...
(I'm Gonna Let It Shine)", Lead Belly's "The Bourgeois Blues
The Bourgeois Blues
"The Bourgeois Blues" is a blues song by Huddie Ledbetter, better known as Lead Belly. It was written after Lead Belly went to Washington, D.C. at the request of Alan Lomax, to record a number of songs for the Library of Congress. After they had finished, they decided to go out with their wives to...
", (Something Inside) So Strong
(Something Inside) So Strong
So Strong is a song written and recorded by British singer-songwriter, Labi Siffre. It was released as a single in 1987 and was the song that brought him back to mainstream popularity in his home country....
", "Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child
Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child
"Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child" is a traditional Negro spiritual.The song dates back to the era of slavery in the United States when it was common practice to sell children of slaves away from their parents. An early performance of the song dates back to the 1870s by the Fisk Jubilee...
" and "House of the Rising Sun".
She made an appearance on June 30, 2008 at The Bitter End
The Bitter End
The Bitter End is a nightclub in New York City's Greenwich Village. It opened its doors in 1961 at 147 Bleecker Street under the auspices of owner Fred Weintraub. The club changed its name to The Other End during the 1970s...
on Bleecker Street
Bleecker Street
Bleecker Street is a street in New York City's Manhattan borough. It is perhaps most famous today as a Greenwich Village nightclub district. The street is a spine that connects a neighborhood today popular for music venues and comedy, but which was once a major center for American bohemia.Bleecker...
, New York City for a Liam Clancy
Liam Clancy
William "Liam" Clancy was an Irish folk singer and actor from Carrick-on-Suir, County Tipperary. He was the youngest and last surviving member of performing group The Clancy Brothers. The group were regarded as Ireland's first pop stars...
tribute concert.
Her last big concert, before thousands of people, was in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park
Golden Gate Park
Golden Gate Park, located in San Francisco, California, is a large urban park consisting of of public grounds. Configured as a rectangle, it is similar in shape but 20% larger than Central Park in New York, to which it is often compared. It is over three miles long east to west, and about half a...
on October 4, 2008, for the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival. She last performed at Hugh's Room
Hugh's Room
Hugh's Room is a restaurant and folk music venue in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Located on Dundas Street in the city's Roncesvalles neighbourhood. Primarily a folk club, Hugh's Room also sometimes books jazz, blues, classical and comedy artists as well....
in Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
on October 25.
In November 2008, Odetta's health began to decline and she began receiving treatment at Lenox Hill Hospital
Lenox Hill Hospital
Lenox Hill Hospital, on Manhattan's Upper East Side in New York City, is a 652-bed, acute care hospital and a major teaching affiliate of New York University Medical Center. Founded in 1857 as the German Dispensary, today's 10-building Lenox Hill Hospital complex has occupied its present site since...
in New York. She had hoped to perform at Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
's inauguration on January 20, 2009
On December 2, 2008, Odetta died from heart disease in New York City.
At her memorial service in February 2009 at Riverside Church in New York City, participants included Maya Angelou
Maya Angelou
Maya Angelou is an American author and poet who has been called "America's most visible black female autobiographer" by scholar Joanne M. Braxton. She is best known for her series of six autobiographical volumes, which focus on her childhood and early adult experiences. The first and most highly...
, Pete Seeger
Pete Seeger
Peter "Pete" Seeger is an American folk singer and was an iconic figure in the mid-twentieth century American folk music revival. A fixture on nationwide radio in the 1940s, he also had a string of hit records during the early 1950s as a member of The Weavers, most notably their recording of Lead...
, Harry Belafonte
Harry Belafonte
Harold George "Harry" Belafonte, Jr. is an American singer, songwriter, actor and social activist. He was dubbed the "King of Calypso" for popularizing the Caribbean musical style with an international audience in the 1950s...
, Geoffrey Holder
Geoffrey Holder
Geoffrey Richard Holder is a Trinidadian actor, choreographer, director, dancer, painter, costume designer, singer and voice-over artist.-Early life:...
, Steve Earle
Steve Earle
Stephen Fain "Steve" Earle is an American singer-songwriter known for his rock and Texas Country as well as his political views. He is also a producer, author, a political activist, and an actor, and has written and directed a play....
, Sweet Honey in the Rock
Sweet Honey in the Rock
Sweet Honey in the Rock is an all-woman, African-American a cappella ensemble. They are an American Grammy Award-winning troupe who express their history as women of color through song, while entertaining their audience. They have together worked from four women to the difficult five-part harmony...
, Peter Yarrow
Peter Yarrow
Peter Yarrow is an American singer who found fame with the 1960s folk music trio Peter, Paul and Mary. Yarrow co-wrote one of the group's most famous songs, "Puff, the Magic Dragon"...
, Tom Chapin
Tom Chapin
Tom Chapin is a Grammy Award-winning American musician, entertainer, singer-songwriter and storyteller.-Biography:Chapin attended State University of New York at Plattsburgh and graduated in 1966. From 1971-1976, he hosted a TV show called Make a Wish...
, Josh White, Jr. (son of Josh White
Josh White
Joshua Daniel White , better known as Josh White, was an American singer, guitarist, songwriter, actor, and civil rights activist. He also recorded under the names "Pinewood Tom" and "Tippy Barton" in the 1930s....
), Emory Joseph, Rattlesnake Annie
Rattlesnake Annie
Rattlesnake Annie is a country singer and songwriter under the stage name Rattlesnake Annie. She earned her nickname as a child from her respect of snakes. McGowan began recording music in 1974 and achieved success in Europe...
, the Brooklyn Technical High School
Brooklyn Technical High School
Brooklyn Technical High School, commonly called Brooklyn Tech or just Tech, and also administratively as High School 430, is a New York City public high school that specializes in engineering, math and science and is the largest specialized high school for science, technology, engineering, and...
Chamber Chorus, and videotaped tributes from Tavis Smiley
Tavis Smiley
Tavis Smiley is a talk show host, author, liberal political commentator, entrepreneur, advocate and philanthropist. Smiley was born in Gulfport, Mississippi and grew up in Kokomo, Indiana. After attending Indiana University, he worked during the late 1980s as an aide to Tom Bradley, the mayor of...
and Joan Baez
Joan Baez
Joan Chandos Baez is an American folk singer, songwriter, musician and a prominent activist in the fields of human rights, peace and environmental justice....
.
Influence
Odetta influenced Harry BelafonteHarry Belafonte
Harold George "Harry" Belafonte, Jr. is an American singer, songwriter, actor and social activist. He was dubbed the "King of Calypso" for popularizing the Caribbean musical style with an international audience in the 1950s...
, who "cited her as a key influence" on his musical career; Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
, who said, "The first thing that turned me on to folk singing was Odetta. I heard a record of hers [Odetta Sings Ballads and Blues
Odetta Sings Ballads and Blues
Odetta Sings Ballads and Blues is the debut solo album by American folk singer Odetta, first released in 1956.Like much of Odetta's early work, Ballads and Blues combines traditional songs with blues covers...
] in a record store, back when you could listen to records right there in the store. Right then and there, I went out and traded my electric guitar and amplifier for an acoustical guitar, a flat-top Gibson
Gibson Guitar Corporation
The Gibson Guitar Corporation, formerly of Kalamazoo, Michigan and currently of Nashville, Tennessee, manufactures guitars and other instruments which sell under a variety of brand names...
. ... [That album was] just something vital and personal. I learned all the songs on that record."; Joan Baez
Joan Baez
Joan Chandos Baez is an American folk singer, songwriter, musician and a prominent activist in the fields of human rights, peace and environmental justice....
who said "Odetta was a goddess. Her passion moved me. I learned everything she sang."; Janis Joplin
Janis Joplin
Janis Lyn Joplin was an American singer, songwriter, painter, dancer and music arranger. She rose to prominence in the late 1960s as the lead singer of Big Brother and the Holding Company and later as a solo artist with her backing groups, The Kozmic Blues Band and The Full Tilt Boogie Band...
, who "spent much of her adolescence listening to Odetta, who was also the first person Janis imitated when she started singing"; poet Maya Angelou
Maya Angelou
Maya Angelou is an American author and poet who has been called "America's most visible black female autobiographer" by scholar Joanne M. Braxton. She is best known for her series of six autobiographical volumes, which focus on her childhood and early adult experiences. The first and most highly...
who once said "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."; John Waters
John Waters (filmmaker)
John Samuel Waters, Jr. is an American filmmaker, actor, stand-up comedian, writer, journalist, visual artist, and art collector, who rose to fame in the early 1970s for his transgressive cult films...
, whose original screenplay
Screenplay
A screenplay or script is a written work that is made especially for a film or television program. Screenplays can be original works or adaptations from existing pieces of writing. In them, the movement, actions, expression, and dialogues of the characters are also narrated...
for Hairspray mentions her as an influence on beatnik
Beatnik
Beatnik was a media stereotype of the 1950s and early 1960s that displayed the more superficial aspects of the Beat Generation literary movement of the 1950s and violent film images, along with a cartoonish depiction of the real-life people and the spiritual quest in Jack Kerouac's autobiographical...
s. and Carly Simon
Carly Simon
Carly Elisabeth Simon is an American singer-songwriter, musician, and children's author. She rose to fame in the 1970s with a string of hit records, and has since been the recipient of two Grammy Awards, an Academy Award, and a Golden Globe Award for her work...
, who cited Odetta as a major influence, and talked about "going weak in the knees" when she had the opportunity to meet her in Greenwich Village
Filmography
| Film/programme title | Info | Year |
|---|---|---|
| Cinerama Holiday | Film | 1955 |
| Lamp Unto My Feet | TV | 1956 |
| Tonight with Belafonte Harry Belafonte Harold George "Harry" Belafonte, Jr. is an American singer, songwriter, actor and social activist. He was dubbed the "King of Calypso" for popularizing the Caribbean musical style with an international audience in the 1950s... |
TV/Musical Variety (Emmy Award Emmy Award An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various... ) |
1959 |
| Toast of the Town The Ed Sullivan Show The Ed Sullivan Show is an American TV variety show that originally ran on CBS from Sunday June 20, 1948 to Sunday June 6, 1971, and was hosted by New York entertainment columnist Ed Sullivan.... |
TV | 1960 |
| Sanctuary Sanctuary (novel) Sanctuary is a novel by the American author William Faulkner. It is considered one of his more controversial, given its theme of rape. First published in 1931, it was Faulkner's commercial and critical breakthrough, establishing his literary reputation... |
Drama Drama film A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women... |
1961 |
| Have Gun – Will Travel episode 159/226: "The Hanging of Aaron Gibbs" |
TV drama | 1961 |
| Les Crane Les Crane Les Crane , born Lesley Stein, was a radio announcer and television talk show host, a pioneer in interactive broadcasting who also scored a spoken word hit with his 1971 recording of the poem Desiderata, winning a "Best Spoken Word" Grammy.Born in Long Beach, New York , Crane... Show |
TV/Talk/Variety | 1965 |
| Festival Festival (1967 film) Festival! is a 1967 American documentary film about the Newport Folk Festival, directed by Murray Lerner.Filmed over the course of three festivals at Newport , the film features performances by Johnny Cash, Joan Baez & Peter Yarrow, Joan Baez, Pete Seeger, Peter, Paul and Mary, Odetta, Bob Dylan,... |
documentary film Documentary film Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record... |
1967 |
| Live from the Bitter End | TV - Concert | 1967 |
| Clown Town starring Odetta & Bobby Vinton |
NBC Music Special | 1968 |
| The Dick Cavett Show The Dick Cavett Show The Dick Cavett Show has been the title of several talk shows hosted by Dick Cavett on various television networks, including:* ABC daytime ... |
TV/Talk/Variety | 1969 |
| The Johnny Cash Show The Johnny Cash Show (TV series) The Johnny Cash Show was an American television music variety show hosted by Johnny Cash. The Screen Gems 58-episode series ran from June 7, 1969 to March 31, 1971 on ABC; it was taped at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee. The show reached No... |
TV/Musical Variety | 1969 |
| The Virginia Graham Virginia Graham Virginia Graham born Virginia Komiss, was a daytime television talk show host from the mid-1950s to the mid-1970s... Show |
TV | 1971 |
| The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman is a 1971 novel by Ernest J. Gaines. The story depicts the struggles of African Americans as seen through the eyes of the narrator, a woman named Jane Pittman... |
TV film Television movie A television film is a feature film that is a television program produced for and originally distributed by a television network, in contrast to... |
1974 |
| Soundstage: Just Folks with Odetta, Tom Paxton, Josh White, Jr. and Bob Gibson |
TV - Concert Special | 1980 |
| Ramblin': with Odetta | TV - Concert Special | 1981 |
| Chords of Fame | doc. Documentary film Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record... |
1984 |
| Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, often shortened to Macy's Day Parade, is an annual parade presented by Macy's. The tradition started in 1924, tying it for the second-oldest Thanksgiving parade in the United States along with America's Thanksgiving Parade in Detroit, and four years younger than... |
1989 | |
| Boston Pops with Odetta, Shirley Verrett and Boys Choir of Harlem |
TV - Concert | 1991 |
| Tommy Makem Tommy Makem Thomas "Tommy" Makem was an internationally celebrated Irish folk musician, artist, poet and storyteller. He was best known as a member of The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem. He played the long-necked 5-string banjo, guitar, tin whistle, and bagpipes, and sang in a distinctive baritone... & Friends |
TV - Concert | 1992 |
| The Fire Next Time | TV film Television movie A television film is a feature film that is a television program produced for and originally distributed by a television network, in contrast to... |
1993 |
| Turnabout The Story of the Yale Puppeteers |
doc. Documentary film Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record... |
1993 |
| Odetta: Woman In (E)motion | German TV German television Television in Germany began in Berlin on March 22, 1935, broadcasting for 90 minutes three times a week. The German television market had approximately 36.5 million television households in 2000, making it the largest television market in Europe... - Concert Special |
1995 |
| Peter, Paul and Mary: Lifelines | TV | 1996 |
| National Medal of Arts and Humanities National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created by an act of the U.S. Congress in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal government. Its current... Presentations |
C-Span C-SPAN C-SPAN , an acronym for Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network, is an American cable television network that offers coverage of federal government proceedings and other public affairs programming via its three television channels , one radio station and a group of websites that provide streaming... TV |
1999 |
| The Ballad of Ramblin' Jack | Drama Drama film A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women... |
2000 |
| 21st Annual W.C. Handy Blues Awards | Awards ceremony | 2000 |
| Songs for a Better World | TV - Concert Special | 2000 |
| Later... with Jools Holland with Odetta, and Bill Wyman Bill Wyman Bill Wyman is an English musician best known as the bass guitarist for the English rock and roll band the Rolling Stones from 1962 until 1992. Since 1997, he has recorded and toured with his own band, Bill Wyman's Rhythm Kings... & His Rhythm Kings Bill Wyman's Rhythm Kings Bill Wyman's Rhythm Kings are a blues-rock band founded and led by former Rolling Stones bass guitarist Bill Wyman. Together with his lifelong musical partner Terry Taylor, The "Dirty Boys" duo produce, arrange and compose original material for the award winning band.The Rhythm Kings are known for... |
BBC-TV | 2001 |
| Politically Incorrect Politically Incorrect Politically Incorrect is a late-night, half-hour political talk show hosted by Bill Maher that ran from 1993 to 2002. It premiered on Comedy Central from 1993 to 1997, and later on ABC in 1997, which cancelled it in 2002.... with Bill Maher Bill Maher William "Bill" Maher, Jr. is an American stand-up comedian, television host, political commentator, author and actor. Before his current role as the host of HBO's Real Time with Bill Maher, Maher hosted a similar late-night talk show called Politically Incorrect originally on Comedy Central and... |
TV Talk Show | 2001 |
| Late Night with David Letterman Late Night with David Letterman Late Night with David Letterman is a nightly hour-long comedy talk show on NBC that was created and hosted by David Letterman. It premiered in 1982 as the first incarnation of the Late Night franchise and went off the air in 1993, after Letterman left NBC and moved to Late Show on CBS. Late Night... |
TV/Talk/Variety Show | 2001 |
| Pure Oxygen | TV - Talk Show | 2002 |
| Newport Folk Festival Newport Folk Festival The Newport Folk Festival is an American annual folk-oriented music festival in Newport, Rhode Island, which began in 1959 as a counterpart to the previously established Newport Jazz Festival... |
TV - Concert Special | 2002 |
| Janis Joplin: Pieces of My Heart | BBC BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff... -TV Biography Special |
2002 |
| Get Up, Stand Up: The Story of Pop and Protest Get Up, Stand Up: The Story of Pop and Protest Get Up, Stand Up: The Story of Pop and Politics is a 6x60 minutes documentary TV-series about the relationship between singers and politics in the USA, the UK, Germany and France from the 1960s until 2003. It was made in 2003 by Rudi Dolezal, Hannes Rossacher and Simon Witter as a joint production... |
doc. Documentary film Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record... |
2003 |
| Tennessee Ernie Ford Tennessee Ernie Ford Ernest Jennings Ford , better known as Tennessee Ernie Ford, was an American recording artist and television host who enjoyed success in the country and Western, pop, and gospel musical genres... Show |
TV Musical Variety (Re-Broadcast) | 2003 |
| Ralph Bunch: An American Odyssey | PBS-TV Biography | 2003 |
| Brother Outsider: The Life of Bayard Rustin | PBS-TV Biography | 2003 |
| Visionary Awards Presentation | PBS-TV Award Presentation | 2004 |
| Lightning in a Bottle - Salute to the Blues | doc. Documentary film Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record... |
2004 |
| No Direction Home No Direction Home No Direction Home is a documentary film by Martin Scorsese that traces the life of Bob Dylan, and his impact on 20th century American popular music and culture. The film does not cover Dylan's entire career; it concentrates on the period between Dylan's arrival in New York in January 1961 and his... |
doc. Documentary film Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record... |
2005 |
| Talking Bob Dylan Blues | BBC-TV Concert Special | 2005 |
| Odetta: Blues Diva | PBS-TV Concert Special | 2005 |
| Odetta: Viss Notiek | Latvian TV Weekly Journal | 2006 |
| A Tribute to the Teachers of America | PBS-TV Special: Concert at The Town Hall The Town Hall The Town Hall is a performance space, located at 123 West 43rd Street, between Sixth Avenue and Broadway, in New York City. It seats approximately 1,500 people.-History:... , New York Odetta sings a children’s song medley of "Rock Island Line Rock Island Line (song) "Rock Island Line" is an American blues/folk song first recorded by John Lomax in 1934 as sung by inmates in an Arkansas State Prison, and later popularized by Lead Belly. Many versions have been recorded by other artists, most significantly the world-wide hit version in the mid-1950s by Lonnie... /Here We Go Looptie-Lou/Bring Me Little Water Sylvie" |
2007 |
| The Tavis Smiley Show The Tavis Smiley Show The Tavis Smiley Show is an American public broadcasting radio talk show. A television show, simply titled Tavis Smiley, is a late night television program on Public Broadcasting Service . Both shows feature Tavis Smiley as host.... |
PBS-TV Discussion and performance of the song "Keep on Movin' It On" | 25 January 2008 |
| Mountain Stage HD: John Hammond, Odetta, and Jorma Kaukonen | PBS-TV Concert Special | 2008 |
| Odetta Remembers | BBC Four BBC Four BBC Four is a British television network operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation and available to digital television viewers on Freeview, IPTV, satellite and cable.... interview and concert footage, 30 mins |
6 Feb 2009 |
| The Yellow Bittern | A Biopic of Liam Clancy Liam Clancy William "Liam" Clancy was an Irish folk singer and actor from Carrick-on-Suir, County Tipperary. He was the youngest and last surviving member of performing group The Clancy Brothers. The group were regarded as Ireland's first pop stars... of The Clancy Brothers The Clancy Brothers The Clancy Brothers were an influential Irish folk music singing group, most popular in the 1960s, they were famed for their woolly Aran jumpers and are widely credited with popularizing Irish traditional music in the United States. The brothers were Patrick "Paddy" Clancy, Tom Clancy, Bobby Clancy... |
2009 |
External links
- A page from her current record company, MC Records
- A page from her management company, Concerted Efforts
- Odetta Vanguard Records
- Fan page at Geocities
- Odetta's oral history video excerpts at The National Visionary Leadership Project
- AP Obituary in The New York TimesThe New York TimesThe New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
- Odetta remembrance and archive at NPR MusicNPR MusicNPR Music launched in November 2007 to present public radio music programming and original editorial content for music discovery. The Web site is a project of National Public Radio, a privately and publicly funded non-profit membership media organization that serves as a national syndicator to 797...
- Odetta Gordon performs "Give Me Your Hand" video from the WGBH Archives