The Best of Odetta: Ballads and Blues is a compilation album by American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 folk singer

Folk music

Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....

 Odetta

Odetta

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...

, originally released in 1994.

The focus of the material is the music Odetta performed when recording for the Tradition label — 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 Odetta 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). Tradition released The Best of Odetta

The Best of Odetta

The Best of Odetta is a compilation by American folk singer Odetta, originally released in 1967.-Track listing:#"Muleskinner Blues" – 2:50 #"If I Had A Ribbon Bow" – 2:50 #"Shame And Scandal" – 2:25 #"'Buked And Scorned" – 2:40 #"Joshua" – 1:50...

on LP

LP album

The LP, or long-playing microgroove record, is a format for phonograph records, an analog sound storage medium. Introduced by Columbia Records in 1948, it was soon adopted as a new standard by the entire record industry...

 with a slightly different track list in 1967.

It was also re-released on CD on the Collectables label in 2006.

Track listing

All songs Traditional unless otherwise noted.

1. "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands
   He's Got the Whole World in His Hands
   "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands" is a traditional American spiritual. It was first published in the paperbound hymnal Spirituals Triumphant, Old and New, in 1927. In 1933, it was collected by Frank Warner from the singing of Sue Thomas in North Carolina...
   
   " – 1:59
2. "Lowlands" – 2:41
3. "The Fox" – 1:53
4. "The Lass from the Low Countree" (John Jacob Niles
   John Jacob Niles
   John Jacob Niles was an American composer, singer, and collector of traditional ballads. Called the "Dean of American Balladeers", Niles was an important influence on the American folk music revival of the 1950s and 1960s, with Joan Baez, Burl Ives, and Peter, Paul and Mary, among others,...
   
   ) – 4:40
5. "Devilish Mary" – 1:57
6. "Take This Hammer
   Take This Hammer
   "Take This Hammer" is a prison work song. It was collected by John and Alan Lomax. The song "Nine Pound Hammer" has a few phrases in common with this song, and the same Roud number. "Swannanoa Tunnel" is similar, and this group of songs are referred to as 'hammer songs' or 'roll songs'...
   
   " (Ledbetter) – 3:33
7. "Greensleeves
   Greensleeves
   "Greensleeves" is a traditional English folk song and tune, a ground of the form called a romanesca.A broadside ballad by this name was registered at the London Stationer's Company in September 1580 as "A New Northern Dittye of the Lady Greene Sleeves". It then appears in the surviving A Handful of...
   
   " – 2:49
8. "Deep River" – 3:00
9. "Chilly Winds" – 2:43
10. "If I Had a Ribbon Bow
    If I Had a Ribbon Bow
    "If I Had a Ribbon Bow" is Fairport Convention's debut single.The song written by Huey Prince and Lou Singer had been recorded previously by Maxine Sullivan in 1936, Odetta , Carolyn Hester , Karen Dalton and Mildred Bailey.-Musicians:*Judy Dyble: Vocal, Harmonium*Ian MacDonald: Spoken...
    
    " – 2:43
11. "Shame and Scandal" – 2:23
12. "'Buked and Scorned" – 2:40
13. "Joshua" – 1:54
14. "Glory, Glory
    Glory, Glory, Hallelujah (Lay My Burden Down)
    "Glory, Glory" is an American spiritual song, which has been recorded by many artists in a variety of genres, including folk, country, blues, rock, and gospel.-Lyrics:Lyrically, the song has many variations but the best known version of the song "Glory, Glory" (also known as "When I Lay My Burden...
    
    " – 2:13
15. "Been in the Pen" – 2:32
16. "Deep Blue Sea" – 3:02
17. "God's Gonna Cut You Down
    God's Gonna Cut You Down
    "God's Gonna Cut You Down", also known as "Run On" and "Run On for a Long Time", is a traditional folk song which has been recorded by numerous artists representing a variety of genres...
    
    " – 1:51
18. Spiritual Trilogy" – 6:05

Personnel

• Odetta
  Odetta
  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...
  
   – vocals, guitar
  Guitar
  The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
  
  
• Bill Lee
  Bill Lee (musician)
  William James Edwards "Bill" Lee III is an American musician. He has played the bass for many artists including Cat Stevens, Harry Belafonte, Chad Mitchell Trio, Gordon Lightfoot, Aretha Franklin, Odetta, Simon and Garfunkel, and Bob Dylan...
  
   – bass
  Double bass
  The double bass, also called the string bass, upright bass, standup bass or contrabass, is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra, with strings usually tuned to E1, A1, D2 and G2...