Odetta

2 LPs ON 1 CD

4 1/2 STARS ALL MUSIC GUIDE

Martin Luther King, Jr. called Odetta the Queen of American folk music. She was one of the first female singers to forge the bond between traditional folk music and more contemporary forms, such as the blues, gospel music and protest songs. With her strong, booming voice and spare guitar, she sang songs about the lives of bluecollar workers and convicts, housewives and peasants, blacks and whites.

This quintessential release includes two of Odetta’s finest albums from her most inspired years: the influential 1956 LP Sings Ballads and Blues (Bob Dylan once said that this record inspired him to trade in his electric guitar and amplifier for an acoustic guitar), and the long unavailable At Carnegie Hall, released on the Vanguard label in 1960.

These two albums have been remastered and packaged together in this very special collector’s edition. Both masterpieces are widely regarded as landmarks of the late-‘50s/early-‘60s folk & blues revival.

PERSONNEL:

ODETTA HOLMES, vocals and guitar, plus:

Bill Lee (double bass on tracks 17-28),
Choir of the Church of the Master (backing vocals on tracks 26-28).

Recorded in San Francisco and New York, between 1956 and 1960.
Original recordings produced by Dean Gitter.

INCLUDES 16-PAGE BOOKLET RARE PHOTOS - VINTAGE MEMORABILIA
AND DETAILED LINER NOTES.

TRACKS:

SINGS BALLADS AND BLUES
01. SANTY ANNO
02. IF I HAD A RIBBON BOW
03. MULESKINNER BLUES
04. ANOTHER MAN DONE GONE
05. SHAME AND SCANDAL
06. JACK O’ DIAMONDS
07. BUCKED AND SCORNED
08. EASY RIDER
09. JOSHUA FOUGHT THE BATTLE OF JERICHO
10. HOUND DOG
11. GLORY, GLORY
12. ALABAMA BOUND
13. BEEN IN THE PEN
14. DEEP BLUE SEA
15. GOD’S GONNA CUT YOU DOWN
16. SPIRITUAL TRILOGY (OH FREEDOM / COME AND GO WITH ME / I’M ON MY WAY)

AT CARNEGIE HALL
17. IF I HAD A HAMMER
18. WHEN I WAS A YOUNG GIRL
19. THE GALLOW’S POLE
20. GOD’S GONNA CUT YOU DOWN
21. JOHN RILEY
22. JOHN HENRY
23. JOSHUA FOUGHT THE BATTLE OF JERICHO
24. ALL THE PRETTY LITTLE HORSES
25. MEETING AT THE BUILDING
26. HOLD ON
27. SOMETIMES I FEEL LIKE A MOTHERLESS CHILD
28. AIN’T NO GRAVE CAN HOLD MY BODY DOWN

TOTAL TIME: 79:30