Artist
Odetta
5,615 followers
Odetta (December 31, 1930 - December 2, 2008) was an African-American singer whose repertoire consists largely of American folk music, blues, and spirituals. She was born Odetta Holmes in Birmingham, Alabama, grew up in Los Angeles, California, and studied music at Los Angeles City College. Having operatic training from the age of 13, her first professional experience was in musical theater, with a 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", and after 1951 concentrated on folksinging. She made her name by playing around the country: 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 a live album recorded at the Gate of Horn in Chicago in 1957. Harry Belafonte included her in a nationwide television special in 1959, and Odetta Sings Folk Songs was one of 1963's best-selling folk albums. Odetta was active in the civil rights movement and Martin Luther King, Jr. called her "the queen of American folk music". Bob Dylan and Joan Baez were among many folk musicians who credited Odetta with being a major influence on their work. Having previous acting experience, Odetta also acted in several films, notably the film of William Faulkner's Sanctuary (1961) and The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman (1974). On December 02, 2008, Odetta died from heart disease in New York City. She was 77 years of age. . User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.
Popular
Hit Or Miss - Live
It's Impossible
Hit Or Miss
Odetta Sings
In the Pines
I sing my most beautiful Songs
Baby, I'm In The Mood For You
Odetta Sings Dylan
No More Auction Block (Live)
Odetta At Carnegie Hall (Original Live Album plus Bonus Tracks, 1960)
Masters Of War
Odetta Sings Dylan
Long Ago, Far Away
Odetta Sings Dylan
Long Time Gone
Odetta Sings Dylan
Spiritual Trilogy: Oh Freedom / Come and go with Me / I'm on My Way
Essential Classics, Vol. 617: Odetta
Every Night
Odetta Sings
Albums
Midnight Testimony
2026
Still Blue After All
2026
Essential Classics, Vol. 617: Odetta
2024
Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out: Odetta Sings the Blues
2024
Belafonte Returns to Carnegie Hall
2023
Harry Belafonte and his friends - An Evening at Carnegie Hall (In Memoriam Harry Belafonte 1927 - 2023 Album of 1960)
2023
I sing my most beautiful Songs
2023
Oh Freedom
2023
Odetta Sings Ballads and Blues
2022
Odetta Sings Folk Songs
2022
Folk, Gospel and Rhythm & Blues
2021
He's Got the Whole World in His Hands
2021
I Know Where I'm Going
2021
Motherless Child
2021
My Eyes Have Seen
2021
Odetta - Music History
2021
Odetta - The Best
2021
Odetta Sings - The Masterpieces
2021
All the Best
2020
Christmas Songs, Pt. 4 - the Best of Christmas Songs (Album)
2020
Live in Mestre Venezia 1985
2020
Merry Christmas, Darlin', Vol. 2 - 40 Christmas Carols Sung by Women (Album)
2020
Sings the Blues
2020
The Voice of the Civil Rights Movement (Remastered)
2020
Odetta Sings Ballads and Blues
2019
Greatest Hits
2018
Essential Blues
2017
Odetta Sings the Bues
2017
The Definite Collection: American Ballads / Christmas Spirituals
2017
The Definite Collection: Ballads and Blues / The Gate of Horn
2017
The Definite Collection: Live at Carnegie Hall / Live at Town Hall
2017
The Definite Collection: The Blues / Sometimes I Feel Like Cryin'
2017
The Definite Collection: The Singles
2017
The Definite Collection: The Tin Angel / My Eyes Have Seen
2017
Ballads for Americans
2016
Sings Ballads and Blues + at Carnegie Hall
2016
Sings Ballads and Blues - Early Album Collection
2016
Sometimes I Feel Like Cryin' + Odetta and the Blues
2016
This Land
2016
Folk Songs
2015
Odetta - The Best Collection
2015
Beautiful Star
2014
Beautiful Star
2014
Beautiful Star
2014
Down On Me
2014
Essential Hits
2014
Golden Hits
2014
Hits
2014
Odetta Sings the Blues / Sometimes I Feel Like Cryin'
2014
The Best of Odetta
2012
It's Impossible
1976
Similar Artists
Sister Rosetta Tharpe
Elizabeth Cotten
Pete Seeger
Karen Dalton
Terry Callier
Leadbelly
Buffy Sainte-Marie
Dave Van Ronk
Richie Havens
Nina Simone
Arlo Guthrie
Joan Armatrading