Odetta (b. December 31, 1930) is a singer and guitarist whose repertoire consists largely of American folk music, blues, jazz, and spirituals. She was an important figure in the revival of American folk music in the 1950s and '60s, and a formative influence on artists such as Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, and Janis Joplin.
She was born 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 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, she "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 Odetta at the Gate of Horn (1957). Odetta Sings Folk Songs was one of 1963's best-selling folk albums. In 1961, Martin Luther King, Jr. annointed her "The Queen of American folk music".
By the late 60s she began to change her musical direction, using band arrangements rather than playing alone, and released music of a more "jazz" style music on albums like Odetta (1967). She only released two new albums in the 20-year period from 1977-1997: Movin' It On and Christmas Spirituals, both in 1987.
On September 29, 1999, President Bill Clinton presented Odetta with the National Endowment for the Arts' Medal of the Arts & Humanities. In 2004, she was honored at the Kennedy Center in Washington with the "Visionary Award" and a tribute performance by Tracy Chapman.
In 2005, the Library of Congress in Washington honored her with its' rare "Living Legend Award" (only the third time every awarded). 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 a clip of Odetta performing "Waterboy" on TV in 1959, and we also hear Odetta's songs "Muleskinner Blues" and "No More Auction Block for Me".
On March 24, 2007 a tribute concert to Odetta was presented in Washington, D.C. at the Rachel Schlessinger Theatre by the World Folk Music Association with live performance and video tributes by such well-known artists as Pete Seeger, Madeleine Peyroux, Harry Belafonte, Janis Ian, Sweet Honey In The Rock, Peter, Paul & Mary, and Tom Rush. Find out more about this living legend at: www.mc-records.com/html/odetta.landing.html
Research info provided by: www.wikipedia.org
Visit my e-zine: http://www.concelebratory.blogspot.com/
and personal blog: http://www.copyat5.blogspot.com/
She was born 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 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, she "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 Odetta at the Gate of Horn (1957). Odetta Sings Folk Songs was one of 1963's best-selling folk albums. In 1961, Martin Luther King, Jr. annointed her "The Queen of American folk music".
By the late 60s she began to change her musical direction, using band arrangements rather than playing alone, and released music of a more "jazz" style music on albums like Odetta (1967). She only released two new albums in the 20-year period from 1977-1997: Movin' It On and Christmas Spirituals, both in 1987.
On September 29, 1999, President Bill Clinton presented Odetta with the National Endowment for the Arts' Medal of the Arts & Humanities. In 2004, she was honored at the Kennedy Center in Washington with the "Visionary Award" and a tribute performance by Tracy Chapman.
In 2005, the Library of Congress in Washington honored her with its' rare "Living Legend Award" (only the third time every awarded). 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 a clip of Odetta performing "Waterboy" on TV in 1959, and we also hear Odetta's songs "Muleskinner Blues" and "No More Auction Block for Me".
On March 24, 2007 a tribute concert to Odetta was presented in Washington, D.C. at the Rachel Schlessinger Theatre by the World Folk Music Association with live performance and video tributes by such well-known artists as Pete Seeger, Madeleine Peyroux, Harry Belafonte, Janis Ian, Sweet Honey In The Rock, Peter, Paul & Mary, and Tom Rush. Find out more about this living legend at: www.mc-records.com/html/odetta.landing.html
Research info provided by: www.wikipedia.org
Visit my e-zine: http://www.concelebratory.blogspot.com/
and personal blog: http://www.copyat5.blogspot.com/
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