Odetta, Voice of Civil Rights Movement, Dies at 77

[cali]

By TIM WEINER
Published: December 3, 2008

Odetta, the singer whose deep voice wove together the strongest songs of American folk music and the civil rights movement, died on Tuesday at Lenox Hill Hospital in Manhattan. She was 77.

The cause was heart disease, said her manager, Doug Yeager. He added that she had been hoping to sing at Barack Obama’s inauguration.

Odetta sang at coffeehouses and at Carnegie Hall, made highly influential recordings of blues and ballads, and became one of the most widely known folk-music artists of the 1950s and ’60s. She was a formative influence on dozens of artists, including Bob Dylan, Joan Baez and Janis Joplin.

Her voice was an accompaniment to the black-and-white images of the freedom marchers who walked the roads of Alabama and Mississippi and the boulevards of Washington in the quest to end racial discrimination.

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http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/03/arts/music/03odetta.html?_r=1

We have lost a wonderful woman. RIP, Odetta.

[peekaloo]

1. RIP

:-(

[madaboutharry]

2. A great loss to American culture.

She was a national treasure and I feel terribly sad that she did not live to see the inauguration. I am sure that Mr. Dylan is shedding tears today. She was a great influence on his music.

There is a wonderful interview of her that I heard on NPR a few years back. She was talking about modern musicians and had this to say: "They can play three chords and think they know how to play the guitar". I loved her instantly.

[mdmc]

3. sad to hear

peace and God bless

[malaise]

4. How sad

I was hoping she'd recover and sing at the inauguration. R.I.P. sister. :cry:

[RobertDevereaux]

5. Fortunate to have met her...

...about five years ago here in Colorado.

Or rather sat near her in awe at an outdoor party on a patio by a lake, listening to her laugh and talk on into the night.

A true giant of grace and beauty has passed from our midst.

[stuntcat]

6. oh it would have been great for her to sing at Obama's thing!

I love her, I saw her in concert once!
Well I'm glad she lived to see him elected. There are a few more singers who died the last couple years who I wish had lived to see November 5th.

[stuntcat]

7. r & k for Odetta

((I have a way of stopping threads so.. ))