Customer Reviews

At the Gate of Horn

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(0)
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Early stereo recording -- lacking the genius of the mono mix of Ballads and Blues from the year before, but a startling example of the selling power of stereo as a form. High art, masterful recording, meticulous analog production. This is studio work, despite the appearance of it having been done in the Chicago folk night club. An influence on the American folk generation. Serious art, skilfully packaged. A dearth of recording information. Operatic heir to Paul Robeson and Leadbelly.

I remember when I first heard this album, in its original 1957 vinyl release, back in the 1970's. It's folk with guts. If you are a real folk afficionado, you gotta have it.

This CD brought a point home: beauty can equate power.

I'm not talking of courtesans, (though I'm sure this thread-worn truth applies there, too.) I'm speaking of the sheer force with which a listener is struck when Odetta's operatically trained voice delivers "Greensleeves." Every emotion is heightened, even humour. After all, could you imagine, say, Pavarotti, tackling the "QUACK! QUACK! QUACK!" of "The Fox" with the grace Odetta brings? I laugh aloud every time I hear that song.

Her caress of "Gallows Pole" left such an impression that I sang it for two weeks. (Store clerks were horrified to hear me amusing my toddler with the lyrics, "Hangman, hangman, slack your rope / slack it for a while / I can see my father coming ridin' many a mile...Papa, did you come to see me hang by the gallows pole?")

I'm still learning folk and have a long way to go. Odetta is definitely a keeper, though. If you haven't heard this album yet, I strongly recommend introducing yourself to it. If you already have your copy and are just skimming to see the comments of others, speak up! Add to the reviews! Proclaim your love from the top of the cliff! Perhaps, just perhaps, your words will send another rookie on the path to discovery.