Best of the Vanguard Years

Odetta | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (January 26, 1999)
• Original Release Date: January 26, 1999
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Vanguard Records
• ASIN: B00000HF5S
• Also Available in: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #177,427 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Odetta is one of the last American folk singers with ties to the authentic folk tradition. Mentored in the early '50s by Woody Guthrie cronies Ramblin' Jack Elliott and Pete Seeger (whose "If I Had a Hammer" is covered here in a strangely unmelodic manner), as well as Harry Belafonte, Odetta is easily identified by her husky voice--a strong influence on both Joan Armatrading and Tracy Chapman. While with Vanguard, she made a spiritual claim to tunes already associated with Leadbelly ("Midnight Special," "Cotton Fields"), not to mention slave spirituals, pop gospel ("He's Got The Whole World"), and even "Battle Hymn of the Republic." Classic rock fans will recognize "Down on Me," which was later electrified by Janis Joplin. The best tracks here, however, are the four unreleased gems that close the CD, running from terrific jazzy blues and R&B (including the great standard "Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out") to her take on "House of the Risin' Sun." --Bill Holdship

Product Description

Odetta's recordings for Vanguard are among her best, and this CD offers a healthy 21-track dose, including three unreleased tracks! Includes No More Auction Block for Me and Battle Hymn of the Republic from her Carnegie Hall performances; Southern work songs like Cotton Fields and If I Had a Hammer , and gospel favorites like Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child and Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho . Bill Lee (father of Spike Lee) accompanies on bass.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars I prefer Odetta the folksinger, April 20, 2004

By 

J. C Clark "eanna" (Overland Park, KS United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Best of the Vanguard Years (Audio CD)

If you own the Essential Odetta you do not need this one. The Essential is the full version of her glorious live performance; on this we have 8 cuts from that CD, and not necessarily the best ones.

The other studio work ranges from pretty good to wonderful, but it is only 9 cuts. Odetta is a breathtaking performer who too often allows herself to perform second-rate material. With the best stuff, she's unbeatable. Saro Jane is a favorite song of mine; she is just fantastic on that one. And her performance of Woody's Rambling Round Your City is a winner. But I find her Battle Hymn rather dated, and the backup chorus by Milt Okun suffers from the same flaws the backup chorus on the coeval Cisco Houston LP does. Cool Water also fails.

And personally, the final four performances fail to make my cut. All performed much better by others, all sounding contrived and obligatory, all very much uninteresting to me.