Customer Reviews

The Essential Odetta

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1 star:		(1)

 

 

You have to know Odetta, and this is the best album for getting to know her -- so there you go!

Odetta has one of the most powerful voices ever recorded. Thank goodness we live in an age when we have recording capability! Just think if she had lived a century earlier -- her voice could not have been immortalized for future generations to witness.

She sings folks songs with conviction, humor, and sheer strength.

And she's actually, in my opinion, a little better as a live performer than a studio one -- somehow her passions really cut loose in front of an audience. No restraint. So this is an excellent album to start with.

Best songs to skip to when you first turn her on: TIMBER, FREEDOM TRILOGY, and JOSHUA FIT THE BATTLE OF JERICHO. Once you listen to those, you'll be properly blown away, and you can go back and get started on the rest of the wonderful album. Let those songs be your incentive!

"The Essential Odetta", consisting of 20 live songs, was recorded and released in the early sixties as two separate albums capturing performances at Carnegie Hall and Town Hall. The full 20 songs showcase her extraordinary singing capabilities, interpreting folk and blues numbers. It is one of the two best compilations of her work, the other one being "Best of the Vanguard Years".

Since her debut in 1954, Odetta served as an inspiration to folk artists such as Bob Dylan and Joan Baez, who picked up steam in the mid-to-late sixties. It was, as a matter of fact, thanks to the Martin Scorcese documentary about Dylan, "No Direction Home", that I first heard of her, and I am glad I did. This is one fine artist that deserves to be discovered by the new generations.

Odetta sings with the voice of folk, blues, and the heart. If you own only one album by Odetta get the christmas album with spirituals. Then you will definately want to make this the second CD of Odetta's you have. I have loved this album, cassette, CD for years. Odetta is one of a kind.

One star off for poor mastering.

It is not an exageration for me to tell you that this is one of my all-time favorite albums - or more properly, Live at Carnegie Hall is (which is mostly found on this one, along with Live at Town Hall). When I first heard this on LP, I couldn't stop listening to it. It's something everyone should hear in their lifetimes. It makes the case for why Odetta has been recognized by the Library of Congress as a Living Legend. Just listen to the sound clips for a taste of how great it is.

However - I had the vinyl version. It sounds better than this. The problem with this CD is that it is in desperate need of remastering. The sound levels are so low that the dolby noise reduction used cuts into the instruments. Trying to adjust between the soft and loud parts is tricky, and you have to be careful not to blow your eardrums out if you're wearing headphones. Those of you who had CB radios and know what "squelch" is - this quickie mastering job suffers from that phenomenon. At the time (1990) a lot of record companies were coming out with poor mastering jobs, many of which have been revisited and corrected. Unfortunately that has not happened yet with this classic album.

If anyone at Vanguard is listening - PLEASE REMASTER THIS ALBUM! It should be regarded as a national treasure and it deserves better treatment. I will gladly buy it again. And by the way, I notice you lopped off a few tracks from the original albums - well you have 17 free minutes with which to add back some of those tracks! Please do so, it will be greatly appreciated.

I have been listening to and occasionally attending concerts by Odetta for over forty years and she still brings that big strong voice to her work as she did when I first heard her. A big strong strumming guitar adds to the pleasure. She is the consummate female interpreter of the old ballads that denoted the struggle of blacks and other at work and play in slavery times and later in wage slavery times. Religious sentiments about a better life in the hereafter because this life so is hell are also interwoven into some these ballads. It is hard today to get the full impact of that genre but I have noticed that audiences still response to her gentle prodding to sing along. If you have one Odetta album to get this is the one. Some children-oriented ballads, also sing-along-able add to the flavor of this album. Standouts here are If I Had A Hammer and Long Chains On.

Odetta's passion brings home the burden of the slave and the sharecropper. Haunting! Sound quality could be improved.

If you like traditional American music, this collection is a must. Sometimes the recording quality leaves a bit to be desired as often happens with live concert recordings, but the richness of Odetta's voice comes through and it feels in many ways like a personal performance. There's a lot of history in this music and you can hear the notes of immigration as well as the power of the spirituals.

Heard an excerpt of Odetta's singing on NPR and got so excited I bought two CDs. Unfortunately there was nothing on the label to warn me that "the Essential Odetta by Odetta" was a recording of a live concert. There is nothing more annoying on a CD than to have to listen to enthusiastic and long-lasting applause after each piece. It disturbs my enjoyment and does not make me feel that I'm at a concert. It only makes me feel that I was taken in by a low-budget recording of a live performance instead of a work performed in a studio with care for the listening audience.