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American singer (1930–2008)

"Odetta Holmes" redirects here. For The Dark Tower character, see Susannah Dean.

Musical artist

Odetta Holmes (December 31, 1930 – December 2, 2008), known as Odetta, was an American singer, often referred to as "The Voice of the Civil Rights Movement". Her musical repertoire consisted largely of American folk music, blues, jazz, and spirituals. An important figure in the American folk music revival of the 1950s and 1960s, she influenced many of the key figures of the folk-revival of that time, including Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Mavis Staples, and Janis Joplin. In 2011 Time magazine included her recording of "Take This Hammer" on its list of the 100 Greatest Popular Songs, stating that "Rosa Parks was her No. 1 fan, and Martin Luther King Jr. called her the queen of American folk music."

Biography

Early life and career

Odetta was born Odetta Holmes in Birmingham, Alabama. Her father, Reuben Holmes, had died when she was young, and in 1937 she and her mother, Flora Sanders, moved to Los Angeles. When Flora remarried a man called Zadock Felious, Odetta took her stepfather's last name. In 1940 Odetta's teacher noticed her vocal talents, "A teacher told my mother that I had a voice, that maybe I should study," she recalled. "But I myself didn't have anything to measure it by." She began operatic training at the age of thirteen. After attending Belmont High School, she studied music at Los Angeles City College supporting herself as a domestic worker. Flora had hoped to see her daughter follow in the footsteps of Marian Anderson, but Odetta doubted a large black girl like herself would ever perform at the Metropolitan Opera. In 1944 she made her professional debut in musical theater as an ensemble member for four years with the Hollywood Turnabout Puppet Theatre, working alongside Elsa Lanchester. In 1949, she joined

Odetta, an American folk singer and social activist during the civil rights movement, was born in Birmingham, Alabama on December 31, 1930.  Odetta was born to Rueben, a steel worker, and Flora (Saunders) Holmes.  Her father died in 1936, and as a result her mother remarried and moved the family to Los Angeles, California where Odetta took her stepfather’s last name, Felious.  Eventually, Odetta Felious dropped her last name, officially going by Odetta.  After graduating from high school, Odetta attended Los Angeles City College where she earned her degree in music, specializing in classical music.

Odetta took her first job touring with Finian’s Rainbow

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, a musical about prejudice in 1947.  In 1950 she settled in San Francisco and began participating in the city’s emerging folk music scene.  She learned how to play the guitar and combined aspects of folk, blues, and spirituals to create her unique sound.   In San Francisco, she began touring as a folk singer.

In 1953, Odetta moved to New York City.  Her first album “Odetta Sings Ballads and Blues” was recorded in 1956, followed by “At the Gate of Horn” in 1957.  She performed at the Newport Folk Festival four times between 1959 and 1965.  The music she created in the 1950s inspired her emerging 1960s civil rights activism.

In 1963, Odetta joined Rev. Martin Luther King in the March on Washington and performed “Oh Freedom.” In the same year her album, “Odetta Sings Folk Songs” was one of the top-selling folk albums in the country.  Her success led to an invitation from the White House where she performed for President John F. Kennedy for the nationally televised civil rights special, “Dinner with the President.”

Odetta’s career peaked in the mid-1960s but she continued to perform long after that decade.  Those later performances included prominent venues suc

We are very saddened to annouce the passing of the great folk blues legend, Odetta. She was 77 years old. Odetta had recently been hospitalized in New York City for kidney failure, and succumbed to heart failure on Tuesday.

On a personal note, I will remember the first time I met Odetta at the Town Hall Theater in NYC, when I was booking the musical guests for A Prairie Home Companion. As soon as she walked through the door for sound check that day, her commanding presence and energy filled the room. She was a strong, funny, wise and gracious woman.

Here’s Odetta’s obituary sent from her record label – M.C. Records:

Odetta was born in Birmingham Alabama, Dec. 31 1930.

Her father, Reuben Holmes, died when she was young, and in 1937 she and her mother, Flora Sanders, moved to Los Angeles. Three years later, Odetta discovered that she could sing.

She found her own voice by listening to blues, jazz and folk music from the African-American and Anglo-American traditions. She earned a music degree from Los Angeles City College. Her training in classical music and musical theater was “a nice exercise, but it had nothing to do with my life,” she said.

In 1950, Odetta began singing professionally in a West Coast production of the musical “Finian’s Rainbow,” but she found a stronger calling in the bohemian coffeehouses of San Francisco. “We would finish our play, we’d go to the joint, and people would sit around playing guitars and singing songs and it felt like home,” she said.

She began singing in nightclubs, cutting a striking figure with her guitar and her close-cropped hair.

Her voice plunged deep and soared high, and her songs blended the personal and the political, the theatrical and the spiritual. Her first solo album, “Odetta Sings Ballads and Blues,” resonated with an audience hearing old songs made new.

Bob Dylan, referring to that