Odetta will not be down for Breakfast today
Posted: Wed Dec 03, 2008 8:27 pm
Folk singer and Black activist Odetta passed away at age 77 of heart disease.
Her obit in the L.A. Times failed to mention her collolabration with Harry Belafonte in the song "Hole in the Bucket"; performed live, it was hilarious the way they played off each other.
Born Odetta Holmes, her father died when she was little. Her mother remarried, and though Odetta took her stepfather's name, Felious, her used only her first name professionally. She was the recipient of the Library of Congress' Living Legend Award in 2005.
Next to the late Yma Sumac, Odetta had a wide, expressive vocal range. I remember we had one of her record albums; one of the songs on it I enjoyed was "Fox Went To Town." I also think there was one, possibly titled "Why, Why, Why?" that had the line "Why can't a cow have kittens?" and the answer was "Cows have calves." Possibly this might have been part of her activism, in light of what's in her obituary.
Her obit in the L.A. Times failed to mention her collolabration with Harry Belafonte in the song "Hole in the Bucket"; performed live, it was hilarious the way they played off each other.
Born Odetta Holmes, her father died when she was little. Her mother remarried, and though Odetta took her stepfather's name, Felious, her used only her first name professionally. She was the recipient of the Library of Congress' Living Legend Award in 2005.
Next to the late Yma Sumac, Odetta had a wide, expressive vocal range. I remember we had one of her record albums; one of the songs on it I enjoyed was "Fox Went To Town." I also think there was one, possibly titled "Why, Why, Why?" that had the line "Why can't a cow have kittens?" and the answer was "Cows have calves." Possibly this might have been part of her activism, in light of what's in her obituary.