BIBLIOTHECA AUGUSTANA

 

Odetta Holmes

1930 - 2008

 

The Author

 

Odetta Holmes (December 31, 1930 - December 2, 2008), known as Odetta, was an American singer, actress, guitarist, lyricist, and a civil and human rights activist, 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. 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». (Source: Wikipedia)

 

Perhaps, in the end, where your anger comes from

is less important than what you do with it.

Harry Belafonte

 

 

Songs

 

Waterboy (1954) >>>

Take This Hammer (1957) >>>

Christmas Spirituals (1960)

Oh Freedom (1961) >>>

I'm on My Way (1963) >>>

Discography    >>>

 

 

Appendix

 

Odetta (Wikipedia)

Odetta, Voice of Civil Rights Movement, Dies at 77 (Tim Weiner, New York Times)

Sanctuary (Film 1961)

Sources/Colophon