RIP - Odetta

Odetta

b. : 12/31/30

d. : 12/02/08

. Odetta's heyday was in the 50's, slightly before my time. Along with groups like The Weavers, she embodied the definition of "folk-singing" until the next generation (Dylan, Joan Baez, the Kingston Trio) came along. . She's on one or two of my (vinyl) folk compilation albums. To be honest, neither she nor the Weavers are my folky "cup of tea". It's probably a generation thing. Still, she's one of those one-name singers (like Prince, Sting, and my personal favorite Melanie). You know you've carved your own niche when you're recognized by a single name. . But she was also a Civil Rights activist in the 1960's, and that's what I will most remember her for. She was a leader and a featured singer in the famous March on Washington in 1963. . The troubling thing is Miriam Makeba died less than a month ago, and now Odetta's gone too. God seems to have a habit of "collecting sets of threes". In Oct/Nov, it was authors. You can read about that here. Now He's either collecting black female singers, or black singers/civil rights activists. If it's the former, Leontyne Price is the most likely "third" of the set. If it's the latter, then the my money's on Harry Belafonte. If the pattern holds, the set will be completed before the end of the year.