Another great voice of the 20th century has moved on. Odetta died December 2 at the age of 77. She was one of the most important voices in the development of folk music, and in particular the musical education of Bob Dylan & Joan Baez. She studied opera at 13, then worked in Hollywood for The Hollywood Turnabout Puppet Theater with Elsa Lanchester. She acted on stage and in films. In 1974 she was in the acclaimed TV movie The Autobiography OF Miss Jane Pittman with Cicely Tyson. She was hooked up with the usual: Belafonte, Dr King, James Baldwin, Pete Seeger. Rosa Parks sited her songs as the ones that she was most fond of. One could've been the 1961 UK hit she had with Belafonte, "Hole In The Bucket". Her last husband was blues figure Louisiana Red. Odetta suffered from, among other things, Pulmonary Fibrosis. In her hospital room she had a poster of Barack Obama, and she had fought to stay alive because she believed she would sing at his inauguration.
Instead we'll get be entertained by Beyonce & Jay-Z, two slammin' niggaz that are doing their part for civil rights - setting it backward 50 years.
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