A civil rights icon from the 50’s and 60’s, simply known as Odetta, died Tuesday from heart disease. Folk music aficionados have followed Odetta for 60 years. She sung a mixture of blues, jazz, and folk music. She has left a legacy of music. No soundtrack of the American Civil Rights movement would be complete without her music.
She influenced musicians like Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Joan Baez, and Janis Joplin. She performed for JFK, marched with Dr. Martin Luther King, and was awarded National Endowment for the Arts Medal of the Arts and Humanities by President Bill Clinton in 1999. The next year she won a grammy.
Odetta had hoped to sing at Obama’s inauguration
For more about Odetta follow the link. Check out the interview with her (it won’t imbed).
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/03/arts/music/03odetta.html?_r=1&hp
Cotton Fields
