On 7/7/07 in her 77th year, (she's 76) folk blues legend Odetta performed a free hour and a half set at Governors Island, NYC, kicking off the Folks on the Island four concert series.
The house in New Orleans is probably a high rise luxury condo now with more expensive whores and designer blue jeans but Odetta brings us back to before
the flood.
Before Janis Joplin sang Down on Me, there
was Odetta's recording on her 1959 LP Mine Eyes Have Seen. Joplin acknowleded her as the source. There was
Odetta soulfully growling Poor Little Jesus and singing Masters of War with force and conviction even beyond Dylan's. The other song in the medley is the Unfortunate Rake, another folk classic I first heard on the LP Folksy Nina (Simone) . Every 60's folk singer owes a debt to Odetta. Thanks for concert. It was great seeing you. Zeit
