... LP, Vinyl record album

Includes the songs "Midnight Special", "Cotton Fields", "Special Delivery Blues","Rambling Round Your City", "Cool Water", "Down On Me", "I've Been Driving On Bald Mountain/Water Boy", "Saro Jane", "Battle Hymn Of The Republic","If I Had A Hammer", "Joshua Fit The Battle Of Jerico", "Meetin' At The Building", "No More Auction Block For Me", "Sometimes I Feel Like A Motherless Child", "Spoken Introduction: He Had A Long Chain On", "Another Man Done Gone", "He's Got The Whole World In His Hands", "Make Me A Pallet On Your Floor", "Livin' With The Blues", "Nobody Knows You When You're Down And Out", and "House Of The Rising Son". CD

Early early work from Odetta – still done in the folksy mode you'd expect from other records of the 60s, but also with a slight flavor of trad jazz too – thanks to the presence of some great musicians on the date! The group features some standout horn work from Buck Clayton on trumpet, Vic Dickenson on trombone, and Herb Hall on clarinet – all of whom bring in a New Orleans flavor to the music that's quite surprising – almost a back door link of Odetta's groove to older African-American traditions, but not in the ways that are usually foregrounded in her work. Other players include Dick Wellstood on piano, Ahmed Abdul-Malik on bass, and Shep Shepherd on drums – and titles include "Hard Oh Lord", "Oh My Babe", "Yonder Come The Blues", "Make Me A Pallet On Your Floor", "Hogan's Alley", and "Leavin This Mornin". CD

... CD

A stripped down, bluesy folk soul set of Dylan tunes by Odetta – returning some kudos to a kid who was hugely inspired by her earlier material in the late 50s – a really beautiful record and possibly one of the best ever Dylan covers albums! Odetta Sings Dylan is actually one of the earliest full LPs of Dylan covers – pretty soon everyone and their brother would be covering him, very few as naturalistic and wonderfully as Odetta! Odetta's perfect vocals and guitar are accompanied by guitarist Peter Childs and bassist Les Grinage, and the titles include "Baby, I'm In The Mood For You", "Long Ago, Far Away", "Don't Think Twice, It's Alright", "Tomorrow Is A Long Time", "Walkin' Down The Line", "Masters Of War", "Long Time Gone" and more. CD version includes 2 bonus covers from earlier sessions: "Blowin' In The Wind" and "Paths Of Victory". CD

Very early work from Odetta – much more bluesy than some of her later work – both in the setting, and in the way that she inflects her lyrics! In a way, there's more of a folk/blues link here than you'll find in some of Odetta's music of the 60s – a combination of modes that almost puts her in the Josh White camp. The instrumentation is quite spare – mostly just guitar and vocals from Odetta, with extra vocals and banjo from Larry Mohr – on titles that include "Water Boy", "Old Cotton Fields", "The Frozen Logger", "The Car Car Song", and "Pay Day At Coal Creek". CD features 6 more bonus tracks, too – all previously unissued recordings! CD

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Ralph J Gleason might just be one of the coolest cats to ever write about music – a key part of the San Francisco scene during the postwar years – where his talents helped illuminate both the worlds of art and music during the beat generation – then really helped shine a spotlight on all the cultural changes in the city during the 60s – which even led to Gleason's role in the founding of Rolling Stone magazine! Gleason always had a great eye (and ear) for things that were new and special, but never in a way that was slavish to the moment – or to its creator – and the book features an initial section on his writings on jazz and blues – with essays on John Coltrane, Charles Mingus, Carmen McRae, BB King, John Handy, Vince Guaraldi & Bola Sete, Cal Tjader, Ben Webster, the San Francisco Jazz scene, and other diverse topics. The second section features Gleason on folk and rock – with bits on Jefferson Airplane, Hank Williams, Lenny Bruce, Odetta, The Beatles, Bob Dylan, and others – and the final section features articles on politics and culture – covering topics that include Richard Nixon, radio payola, Law & Order, flower children, and other slices of society, seen from the Gleason viewpoint. Book is hardcover, and 309 pages. Book

A nicely rootsy set – one that mixes vintage work with new material done in a similar mode – all at a level that criss-crosses between rural blues, trad jazz, and a range of other older styles! The package is maybe less a full compendium of the roots of black music than it is a set that does a good job of changing artists while keeping an eye on a thematic sense of expression – beginning with actual roots, then using roots revival and contemporary material to echo a unified aesthetic! The package has track by track notes, and essays on the music – and the 40 track set features work from Cedric Burnside, Corey Harris & Sharde Thomas, Ranky Tanky, Carolina Chocolate Drops, Lightnin Hopkins, Staple Singers, Bennie Richardson, Golden Eagles, Martin Bogan & Armstrong, Bessie Jones, Skip James, Cephas & Wiggins, Inmate Named Peter, Rev Gary Davis, John Jackson, Odetta, Mississippi John Hurt, Professor Longhair, Campbell Brothers, Dom Flemons, Tuts Washington, and others. CD