AMG Review of Essential Odetta

Richie Unterberger
All Music Guide

Although the title leads one to believe this is a best-of of sorts, in fact it's a straight pairing of two live concerts from the early '60s that were originally released as Odetta at Carnegie Hall and At Town Hall. It's still a worthy representation of Odetta in good form, accompanied throughout by Bill Lee on bass, and covering a variety of traditional folk songs, spirituals, and later compositions such as "If I Had a Hammer." Be aware that the CD reissue of this title omits a few tracks from each LP, although the double-LP version has everything.