In somewhere around 1973 I was sitting on a railroad tie at the South Street Seaport Museum in lower Manhattan, with my toddler in a stroller sleeping, my husband and our friends somewhere, all of us come to see Odetta perform. Ever since I first heard her perform earlier in the 1960s, I was her follower, a devoted fan. So I'm hot, exhausted, sitting there, and here she comes with several people, all walking toward the performance area. She saw me, smiled, and I have never forgotten that moment. I felt blessed.
Only found out about this amazing woman thru a Bob Dylan documentary. I was watching it when Im like, "Wait a minute...I know that song! Rhiannon Giddens sings it!" and found this. Rhiannon does a beautiful powerful version but this cannot be beat.
Odetta is like a vocal wrecking ball. It's a shame hardly anyone talks about her these days. I've yet to encounter anyone in my age group that knows anything about her. Same goes for Paul Robeson. :(
I heard this song about 5 months ago and it touched my soul...I wish people still cared about heartfelt, soulful music. I think the current musical tastes are a reflection of our poor values and ethics in the west.
I just saw the tv show, Have Gun Will Travel and saw Odetta. I had to look her up. I say a great actress and now I see a great singer too. I hope she is always remembered . What a treasure.
Waterboy, where are you hiding If you don't come right here Gonna tell you pa on you There ain't no hammer That's on a this mountain That ring like mine boy That ring like mine I'm gonna bust this rock boy From here to the Macon All the way to the jail boy All the way to the jail You Jack o diamond Jack o diamond Know you of old boy I know you're of old You rob-a my pocket Rob my pocket Silver and gold boy Of silver and gold There ain't no sweat boy That's on a this mountain That run like mine boy That run like mine
Her expression is so powerful, almost scary, starting at 3:29.... I adore this lady, so much willpower. Collected her 10 first albums for only 5 euro from Qobuz!
Thank you for posting this! I saw a clip of it in a Bob Dylan documentary on PBS about ten years ago and have always wanted to hear the full performance.
Same here-I only saw a 10 second clip. Started looking for this when I watched another RU-vid video called “11 songs that were Metal before Metal was invented” or something like that. I thought-who was that lady from the Dylan special that played her guitar like a percussion instrument and barked the lyrics of her song-she was punk rock before punk rock existed and Riot Grrl before Riot Grrl existed. Took me a minute to remember her name.
I also must add-I never knew much about Miles Davis before seeing a PBS special on him this year-now I love him! Unbelievably talented. Same thing about Joni Mitchell-never listened to her until I saw the PBS special “Woman of Heart and Mind”- now I love her!!!! Keep it up PBS
Frigging amazing. True art. So clear that she had the power, commitment, originality and musicality to inspire Dylan to join the folk movement, not to mention Baez and so many more. I first discovered her old vinyl LPs in thrift stores when a young teen, and I heard her and thought - this woman is a genius. So happy to have seen this performance, thanks for posting.
Thank you so much for finding this and posting it! Thanks to Rhiannon Giddens giving props to those who inspired her, I know about Odetta, and I'm so thankful for that.
Who in the fuck disliked this video? They're either clueless to music or just plain racist. That's all I can honestly think of why someone would not love her. Thank you Odetta for your beautiful voice and talent..
I had the privilege of meeting Odetta in 2008 as she was performing at a concert to honor Sister Rosetta Tharpe in the Philly area. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-TieWAqq6gjg.html She was among the kindest people I have ever met. She was so interested in other people. She had a gentle intensity. All the personality traits of a great leader, listener, and humanitarian. She would have been a great President.
It is, indeed, Waterboy. If you look at the Wikipedia article, there's a list of the many people who have covered it, including Avery Robinson in the 1920s, Odetta, and Harry Belafonte. Like all old, traditional songs, there will be many permutations of the lyrics, and no real consensus on what the "original" text was, because it grew organically and could sound different in different regions. If you look them up, there are more similarities than differences between Robinson's, Belafonte's, and Odetta's versions, because they share the same root, while not being absolutely beholden to some original blueprint.
