Odetta

Image from New York Magazine

Odetta Holmes was a well-known figure in the sixties folk music scene. She never used her last name, was called simply Odetta.

Her musical work was admired by a civil rights hero of the time, Rosa Parks, who was, according to Odetta, her number one fan. Another friend and musical admirer, Martin Luther King Jr. is said to have called her the Queen of American folk music.

A noteworthy hit was the ballad of the railroad labourer, Take this Hammer. Another was The House of the Rising Sun.

Here she introduces and sings one of her best-known songs, a mix of blues and uplifting gospel, This Little Light of Mine.

The world lost a great voice when Odetta died in 2009, aged 78.