The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #116166 Message #2492405
Posted By: Art Thieme
12-Nov-08 - 10:19 PM
Thread Name: Odetta hospitalized (Nov 2008)
Subject: RE: Odetta hospitalized (Nov 2008)
In 1959 my girlfriend said we should go to the GATE OF HORN (Chicago seminal folk club) to hear something she called "an Odetta." Needless to say, I was astounded by her voice, her presence, and her unbelievable guitar picking.
The word out then was that she had been taught some by none other than Frank Hamilton. (If that's true, it is completely logical; Frank was the house musician at the Gate Of Horn back then!)
I graduated high school that year, and went on to hear Odetta "Felious" (her last name then) at the University Of Illinois in Champaign. Just yesterday I was told that Odetta had to cancel her show scheduled for next week in Rockford, Illinois because of Illness.---- And now this sad thread.
My heartfelt sincere hopes for a real and a speedy recovery go out to her.
Odetta, be well!
Art Thieme