When You Believe Trivia Quiz

Answer: Martin Luther King Jr.

King produced the sobriquet for Odetta in 1961. The pair complimented each other beautifully with Odetta constantly lending her voice to his campaigns and the Civil Rights movement in general. In 1963 Odetta joined Dr. King on his "March on Washington" and sang three songs at the rally, famous for King's "I Have a Dream" speech.

In 1965 she joined him again as he undertook the "Selma to Montgomery" march.

Answer: True

The comment surfaced during an interview with the Washington Post in 1983. Odetta put forth the theory that we created music and dance because we were frightened. We possessed a "fear of God, fear that the sun would not come back, many things. It developed as a way of worship or to appease something... The world hasn't improved, and so there is always something to sing about".

Answer: Broke rocks with a sledgehammer

The song in question was a re-working of the song "Take This Hammer", a prison song original published in 1915 and made famous by Lead Belly in 1940. The story of Odetta's application to her work, and this song, appeared in an article by Time magazine in 1960.

They would go on to say that one of the reason's Odetta's song stood out amongst her contempories was due to her meticulous care and the attention that she paid to her numbers. "She is a keening Irish woman in "Foggy Dew"", they said "a deserted lover in "Lass From the Low Country"".

Answer: Opera

Marian Anderson was a renowned African-American contralto. Odetta, however, had strong doubts that she (herself) would ever find herself on the stage at the Metropolitan Opera and, these doubts, were purely fueled by her skin colour. It was her talent that saw her accepted into the music faculty at the Los Angeles City College.

Then in 1944, as a nineteen year old, she was making her debut with the Turnabout Puppet Theatre and, in 1949, she toured nationally with the musical "Finian's Rainbow". It was whilst she was on this tour that she met with a troupe of balladeers and her desire for folk music was ignited.

Answer: The nightclub Odetta was performing at

After her performances on the "Finian's Rainbow" tour, Odetta began making a name for herself in the North Beach area of San Francisco. It didn't take long before she was hired as the regular artist at the Tin Angel nightclub. During this period she was teamed up with singer Larry Mohr, who also performed there.

The set up was that each performed their solo set and then closed the night off with a set as a duo. The owners of Fantasy Records, Sol and Max Weiss, saw the duo act and encouraged them to record an album together.

The partnership did not last long after the recording. Larry was drafted and shipped off to France. Whilst the pair did do some performances together upon Larry's return, each had already begun moving in separate directions musically.

Answer: Odetta Sings Ballads & Blues

After the dissolution of her partnership with Larry Mohr, Odetta did do some solo recordings, however, "Odetta Sings Ballads and Blues" was the first full album of her work to be released. This was an important album for her, not just because it bought to her attentive audience a series of old songs made new but it revealed the respect that Odetta had for both her roots and artists such as Lead Belly, who'd carved the path for her to follow. It also showcased her voice to the world. And what a weapon it proved to be, as she plunged deep, soared high and then infused her own theatre and spirituality into each note. This is an album that numerous artists have come forth to say that it was a major influence on their recording careers. Among them was Bob Dylan who, in a 1978 interview with Playboy magazine, stated "The first thing that turned me on to folk singing was Odetta. I heard a record of hers "Odetta Sings Ballads and Blues" in a record store, back when you could listen to records right there in the store. Right then and there, I went out and traded my electric guitar and amplifier for an acoustical guitar, a flat-top Gibson".

The influence of Odetta on Bob Dylan's early career is explored by Martin Scorcese in his 2005 documentary "No Direction Home". He also produces archive footage of Odetta singing "Waterboy"in 1959 and "Muleskinner Blues".

Answer: Harry Belafonte

Odetta had previously appeared on television on "Tonight with Belafonte" in 1959. For Belafonte this was a dream come true as he'd idolized Odetta and cited her as a powerful influence on his musical style. That evening they sang "Hole in the Bucket" as a duo and their rendition was greeted with rousing approval. Two years later they recorded a live version of the song, released it as a single and had success with it on the UK Singles charts.

The song itself describes a "deadlock" scenario where Henry (Belafonte) has an issue with a hole in his bucket. Liza (Odetta) tells him to fix it and then Henry comes up with a litany of other issues that prevent him from finishing the task; the straw to fix it with is too long, the axe to cut with is too blunt, the stone to sharpen it is too dry and he needs to fetch water to wet it... but there's a hole in the bucket.

Do yourself a favour and find this track on YouTube. One, you will get to experience the power in this woman's remarkable voice. I had always felt that Harry Belafonte had a beautiful, smooth voice but, in this arrangement, he is clearly overshadowed. Second, it is a good example as to how Odetta is able to instill emotion, sarcasm, wit and theatre into such a simple song.

Answer: Woody Guthrie

A welter of notable artists were called upon in two separate concerts, to pay tribute to Guthrie, one of the 20th century's most enduring and prolific folk singers. The first gig was held at Carnegie Hall in 1968 and was followed by a performance at the Hollywood Bowl two years later. Odetta took to the stage on her own to deliver rousing versions of Guthrie's "Ramblin' Round" and "John Hardy".

She then provided backing vocals as Joan Baez and Pete Seeger delivered a heartfelt "I've Got to Know".

She accompanied Will Gear and Peter Fonda as they performed "Why Oh Why" before teaming up with Arlo Guthrie, Country Joe McDonald, Baez and Seeger to close with "This Train is Bound for Glory".

Answer: 0

Whilst Odetta has received numerous honours and awards, she has not been bestowed with a Grammy. Aside from her Living Legend Award she was presented with the National Endowment For the Arts' National Medal of Arts in 1995 by President Bill Clinton and received the Visionary Award at the Kennedy Centre in 2004... but still no Grammy.

It almost feels sad to say that the woman that has been a powerful influence on a generation of singers has only garnered three nominations for a Grammy. Her first nomination was in 1963 for Best Folk Recording ("Odetta Sings Folk Songs") and then it was thirty six years before she was acknowledged for Best Traditional Blues Album ("Blues Everywhere I Go").

Her final call was for Best Traditional Folk Album in 2006 for "Gonna Let it Shine".

Answer: False

It had been Odetta's hope that she would perform at the inauguration of America's first African-American president. Sadly, in November of 2008 her health deteriorated and she passed away a month later on December 2. Obama was inaugurated the following month, January 20, 2009.

Without doubt the peak of Odetta's fame was during the 1960s when her voice was part of the army that was the Civil Rights movement. However, with the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968 the impetus that he'd generated virtually died with him. In the same breath, the call for songs of protest and freedom also began to wane. This had a direct impact on Odetta's career. By 1977 she almost ceased making albums, recording only two in the twenty years to 1997. It was the passing of her friend, the great Ella Fitzgerald, that drew her back to touring and recording. Her first CD on her return was "To Ella" (1998), a live recording dedicated to her.

Odetta's legacy rests in the people that she inspired and they have already been spoken about, however, the fitting tribute to her that gives me goosebumps every time that I read it was penned by the poet Maya Angelou; "If only one could be sure that every 50 years a voice and a soul like Odetta's would come along, the centuries would pass so quickly and painlessly we would hardly recognize time".