Odetta sings ballads & blues : early album collection

"Odetta's debut album was a strong, confident effort featuring just her and her guitar on 16 tracks, most of which were traditional in origin. In its day, it was quite an influential recording; Bob Dylan, in fact, once cited this record in particular as the one that made him decide to trade in his electric guitar and amplifier for an acoustic guitar. Several of the songs would find their ways into the repertoires of subsequent folkies, and even some folk-rock bands. There's no way of knowing whether they heard the tunes first on this release, but it's entirely possible, as it was one of the first strong traditional folk LPs. It's now been reissued on CD, and retains a lot of its original appeal in the power and emotional depth of the performances".

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"All songs are emotive, heartfelt and profoundly moving. It would take a cold, cold heart not to be moved by the soulful and brilliantly impassioned singing of Odetta ... This is a wonderful collection of 49 songs, recorded during Odetta's peak ... Her 1960 performance at Carnegie Hall is simply amazing, a remarkable classic".