Odetta Sings Odetta

Odetta Sings...
Produced by John Boylan
Polydor 24-4048

Made in New York, 1970

The folk singer Odetta Gordon (1930-2008), known as simply Odetta, released a score of records between 1954 and 2001. Not that would like to collect all these but if I see one at a thrift store I'll pick it up for sure. I have about ten of them. My favorite is The Essential Odetta on Vanguard records released in 1973 as a package of earlier live albums. A few months ago I posted a song from her 1960 record Christmas Spirituals and today I'll do one from Odetta Sings, a 1970 record that I picked up at the Goodwill around the corner the other day. Neither of these records are "essential" but still a good listen. Odetta Sings is apparently her attempt to cross over into the mainstream as it is loaded with covers of popular songs of the time. It is also her only record on the mainstream Polydor label (most of her best work is on Vanguard) and contains renditions of Rolling Stones, Randy Newman, and Elton John songs among others. Half the record was recorded with session musicians in Los Angeles (Carole King is one of these), and the other half at the famous Muscle Shoal Studios in Alabama. The best songs on the record are the only ones that aren't covers but were written by Ms. Gordon herself: Hit or Miss and Movin' it on. You can listen to Hit or Miss below. The song was recorded at the Muscle Shoal Studios.

Country Records

Sammi Smith – New Winds, All Quadrants
Produced by Ray Baker
Elektra Records, 6E-137, New York, 1978

There's a reason why I don't collect country records. I don't like them. If I did, I would have had an enormous collection because on my numerous visits to thrift stores as I always see ones I'd never seen before. That's not to say that I don't have any country records, I actually have quite a few, but I really don't add to these much any more. And that I don't like them is of course a too broad generalization. There are plenty great country records out there that I really like. I love David Allan Coe, Dolly Parton, Kinky Friedman, Hank Williams (Sr.), to name just a few. What I don't like about country records most is the political conservatism that oozes off these records, and the pathos. Well I don't mind pathos, but in the wrong ignorant hands it all ends up being pathetic. While this is not a podium to be critical of any record (it's a celebration about the vastness of the record universe, and the many jewels it contains), I will indulge for once and have a rant about this country record I bought for a dollar the other day. You can read it as a celebration of (bad) records that are not included in the canon of the popular music history if you'd like, because that's the purpose here. This record by Sammi Smith has so much pathos embedded in it, that it becomes embarrassing to listen to. It's not so much Sammi Smith per se—her voice is good, her singing is sound, not overly dramatic or emotive, and she had produced really good country before (like her hit Help Me Make it Through the Night, written by Kris Kristofferson)—but the songwriting on this record is poor to say the least. Take the song Norma Jean (that you can listen to below), a narrative song about Marilyn Monroe, the lyrics of which would have gotten a B- in a sixth grade English class. No matter how well or how sincere Sammi Smith's performance of this song is executed, it could never save it. Now it doesn't help that I speak English, maybe it is possible I would have liked the song if it were in Polish or some other language I couldn't understand but I will never find out because I just can't listen to the song without hearing the words. Now the songwrit(h)ing is grave throughout the disc but I have to admit that I selected the worse one to share with you. (Most others wouldn't be appropriate for grade school anyway, adding yet another layer of embarrassment—too frank, too honest, which are bad qualities for badly written lyrics.) Needless to say after this rant that, instead of putting in my record recycle bin, I will gladly insert the record into my collection (hers will be right after my Patti Smith records). On a more positive note about the production: I think the record title New Winds, All Quadrants, is cute, and witty, and smart, I would expected it on gospel record. On a less positive note about the production, this question: Why is the title of the song about Marilyn Monroe spelled Norma Jean, and not Norma Jeane?