Odetta - Waterboy

Dec, 1959 CBS

[@miriamnezer6382]

She has the voice of mother earth, the voice of truth, so deep, so beautiful.

[@saralynfosnight5139]

In somewhere around 1973 I was sitting on a railroad tie at the South Street Seaport Museum in lower Manhattan, with my toddler in a stroller sleeping, my husband and our friends somewhere, all of us come to see Odetta perform. Ever since I first heard her perform earlier in the 1960s, I was her follower, a devoted fan. So I'm hot, exhausted, sitting there, and here she comes with several people, all walking toward the performance area. She saw me, smiled, and I have never forgotten that moment. I felt blessed.

[@strooomon]

What a beautiful, chilling memory.

[@james4948]

This is a young women that, to me at least, has a bit of Odetta...........facebook.com/118817044807770/videos/3349977151767588/

[@369marnie]

Saralyn: Grateful for this wonderful loving story THANK YOU

[@TheAto2000]

I'm hearing about her in May 2022 at this moment due to this video .Glad to see your comment as the first and only one so far.

[@nobaloneymahoney7940]

Love that story 🤗 we're probably about same age

[@thoroughlywithfoil]

The fact this footage exists makes me glad to be alive in these times.

[@LindaAllen2129]

I worked back stag ay Kerrville Folk Festival. Met her when she appeared there .She was amazing and kind.

[@Shoebil]

I'm stunned, i'm moved, i can't describe what i'm feeling. Her voice is incredible.

[@toad9964]

Waterboy, where are you hiding If you don't come right here Gonna tell you pa on you There ain't no hammer That's on a this mountain That ring like mine boy That ring like mine I'm gonna bust this rock boy From here to the Macon All the way to the jail boy All the way to the jail You Jack o diamond Jack o diamond Know you of old boy I know you're of old You rob-a my pocket Rob my pocket Silver and gold boy Of silver and gold There ain't no sweat boy That's on a this mountain That run like mine boy That run like mine

[@matthewhill6879]

Thanks for this. Very powerful stuff

[@alvinshintaku8922]

Thanks for the inspiration to move along with my paths 😉🎉😊

[@mediamamachick]

The timbre of her voice is ridiculous. It's like her chest is deep caravan for her vocals to roll around in and expand. Fabulous talent.

[@NashaWriter85]

Only found out about this amazing woman thru a Bob Dylan documentary. I was watching it when Im like, "Wait a minute...I know that song! Rhiannon Giddens sings it!" and found this. Rhiannon does a beautiful powerful version but this cannot be beat.

[@JayBuff19]

Same!

[@meemeekeykat9402]

same =)

[@JayBuff19]

Got to see Rhiannon perform It live a few years ago, you know, when we had live music and things like that :)

[@lisablack8892]

We sure could used some soothing during this covid 19 thank you Ms. Odetta. RIP 💜

[@joshnorton498]

This gives me chills.

[@megdalenagonzalez-mounce1776]

So happy to be learning about Odetta in 2022, sad it took me until my 30's to do so. Such an important piece of U.S. and world history she was.

[@judymaynard6923]

Have a concert program signed by odetta.

[@evanwolf6618]

Maybe look into LeadBelly .. Start with ‘Rock Island Line’ .

[@helenpilgrim3921]

Try being 71 😢

[@megdalenagonzalez-mounce1776]

@@helenpilgrim3921 better late than never, eh! =)

[@angel4376]

Odetta is like a vocal wrecking ball. It's a shame hardly anyone talks about her these days. I've yet to encounter anyone in my age group that knows anything about her. Same goes for Paul Robeson. :(

[@russellfrazier3151]

I heard this song about 5 months ago and it touched my soul...I wish people still cared about heartfelt, soulful music. I think the current musical tastes are a reflection of our poor values and ethics in the west.

[@SallySallySallySally]

There are TY videos of Robeson singing this too which are also mesmerizing.

[@blacsouljah]

We need better arts education.

[@andreaandrea6716]

@@blacsouljah From your lips to God's ears.

[@andreaandrea6716]

@@russellfrazier3151 I could not agree with you more! (I care!)

[@TimTeboner]

Thank you for posting this! I saw a clip of it in a Bob Dylan documentary on PBS about ten years ago and have always wanted to hear the full performance.

[@Doctor-Stoppage]

Same!

[@thoroughlywithfoil]

Same doc is where I discovered her and John Jacob Niles

[@bianca952000]

Ditto! That noise she makes when she smacks her guitar...I thought it was a bowling alley pin! Loved this performance!❤

[@lazybelphegore6748]

Same here-I only saw a 10 second clip. Started looking for this when I watched another KZbin video called “11 songs that were Metal before Metal was invented” or something like that. I thought-who was that lady from the Dylan special that played her guitar like a percussion instrument and barked the lyrics of her song-she was punk rock before punk rock existed and Riot Grrl before Riot Grrl existed. Took me a minute to remember her name.

[@lazybelphegore6748]

I also must add-I never knew much about Miles Davis before seeing a PBS special on him this year-now I love him! Unbelievably talented. Same thing about Joni Mitchell-never listened to her until I saw the PBS special “Woman of Heart and Mind”- now I love her!!!! Keep it up PBS

[@RC-fw6ws]

Jesus, I got goosebumps, stunning

[@carlweis6707]

We'd have a better world if more folks knew Odetta.

[@lucialealferreira8949]

From Brazil, I say: my god!

[@tragicallyhoney]

Her shadow looks so cool and amazing performer.

[@Charles-db3kr]

Wow! No words can describe the feelings she emotes.

[@Liamf986]

You feel her don’t you

[@dickslayer111]

There ain’t no hammer, wooow!

[@gorporpio]

I was gonna try to post but you said it for me. Thanks for the words I couldn't come up with.

[@damiancazares7994]

Happy Heavenly 93rd Birthday Odetta Holmes December 31 1930 - December 2 2008

[@saintissa2900]

absolutely incredible. It is the best thing I have seen in many lives. Simply stunning!

[@-guitarzn-5515]

what she's expressing is so deep, its heartbreaking

[@paradiseawaits821]

Ms. Odetta, she hugs that song, wow that was beautiful! Thanks

[@nzdrone]

the POWER! she's a force

[@yomelankou4614]

What a SLAM......!!!!! Thanks !!!

[@loriwakefield1]

POWERFUL PERFORMANCE THANK YOU

[@gijsschubert7901]

Her expression is so powerful, almost scary, starting at 3:29.... I adore this lady, so much willpower. Collected her 10 first albums for only 5 euro from Qobuz!

[@mikkelsthaug3522]

thank you so much for this. i've been dreaming of finding a full version of this live version!

[@quintongroves952]

holy shit, this is the best thing since I listened to Janis the Joplin for the first time...I'm 20 lol

[@jamesalec60]

You might be interested to know that Janis was a huge Odetta fan.

[@mrwestern123]

oh baby....made the hair on my neck stand up....

[@christinemiley]

Let's keep her legend going forward forever

[@jessewarren7404]

Amazing!

[@littleninjawarrior6458]

oh odetta ye is just tickling my ears!!!

[@SarahHLeslie]

I just saw the tv show, Have Gun Will Travel and saw Odetta. I had to look her up. I say a great actress and now I see a great singer too. I hope she is always remembered . What a treasure.

[@juannavarro5487]

Amazing...sublime. What a powerful voice.

[@racourdav]

Wonderful!!

[@cynthiamoses1123]

Her voice touches my soul.

[@christinarobb3607]

Saw her at the river boat in Toronto when I was 14 years old and the only one how comes close is Mahalha Jackson and I,M 69 now

[@FrankPaint-vi5zb]

Came to this video from a Bob Dylan documentary. And man, Odetta is something else. This is damn good music.

[@0ComunistaSafado]

2024 🙋‍♂️

[@nyimalhamo7856]

Mesmerizing performance. What a gifted talent to the world.

[@brookegentleobannonmusic]

What an underrated artist.

[@robford3211]

I think artists now are overrated

[@rolandmarkland6844]

What a understatement

[@femaleblueslover]

СПАСИБО ОГРОМНОЕ!

[@richardforster4429]

Whowww! Yahhh! Great great guitar accompaniment also.

[@marisarossi6692]

immensa.

[@13magic74]

great, great song.

[@blueiris1718]

what a beauty in so, so many ways. rest in power and peace, dearest Odetta

[@scottgrenerth1079]

Thank you so much for finding this and posting it! Thanks to Rhiannon Giddens giving props to those who inspired her, I know about Odetta, and I'm so thankful for that.

[@williammccall9563]

16 people apparently have no concept of soul..... how sad for them

[@lisablack8892]

If you Lack a soul you must thumb it down. ☮️

[@jamiewilliams9853]

Whoa! Just found her. S

[@andytraill]

The best thing I've ever heard or will.

[@andreashows7361]

Oh my God ❤️🖤💔 I love her

[@roomtemperature7096]

Imagine hearing this live

[@musicatiranna553]

spettacolare

[@BaldwinFanonGarveyTureShakurX]

All of this time I've been listening to Don Shirley's Version and has no idea it was the same song I'd heard decades ago from Odetta

[@frankpeter6851]

One of those people who can make music out of nothing.

[@Flickchaser]

More SOUL in one of her fingers than a whole city block of Harlem or New Orleans!!

[@nowandzenify]

More soul in her pinky finger than in scarsdale or Grosse pointe --you mean?

[@apurdam]

Sublime! So much strength, control and feeling.

[@hififlipper]

A great performer she was.

[@SDTucker]

Frigging amazing. True art. So clear that she had the power, commitment, originality and musicality to inspire Dylan to join the folk movement, not to mention Baez and so many more. I first discovered her old vinyl LPs in thrift stores when a young teen, and I heard her and thought - this woman is a genius. So happy to have seen this performance, thanks for posting.

[@enricobusetto321]

Best live performance!

[@solidus191]

So amazing. Thanks for posting!

[@chloeedmund4350]

Wow.

[@rafaelalves3036]

mother of rock

[@honeycombsound2470]

I had the privilege of meeting Odetta in 2008 as she was performing at a concert to honor Sister Rosetta Tharpe in the Philly area. kzbin.info/www/bejne/iprIiHSnppuaoMk She was among the kindest people I have ever met. She was so interested in other people. She had a gentle intensity. All the personality traits of a great leader, listener, and humanitarian. She would have been a great President.

[@Kangaroojack62]

Wonderful music from heaven

[@MrGrinderman13]

thank you so much

[@tomrosie4768]

check out Rhiannon Giddens version

[@vindrum]

Who in the fuck disliked this video? They're either clueless to music or just plain racist. That's all I can honestly think of why someone would not love her. Thank you Odetta for your beautiful voice and talent..

[@tragicallyhoney]

Agree marry me

[@OmayraPacheco-m7n]

🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉😮NC.

[@FRANKiCARUSO716]

I’m a singer and to be different I think I might learn the song to do a cover of it the song is for unique

[@TheCitizenWarrior]

Great Wall Street Journal article about Odetta April 25-26, 2020

[@cookingartguy2170]

Omg. Touched by God.

[@amfinta]

Powerful.

[@LeCanalBarbaraAnne]

sublime

[@NAAAAAAAAAAification]

thank you ! Search this live for years ! Thank's!

[@tylerbrandon460]

Does anyone know the lyrics, key, and , chord progression to this

[@TheMimiguelguel]

Tyler Basho Brandon classic blues progression in the key of B

[@varenkadobrossiolova2568]

Si ça ne vous percute pas, c'est que vous dormez 😢

[@Maribo33]

Thank you very much for posting this wonderful video!

[@0otee]

Odetta the Great😍

[@amandasantlago]

Maravilhosa!

[@estelio2759]

2020 ???

[@UndisputedUFC]

If the blues, got the blues

[@fjordsonmooreman9931]

Anyone see odettas shadow as an upside heron or crane?

[@claudiascott6484]

Powerful performance.

[@mordechai-]

This is not Waterboy. I don't know what song it is, but I looked up the lyrics and they don't match.

[@Paroex]

It is, indeed, Waterboy. If you look at the Wikipedia article, there's a list of the many people who have covered it, including Avery Robinson in the 1920s, Odetta, and Harry Belafonte. Like all old, traditional songs, there will be many permutations of the lyrics, and no real consensus on what the "original" text was, because it grew organically and could sound different in different regions. If you look them up, there are more similarities than differences between Robinson's, Belafonte's, and Odetta's versions, because they share the same root, while not being absolutely beholden to some original blueprint.

[@mordechai-]

@@ParoexOK

[@quarismckinney6222]

The song itself not the best but here vocals is mind-blowing truly gifted it's only one Odette

[@nevillegriffiths4395]

So,so good

[@jimi6354]

Wow wow wow, that's all I can say

[@leelarson107]

My neighbor's dog sounds better than that.

[@fishy9465]

Oh shut up this is beautiful

[@gloriadenning3860]

What did Odetta die of, anybody, please ???

[@m1kalaps759]

Cardiovascular disease

[@jasonnaylor3799]

🤤. Christ Almighty.

[@shakesazure]

Odetta , Inezita kzbin.info/www/bejne/b2WadXupn7iJaKM

[@jamesm.3967]

A force of nature. G’damn.

[@Nico18_]

sounds like Mercedes Sosa

[@thebigsthands]

what a champ, one of my heroes

[@sjal92]

Chills...

[@tonyanderton3521]

Astonishing.

[@quandovcmenosesperarumaarm5786]

PUTA QUE PARIU !!! QUE VOZ

[@justinprizant1980]

FEELING

[@mariminu8819]

Pazzesca!

[@gustavokoshikumo]

Wonderful