Search - Odetta :: My Eyes Have Seen

Some songs a 6, some a 3, but transfer brings it down

J. C Clark | Overland Park, KS United States | 07/05/2004

(3 out of 5 stars)

"I have loved the singing of Odetta for 40 years. No one can be as convincing as she in the old songs (or new creations that sound like old songs.) On this CD, several of her finest performances are captured. No More Cane on the Brazos is among my favorite songs of hers, an eerie and devastating guitar/bass intro leads to a song that would have to cheer up several levels to be mournful. Boy, you can feel the sun and the prison guards. Saro Jane is another great song, and Poor Little Jesus is a knockout. Any CD with these three performances of the moaning, weary voice of Odetta would be a six star winner. Except. Somehow, the engineers have sucked the life out of these recordings. I am very familiar with the vinyl of these songs, and on these especially there is just a whole lot less on this CD than there was on the LP. I have read lots of wacky psycho reviews by folks who seem to know everything about every song on every LP, and which of the nine different releases on CD is best. Well, I am no sonic wizard. But I've been listening to these songs on LP since the early 60s. I know how they should sound. And they don't sound that way on this CD. I have done some side-by-side testing, and no one I've shared it with disagrees with me. Now the dynamism of Odetta's voice certainly makes such transfers difficult, but these just plain stink. If you've never heard the original, you will wonder why I'm so excited about these songs. But whether you're familiar with the originals or now, you'll be disappointed. Come on Vanguard, this is just a mess."