My Eyes Have Seen

My Eyes Have Seen
Original LP cover
Studio album by
Odetta
ReleasedJuly 1959 (1959-07)[1][2]
GenreFolk, blues
Length40:16
LabelVanguard
Odetta chronology
At the Gate of Horn
(1957) 		My Eyes Have Seen
(1959) 		Ballad For Americans and Other American Ballads
(1960)
Alternative Cover
The CD re-issue of My Eyes Have Seen

My Eyes Have Seen is a studio album by American folk singer Odetta, first released in July 1959.[1][2] It is the first record by Odetta to be released by Vanguard Records.

Milt Okun arranged and conducted a choir on a portion of the songs, notably "Motherless Children", "Ox-Driver Song" and the title piece.

My Eyes Have Seen was re-released on CD in 1994.

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic [3]

In his review for Allmusic, critic Ronnie D. Lankford wrote of the album, "While it might be hard for a post-millennium roots fan to understand, Odetta—in her heyday—was the kind of folk artist who drove purists crazy.... My Eyes Have Seen is a nice portrait of a performer bucking conformity as she stretches her artistic legs a bit.."[3]

Track listing

All songs Traditional unless otherwise noted.

  1. "Poor Little Jesus" – 1:54
  2. "Bald Headed Woman" – 2:20
  3. "Motherless Children" – 2:10
  4. "I Know Where I'm Going" – 2:00
  5. "The Foggy Dew" (Canon Charles O’Neill) – 5:29
  6. "I've Been Driving on Bald Mountain/Water Boy" (Avery Robinson) – 6:54
  7. "Ox-Driver Song" – 2:35
  8. "Down on Me" – 2:55
  9. "Saro Jane" – 2:45
  10. "Three Pigs" – 1:18
  11. "No More Cane on the Brazos" – 3:38
  12. "Jumpin' Judy" – 2:26
  13. "Battle Hymn of the Republic" (Julia Ward Howe) – 3:52

Personnel

References

  1. ^ a b "12 New Vanguard LP's" (PDF). The Cash Box. The Cash Box Publishing Co. Inc., NY. 18 July 1959. Retrieved 25 June 2019.
  2. ^ a b "My Eyes Have Seen". The Billboard. The Billboard Publishing Co. 27 July 1959. Retrieved 25 June 2019.
  3. ^ a b Lankford, Ronnie D. "My Eyes Have Seen > Review". Allmusic. Retrieved September 11, 2016.