Odetta Sings Ballads And Blues
by Odetta

Odetta Sings Ballads And Blues by Odetta
Year: 1956
Overall rank: 4,745th   Overall chart history
Average Rating: 
73/100 (from 44 votes)
  Ratings distribution   Average rating history
Accolades:
Award Top albums of 1956 (22nd)
Award Top albums of the 1950s (141st)
Award Best albums of all time (4,745th)

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Odetta - Ballads & Blues [New CD] Alliance MOD
Condition: Brand New


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Odetta Sings Ballads And Blues LP Tradition TLP 1010 Folk Blues
Condition: Used


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Odetta - Ballads & Blues - Music CD
Condition: Brand New


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Odetta bestography

Odetta Sings Ballads And Blues is ranked as the best album by Odetta.

Odetta album bestography « Higher ranked
-
This album (4,745th)
Odetta Sings Ballads And Blues
Lower ranked (8,336th) »
It's A Mighty World

(N.B. Bestographies include all albums by an artist (and their variations), but do not include albums ranked outside the top 100,000).

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Odetta Sings Ballads And Blues track list

  Track ratings The tracks on this album have an average rating of 76 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).

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Odetta Sings Ballads And Blues rankings

Rankings summary
Overall rank: 4,745th | 1950s rank: 141st | 1956 rank: 22nd
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YearSourceChartRankRank Score
2026 TamthebamTop 100 Music Albums of the 1950s96/1001
2026 FischmanTop 100 Music Albums of 195697/1000
2026 TamthebamTop 70 Music Albums of 195613/704
2026Exist-en-cielTop 40 Music Albums of 195633/401
2026 bertranduTop 100 Music Albums of the 1950s26/10015
2026 JoaoMoreiraTop 15 Music Albums of the 1950s4/1516
2025henrygreen0203Top 100 Music Albums of the 1950s83/1004
2025 Patman360Top 26 Music Albums of 19566/264
2025 ExTeaSeaTop 36 Music Albums of the 1950s1/3620
2025dukeboxkoolTop 19 Music Albums of 195613/192
2025 ExTeaSeaFav Black Woman albums21/38 -
2025dukeboxkoolTop 100 Music Albums of the 1950s47/10011
2025 IgtonumamaTop 100 Music Albums of 195618/1004
2025TastyandTemptinTop 21 Music Albums of 195614/212
2025 skelter54Top 99 Music Albums of the 1950s72/996
2025 Patman360Top 100 Music Albums of the 1950s36/10013
2025WayneMCUncut The 500 Greatest Albums Of The 1950s (1-100)20/100 -
2025 EyeKanFlyTop 35 Music Albums of 195722/35 -
2025dukeboxkool55 more albums I listened to in 202523/40 -
2024babsfanatic87Top 100 Music Albums of the 1950s41/10012
Total Charts: Help The total number of charts that this album has appeared in. 54
Total Rank Score: Help The total rank score. 299
You can include this album in your own chart from the My Charts page!

Odetta Sings Ballads And Blues collection

Odetta Sings Ballads And Blues ratings

Average Rating: 
73/100 (from 44 votes)
  Ratings distribution Help Average Rating = (n ÷ (n + m)) × av + (m ÷ (n + m)) × AV
where:
av = trimmed mean average rating an item has currently received.
n = number of ratings an item has currently received.
m = minimum number of ratings required for an item to appear in a 'top-rated' chart (currently 10).
AV = the site mean average rating.

Showing latest 5 ratings for this album.  | Show all 44 ratings for this album.

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RatingDate updatedMemberAlbum ratingsAvg. album rating
 
75/100
 
04/01/2026 11:05 Tamthebam  Ratings distribution  23,09769/100
 
75/100
 
01/18/2026 23:10 JoaoMoreira  Ratings distribution  49674/100
 
70/100
 
12/24/2025 00:26 Exist-en-ciel  Ratings distribution  11,41470/100
 
60/100
 
10/28/2025 08:24 TonySayers61  Ratings distribution  24,75164/100
 
75/100
 
08/29/2025 06:53 duelek  Ratings distribution  1,93375/100

Rating metrics: Help Outliers can be removed when calculating a mean average to dampen the effects of ratings outside the normal distribution. This figure is provided as the trimmed mean. A high standard deviation can be legitimate, but can sometimes indicate 'gaming' is occurring. Consider a simplified example* of an item receiving ratings of 100, 50, & 0. The mean average rating would be 50. However, ratings of 55, 50 & 45 could also result in the same average. The second average might be more trusted because there is more consensus around a particular rating (a lower deviation).
(*In practice, some albums can have several thousand ratings)

This album has a Bayesian average rating of 72.9/100, a mean average of 73.1/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 73.1/100. The standard deviation for this album is 16.1.

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Odetta Sings Ballads And Blues favourites

Showing all 6 members who have added this album as a favourite

Odetta Sings Ballads And Blues comments

Showing all 4 comments |
Most Helpful First | Newest First | Positive Sentiment First | Longest Comments First
(Only showing comments with -2 votes or higher. You can alter this threshold from your profile page. Manage Profile)

Rating:  
70/100
From 01/16/2025 16:41 | #307050
This woman has Soul and her debut in 1956 should have taken the musical world by storm.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
75/100
From 01/01/2023 21:54 | #292393
Such a raw and intense performer.
It doesn’t sound like it happened in the 50s.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From 03/06/2022 03:31 | #282360
I can say this about a lot of people, but it is as true of Odetta as anyone-- without her music in my childhood I would not be the person I am... "The Freedom Trilogy" taught a generation of us that the trick to living unafraid is not to have nothing to fear, but rather to refuse to be deterred by fear.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
85/100
From 01/25/2016 16:37 | #157660
This woman may have been a folk singer but baby she had soul.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
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Best Albums of 1956
1. Elvis Presley by Elvis Presley
2. Songs For Swingin' Lovers! by Frank Sinatra
3. Pithecanthropus Erectus by Charles Mingus
4. Ellington At Newport by Duke Ellington And His Orchestra
5. Ella & Louis by Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong
6. Lady Sings The Blues by Billie Holiday
7. Elvis by Elvis Presley
8. Ella Fitzgerald Sings The Cole Porter Song Book by Ella Fitzgerald
9. J.S. Bach: The Goldberg Variations (1956) by Glenn Gould
10. The Wildest! by Louis Prima