Odetta at Governor's Island House of the Rising Sun / When I Was A Young Girl

On 7/7/07 in her 77th year, folk blues legend Odetta performed a free hour and a half set at Governors Island, NYC, kicking off the Folks on the Island four concert series sponsored by Trinity Church of Wall Street. The house in New Orleans is probably a high rise luxury condo now with more expensive whores and designer blue jeans but Odetta brings us back to before the flood, and before this song was a hit for the Animals. Long before Janis Joplin was singing Down on Me, there was Odetta in 1959 recording it on vinyl for Janis to take it from . There was Odetta soulfully growling Poor Little Jesus and singing Masters of War with force and conviction even beyond Dylan's. Of course, she sang her own non-violent edit omitting Dylan's final verse of murderous malediction, "And I hope that you die and your death will come soon......" "When I was a young girl" is another folk classic I first heard on the LP Folksy Nina (Simone) . Every 60's folk singer owes a debt to Odetta. Thanks for concert. It was great seeing you. Video by Thelma Blitz

Added 2 Sept 2026