San Francisco Blog

In memory of Odetta, the beloved folk singer who died at age 77 of heart disease on Tuesday, our MP3 of the Day today is her version of a great song, "Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out." The track is available for streaming at Last.fm, alongside a good little selection of her repertoire (which comprises over two dozen recordings) which ran from the blues to folk and spirituals, with a strong bent towards songs of the civil rights movement. "Nobody Knows..." is a jazzy number (sung over the years by Bessie Smith and Eric Clapton, among others), one of those uplifting tunes that subverts self-pity with the power of a voice as strong yet sympathetic as Odetta's. -- Jennifer Maerz