Stranger Songs
Tuesday December 23rd, 2025 with Mike Regenstreif
A Christmas Concert with Odetta and More Songs for the Holiday
The theme on this edition of Stranger Songs is A Christmas Concert with Odetta and More Songs for the Holiday.
Click on LISTEN NOW to hear this show. Click on LISTEN to hear the current CKCU broadcast.
| fragment of The Stranger Song Leonard Cohen - Songs of Leonard Cohen - Columbia/Legacy 
|
| Odetta – who died in 2008 less than a month before her 78th birthday – was one of the most influential folksingers of her time. In the late-1950s, a teenaged rock singer in Minnesota named Robert Zimmerman decided to pursue folk music after hearing an Odetta album, and later arrived in New York City calling himself Bob Dylan. Others, among many, who have cited Odetta’s influence include Joan Baez, Nina Simone, Janis Joplin and Harry Belafonte. Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. referred to Odetta as “the voice of the civil rights movement.
Odetta was accompanied throughout the concert by pianist Seth Farber and, on a couple of songs, by The Holmes Brothers. |
| This Little Light of Mine Odetta with The Holmes Brothers - Gonna Let It Shine: A Concert for the Holidays - M.C. |
| Rise Up Shepherd and Follow Odetta - Gonna Let It Shine: A Concert for the Holidays - M.C. |
| Mary had a Baby Odetta - Gonna Let It Shine: A Concert for the Holidays - M.C. |
| What Month was Jesus Born In Odetta - Gonna Let It Shine: A Concert for the Holidays - M.C. |
| Shout for Joy Odetta - Gonna Let It Shine: A Concert for the Holidays - M.C. |
| Virgin Mary Had One Son Odetta - Gonna Let It Shine: A Concert for the Holidays - M.C. |
| Down By the Riverside Odetta with The Holmes Brothers - Gonna Let It Shine: A Concert for the Holidays - M.C. |
| Poor Little Jesus Odetta - Gonna Let It Shine: A Concert for the Holidays - M.C. |
| fragment of The Stranger Song Leonard Cohen - Songs of Leonard Cohen - Columbia/Legacy
|
| Freedom Trilogy: Oh Freedom, Come & Go With Me and I’m On My Way Odetta - Gonna Let It Shine: A Concert for the Holidays - M.C. |
| Somebody Talking ‘Bout Jesus Odetta - Gonna Let It Shine: A Concert for the Holidays - M.C. |
| Keep On Movin’ It On Odetta - Gonna Let It Shine: A Concert for the Holidays - M.C. |
| O Jerusalem Odetta - Gonna Let It Shine: A Concert for the Holidays - M.C. |
| If Anybody Asks You Odetta - Gonna Let It Shine: A Concert for the Holidays - M.C. |
| Midnight Special Odetta - Gonna Let It Shine: A Concert for the Holidays - M.C. |
| That’s Christmas Chris White - That’s Christmas – single - Chris White
|
| It Ain’t Christmas Without You Maggie’s Wake - Close to Home - Maggie’s Wake
|
| A Winter Tale Chaim Tannenbaum - A Winter Tale – single - StorySound
|
| The Chipmunk Song Good Lovelies - Under the Mistletoe - Good Lovelies
|
| Christmas in Brooklyn Erik Frandsen - Antiques: New & Used - Erik Frandsen |
| You are All the Christmas That I Need Shelley Posen - Old Loves - Well Done Music
|
| Hot Buttered Rum Rosalie Sorrels - An Imaginary Christmas in Idaho - Limberlost |
| At Last, I’m Ready for Christmas Stan Rogers - Songs of a Lifetime: From Coffeehouse to Concert Hall - Fogarty's Cove/Borealis
|
| Jesus, the Fugitive Prince David Massengill - The Return - Plump |
| fragment of The Stranger Song Leonard Cohen - Songs of Leonard Cohen - Columbia/Legacy
|
Subscribe to Stranger Songs