Odetta was born on New Years Eve 1930 in Birmingham, AL. By the time she was six years old, shed moved with her younger sister and mother to Los Angeles. She showed a keen interest in music from the time she was a child, and when she was about ten years old, somewhere between church and school, her singing voice was discovered. Odettas mother began saving money to pay for voice lessons for her, but was advised to wait until her daughter was 13 years old and well into puberty.