Odetta & Larry - Background

Background

Odetta Holmes and Lawrence B. Mohr met at a bar called "The Lamp" on Kearney Street in North Beach, San Francisco in 1953, the area that the Beatniks were soon to inspire. Odetta was in San Francisco because she was travelling with the chorus of Finian's Rainbow. Lawrence (Larry) had just finished college at the University of Chicago, and travelled to San Francisco with his best friend who was shipping overseas into the Navy.

"The Lamp" was famous for its musical environment. People would spend evenings there jamming with guitars, banjos, and other musical instruments. On one fateful evening in the summer of 1953, Larry began playing a Leadbelly song and Odetta joined in harmony. They jammed together, and that was the beginning.

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