In honor of Elizabeth Cotten's birthday, we want to share this rare clip of her playing "Washington Blues," a song she wrote in 1965. | Dust-to-Digital
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In honor of Elizabeth Cotten's birthday, we want to share this rare clip of her playing "Washington Blues," a song she wrote in 1965. | Dust-to-Digital
1.3M viewsJan 5, 2018
FacebookDust-to-Digital
Elizabeth Cotten - Vestapol Elizabeth Cotten was among the most influential guitarists to surface during the roots music revival era, her wonderfully expressive and dexterous fingerpicking style a major inspiration to the generations of players who followed in her wake. Cotten was born in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, in the early weeks of 1893. After first picking up the banjo at the age of eight, she soon moved on to her brother’s guitar, laying it flat on her lap and over time developing her p
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Elizabeth Cotten - Vestapol Elizabeth Cotten was among the most influential guitarists to surface during the roots music revival era, her wonderfully expressive and dexterous fingerpicking style a major inspiration to the generations of players who followed in her wake. Cotten was born in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, in the early weeks of 1893. After first picking up the banjo at the age of eight, she soon moved on to her brother’s guitar, laying it flat on her lap and over time developing her p
99 viewsJun 9, 2023
FacebookGreg Letson
Freight Train Elizabeth Cotton
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Freight Train Elizabeth Cotton
May 11, 2022
RollingStoneJonathan Bernstein
Remembering Elizabeth Cotten, gone 36 years today. Here she is performing and discussing her version of “Ruben” in 1969. | Dust-to-Digital
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Remembering Elizabeth Cotten, gone 36 years today. Here she is performing and discussing her version of “Ruben” in 1969. | Dust-to-Digital
65.2K viewsJun 29, 2023
FacebookDust-to-Digital
The incredible story of Elizabeth "Libba" Cotten
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The incredible story of Elizabeth "Libba" Cotten
2 months ago
MSNWSYR Syracuse
Elizabeth Cotten: The Domestic Who Wrote a Folk Classic - The Bluegrass Situation
Elizabeth Cotten: The Domestic Who Wrote a Folk Classic - The Bluegrass Situation
Mar 16, 2020
thebluegrasssituation.com
Elizabeth “Libba” Cotten was born on this day in 1893. Through her songwriting and unique left-handed, upside-down playing style on guitar and banjo, Cotten has influenced generations of musicians. Here she performs her classic “Freight Train” at the Seeger family home in 1957. Cotten wrote the song as a teenager, inspired by the train sounds near her home in Carrboro, North Carolina. It appeared on her 1958 debut album, Folksongs and Instrumentals with Guitar, released on Folkways Records and l
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Elizabeth “Libba” Cotten was born on this day in 1893. Through her songwriting and unique left-handed, upside-down playing style on guitar and banjo, Cotten has influenced generations of musicians. Here she performs her classic “Freight Train” at the Seeger family home in 1957. Cotten wrote the song as a teenager, inspired by the train sounds near her home in Carrboro, North Carolina. It appeared on her 1958 debut album, Folksongs and Instrumentals with Guitar, released on Folkways Records and l
50.6K viewsJan 5, 2024
FacebookSmithsonian Folkways Recordings
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Elizabeth Cotten is a self-taught guitarist, singer and songwriter who didn’t attain any degree of public recognition until she was in her mid-60s, Elizabeth “Libba” Cotten nonetheless became one of the most revered figures in the world of folk music after her talents were discovered in the 1950s, with her song “Freight Train” becoming a standard. Cotten’s unusual self-invented picking style (born of necessity, as the left-handed Libba learned to play on a right-handed guitar turned upside-down)
53.2K viewsFeb 14, 2022
FacebookGrateful Dead
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Thinking of the legendary Elizabeth “Libba” Cotten, born on this day in North Carolina in 1893. Her self-taught, left-handed guitar playing (on a guitar strung for a right-handed guitarist), which required her to play the instrument upside-down, became known as “Cotten picking.” Per @npr, “her influence has reverberated through the generations, permeating every genre of music. Here she is in 1980, speaking to an audience of college students & playing “Graduation March” with Mike Seeger. Thank yo
16.9K viewsJan 6, 2025
FacebookPittsburgh Lesbian Correspondents
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United States of Americana host Bill DeVille talks about legendary artist Elizabeth Cotten — an influential songwriter and guitarist to commemorate during Black History Month and to celebrate all year long. Listen to United States of Americana on Sundays from 8 to 10 a.m. Central; tune in, stream, use the smartphone app or tell your smart speakers to play The Current. | The Current
3.9K viewsFeb 1, 2020
FacebookThe Current
Elizabeth Cotten Wrote “Freight Train” at 11, Won a Grammy at 90, and Changed American Music In-Between
May 1, 2019
openculture.com
0:21
Elizabeth "Libba" Cotten was a self-taught musical prodigy who created a unique legacy in American folk and blues. A left-hander playing a right-handed guitar upside down, she developed the "Cotten picking" style—using her thumb for melody and fingers for bass. At just 11 years old, she wrote the timeless classic "Freight Train," inspired by the trains near her North Carolina home. After decades away from music to raise a family, she was "rediscovered" in her 60s while working for the Seeger fam
259 views3 months ago
FacebookA Gift that Lasts
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Visiting Elizabeth Cotten’s 1935 Martin D28 at The Musical Instrument Museum in Phoenix. “Libba” Cotten is one of the pioneering female guitarists I featured in my latest album, ONE GUITAR WOMAN. Her story is so cool, as she didn’t start playing professionally until she was 57 years old. She played left-handed, upside down, and she wrote some of the finest folk songs in the history of American Music. Her guitar style, Piedmont fingerpicking, is challenging to learn, but really fun to play once y
38.2K viewsSep 13, 2024
FacebookSue Foley
How Elizabeth Cotten's music fueled the folk revival
Jun 29, 2022
NPRAllyson McCabe
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Elizabeth Cotten, My Father...And This Song
1K views3 weeks ago
YouTubeClancys Kitchen - The Podcast. A Monthly Pod…
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The Swans Pod on Instagram: "Loretta Young (born today) and Joseph Cotten in THE FARMER’S DAUGHTER (1947) directed by H.C. Potter that tells the story of a farmgirl who ends up working as a maid for a Congressman and his politically powerful mother. Young won the Best Actress Oscar for her performance."
3.8K views4 months ago
Instagramtheswanspod
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@myownsummary on Instagram: "Elizabeth Cotten, a self-taught blues and folk musician, performs her signature song, "Freight Train," live. Cotten developed a unique fingerstyle guitar technique known as "Cotten picking," where she played a right-handed guitar left-handed and upside down, plucking bass lines with her fingers and melodies with her thumb. This unconventional approach resulted in a distinct and influential sound. "Freight Train" was composed by Cotten when she was a young girl and be
327 views3 months ago
Instagrammyownsummary
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NOT BAD FOR A GIRL | EQUAL PARTS on Instagram: "We love researching and telling these stories but bloody hell it can be depressing 🙄 Elizabeth Cotten wrote this song while she was a teenager, and later worked as a nanny for folk singer Peggy Seeger, who took it with her to England. When the song travelled to the UK, two British songwriters straight up claimed it as their own, rewrote the story, and copyrighted it under their names. Their version became a hit and influenced a generation of bands
3.2K views3 months ago
Instagramnotbadforagirluk
Ever heard of Elizabeth Cotten? She was a self-taught folk musician who actually invented a whole new way of playing guitar. Even though she influenced countless musicians with her style, her name and story remain largely obscure. As it’s #WomensHistoryMonth we want to set the record straight and shine a light on Elizabeth’s musical contributions 🪕 🎶 #womeninmusic #folkmusic #guitartok #guitarists #femaleguitarist #womenempowerment #blackwomen #blackhistory #blackmusic #guitars
3.5K viewsMar 18, 2024
TikTokloogguitars
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I'm Going Away
92.1K viewsMay 19, 2015
YouTubeElizabeth Cotten - Topic
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Freight Train (Live)
20.7K viewsApr 20, 2020
YouTubeElizabeth Cotten - Topic
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Re: Elizabeth Cotten - Freight Train
397.7K viewsSep 3, 2007
YouTubecrtUK
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FREIGHT TRAIN (Elizabeth Cotten) - Lyrics & Chords
18.8K viewsJun 28, 2018
YouTubeLowdenjim
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Elizabeth Cotten - When I Get Home
39.7K viewsApr 19, 2012
YouTubeThe Soul of Sam Collins
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Joanna Cotten & Eric Church “Come Together”
41.3K viewsJan 26, 2019
YouTubeAshley Grimes
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Elizabeth Cotten pt 2
251.4K viewsApr 8, 2011
YouTubeBlues&Folk 1960's
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Elizabeth Cotten pt 1
204.7K viewsApr 8, 2011
YouTubeBlues&Folk 1960's
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Elizabeth Cotten - "I Don't Love Nobody" [Official Audio]
62.2K viewsMar 10, 2009
YouTubeSmithsonian Folkways
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Austin City Limits Celebrates 40 Years Web Exclusive: "Freight Train"
30.5K viewsOct 5, 2014
YouTubeAustin City Limits
1:24:59
I'll be seeing you 1944 Joseph Cotton, Ginger Rogers
79.5K viewsMay 13, 2020
YouTubeMovie-Buff
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