East Coast Piedmont Blues - Elizabeth Cotten

Elizabeth Cotten was born in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Though it was some sixty seven years before she would begin her professional career, her musical sense was exposed and developed from a young age. The youngest of five children, Elizabeth grew up and around eight years old began playing her brothers' banjo, and eventually their guitar, which they tried to hide from her. Self taught, Elizabeth had a natural talent and it is believed she could play a newly-learned tune after hearing it only once. At eleven, Elizabeth quit school and saved up for her first guitar. She needed a year before writing perhaps her most famous song, “Freight Train”, which influenced many local Piedmont blues musicians. The song was recorded first by Peter, Paul, and Mary, and since has been reproduced by such artists as the Grateful Dead. Cotten played at family gatherings, church gatherings, and house parties where her music gradually became exposed to the greater blues community. One of her songs, "Ain't Got No Honey Baby Now," was in fact recorded by Blind Boy Fuller under the title "Lost Lover Blues" in 1940.

Marriage brought change in Cotten’s life. Her husband Frank Cotten, daughter Lillie, and the religious community would eventually cause her to cease her pursuits in a musical career. Persuaded to leave North Carolina, Cotten moved with her family to open a chauffeuring business in New York. She and Frank divorced, however, and in 1947 Elizabeth moved with her daughter to Washington D.C., where she ended up working for Ruth and Charles Seeger. Through their friendship and support, Cotten picked up the guitar again after nearly twenty five years.

In 1957, Cotten began recording with the help of the Seegers and cut her debut album, Folksongs & Instrumentals. Though she didn’t receive much immediate commercial success, Cotten played domestically at various colleges and folk festivals with the likes of major blues figures like Muddy Waters. Her respect among the blues and folk community steadily increased and in 1970 she began to actively tour. Cotten’s music was uniquely "pre-blues;" in fact her professional debut was as a folk singer. Her unique alternating bass style is known as “cotten picking” and considered very influential among guitar finger pickers. Cotten used a normal guitar and played it left handed; she adapted to this inverted version and would play the bass pattern with her fingers, using her thumb for the melody.

Cotten became more recognized as her career progressed and continued to tour throughout the 1970s and early 1980s. In 1985, Cotten recorded Live!, which would go on to win a Grammy for best traditional folk music recording. She also won a National Endowment for the Arts National Heritage Fellowship award. Ms. Cotten died in 1987 at 95 years old.

Books

Smith, Jessie Carney. Epic Lives: One Hundred Black Women Who Made a Difference. Detroit: Visible Ink Press, 1993.

Hood, Phil. Artists of American Folk Music: The legends of traditional Folk, the stars of the sixties, the virtuosi of new acoustic music. New York: Quill, 1986.

Wenberg, Michael. Elizabeth's Song. Oregon: Beyond Words Pub., 2002. (Children's Book)

Escamilla, Brian. Contemporary Musicians: Profiles of the people in music. Volume 16. 1996.

Cohen, John, and Greil Marcus. There is no eye: John Cohen Photographs. New York: PowerHouse Books, 2001.

Cohn, Lawrence. Nothing But the Blues: The music and the musicians. New York: Abberville Press, 1993.

Santelli, Robert. American Roots Music. New York: Harry N. Abrams, 2001.

Bastin, Bruce. Red River Blues. Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1986.

Liner Notes

Seeger, Mike. Liner Notes accompanying Freight Train and Other North Carolina Folk Songs and Tunes, by Elizabeth Cotten. Washington, DC : Smithsonian Folkways, 1989.

Articles

Menconi, David, "Elizabeth Cotton, Ambassador of the Piedmont blues." The News & Observer [Raleigh, NC] (22 August 1999): 15.

Hart, Dave, "'Fun-loving town' launches week of frolic." The Chapel Hill News (7 March 2001): A1.

Blythe, Anne, "Century Center's debut to honor past, toast future." The News & Observer [Raleigh, NC] (9 March 2001): B1.

Kemp, Mark, "CAROLINA SONGBIRDS - OUR REGION HAS A RICH TRADITION OF NURTURING FEMALE MUSICIANS." The Charlotte Observer (2 March 2003): 1H.

"The Git Box: Elizabeth Cotten's Two-Finger Guitar-Picking Style." Sing Out! The Folk Song Magazine (June 1959): 36.

Baker, Duck, "Off The Record: Washington Blues." Acoustic Guitar (April 2005): 106-108, 110.

Mosey, Chris, "The Transatlantic "Freight Train"." Acoustic Guitar (February 1997): 70.

Morris, Linda J, "Videos: "The Guitar of Elizabeth Cotten," Taught by John Miller." Dirty Linen (February 2003): 87.

Carley, Marika, "Libba Cotten's guitar." Smithsonian (October 2000): 32-34.

"Cotten, Elizabeth." American National Biography (1999): 560-561.

Recordings on CD

Elizabeth Cotten. Freight Train and Other North Carolina Folk Songs and Tunes. Smithsonian Folkways.

Elizabeth Cotten. Shake Sugaree. Smithsonian Folkways.

Elizabeth Cotten. Live! Arhoolie Records.

Special Collections

"Mike Seeger Collection Inventory (#20009)." Manuscripts Department, Library of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, November 2002 <http://www.lib.unc.edu/mss/inv/htm/20009.html>

Video and DVD

Masters of the Country Blues: Elizabeth Cotten and Jesse Fuller. Yazoo, 1960.

Elizabeth Cotten with Mike Seeger. Vestapool Productions, 1994.

Legends of Traditional Fingerstyle Guitar. Cambridge, Mass.: Rounder Records, 1994.

Mike Seeger and Elizabeth Cotten. Sparta, NJ: Stefan Grossman's Guitar Workshop, 1991.

Jesse Fuller and Elizabeth Cotten. Newton, NJ: Yazoo Video, 1992.

Me and Stella: A film about Elizabeth Cotten. New Brunswick, NJ: Phoenix Films and Video, 1976.

John Fahey, Elizabeth Cotten: Rare Performances and Interviews. Vestapool Productions, 1969, 1994.

Rainbow Quest with Pete Seeger. Judy Collins and Elizabeth Cotten. Shanachie Entertainment, 2005.

Libba Cotten, an interview and presentation ceremony. Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, 1985.

Homemade American Music. Mendocino California: Lawren Productions, 1980.

Elizabeth Cotten in concert, 1969, 1978, and 1980. Vetstapool Productions, 1969, 2003.

The Guitar of Elizabeth Cotten. Sparta, NJ: Stefan Grossman's Guitar Workshop, 2002.

The Downhome Blues. Los Angeles, California: Distributed by Philips Interactive Media, 1994.

Elizabeth Cotten Portrait Collection. Public Broadcasting System, United States, 1977-1985.

Web Sites

All Music Guide. Elizabeth Cotten Biography. Accessed 08 October 2005 <www.allmusic.com>

eFolk Music. Elizabeth Cotten. Accessed 10 October 2005. <www.efolkmusic.org>

NPR All songs considered. Elizabeth Cotten. Accessed 13 October 2005. <www.npr.org>

The Mudcat Cafe. Elizabeth Cotten. Accessed 10 October 2005. <www.mudcat.org>

The African American Registry. Elizabeth Cotten, a master Guitarist!. Accessed 10 October 2005. <www.aaregistry.com>

Dusted Reviews. Elizabeth Cotten - Shake Sugaree. Accessed 16 October 2005. <www.dustedmagazine.com>

Elizabeth Cotten Short biography. Accessed 16 October 2005. <http://www.geocities.co.jp/Hollywood/1061/cotten_bio.html>

"Remembering Elizabeth Cotten" by L. L. Demerle'. Accessed 16 October 2005. <http://www.eclectica.org/v1n1/nonfiction/demerlee.html>

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Last updated 26 October 2005.