nPostednon January 5, 2016
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nTodaynwe are celebrating a woman who was born on this date in 1893, gotnmarried at age 17 (not such a rare thing, back then), raised andaughter named Lillie, and worked off and on as a maid or otherndomestic help.
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nThosenthings are important, and honorable, but they are not the reason wenknow and remember Elizabeth Cotten. We know her for her music!
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nCottonnwas raised in a musical family. When she was seven years old, shenbegan to play her older brother’s banjo, and when she was eleven, shenpaid $3.75 of her hard-earned money on a Sears and Roebuck guitar. n
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nShenwas completely self-taught, and since she was left-handed playingnright-handed instruments, she pretty much played them “upsidendown.” She ended up playing the bass lines with her fingers and thenmelody with her thumb, a style that became known as “Cottennpicking.”
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nCottennbegan writing her own songs at age 11 and continued through her teennyears. But she gave up playing and writing music for years andndecades – all those years of being married and raising a family,nmentioned above.
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| It’s thanks mostly to Mike Seeger that the world knows Cotten’s music! |
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nFlashnforward to Cotten working in a department store, and seeing a childnwho had become separated from her mother. Cotten helped the lostnchild find her mom—and that mom happened to be composer RuthnCrawford Seeger. Soon Cotten found herself hired as a maid to helpncare for Ruth and Charles Seeger’s four kids. The Seeger family wasnvery musical, and Cotten ended up picking up a guitar again,nrelearning the instrument, and remembering her own songs from so longnago.
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nThanksnto the Seegers, Cotten’s music – her songs and her signature stylen– were recorded and released on albums…starting when Cotten wasnin her 60s! She appeared in concerts and folk revivals, and sheninfluenced many other musicians. Her most famous song, Freight Train, was covered by more famous musicians such as Peter,nPaul, and Mary – Joan Baez – Bob Dylan – Jerry Garcia – andnat least seven others!
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nCottennwrote another album’s worth of songs, at least one of which shenrecorded with her 12-year-old granddaughter. (The linked YounTube is Cotten playing guitar and her granddaughter singing.)n Here is yet another video with another originalnsong or two.
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nCottenncontinued to tour and record well into her 80s! What a great “thirdnact”!
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nAlsonon this date:
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nBeannDay
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nAnniversarynof the start of construction of the Golden Gate Bridge
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nBirdnDay
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nAnniversarynof first woman governor in the U.S.
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nBirthdaynof Aaron Lapin, the “King of Whipped Cream”
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Plannahead:
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nChecknout my Pinterest pages on:
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nJanuaryn birthdays
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nAndnhere are my Pinterest boards for:
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