Saturday, October 12, 2013

***North Carolina Picking- Elizabeth Cotten



CD REVIEW

Freight Train and Other North Carolina Folk Songs and Tunes, Elizabeth Cotton, Smithsonian-Folkways, 1989


There is something about those old time North Carolina- style female guitar pickers that is very appealing. And here I am thinking not only of the artist under review, the legendary Elizabeth Cotten, but also another female picker extraordinaire Etta Baker, as well. It is different from the Delta pick, for sure. They pick cleanly, simply but with verve. Ms. Cotten shows her stuff here on her first album from Folkways. Here we have the folk classic, no super-classic, Freight Train that was a rite of passage for every one from Peter, Paul and Mary to Dave Van Ronk to Tom Rush to record in the early 1960s (and me too in the days when I was starting to amateurishly fool around with an old acoustic guitar that a friend of mine who went on to some local sucess as a folkie had hanging around the house). Along with that tune we have some nice renditions of I Don’t Love Nobody and a few medleys like Sweet Bye and Bye combined with What A Friend You Have in Jesus (that I believe Blind Willie Johnson first recorded, or variation of it at least). Listen away but also save your money up to get the album with Shake Sugaree (get the one with her granddaughter singing along on it)on it. That’s the ticket.

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