Worlds of Music 2: Blog

Elizabeth Cotten

Elizabeth Cotten

Elizabeth "Libba" Cotten (1895–1987) was a self-taught American folk and blues musician whose unique left-handed guitar style, known as "Cotten picking," left an indelible mark on music history. Born in or near Chapel Hill, North Carolina, she began playing guitar at a young age, developing her signature style by flipping a right-handed guitar upside down.

Cotten's musical career took off later in life, thanks to a chance encounter with the Seeger family.  While working briefly in a department store in Washington D.C. she helped a lost young girl find her mother.  The girl was Peggy Seeger, and her mother was Ruth Crowford Seeger.  A month later Cotten began working in their household taking care of their four young children, Peggy, Mike, Barbarra and Penny (Pete Seeger was and older half-brother).  The Seegers were a prominent musical family, Ruth a composer and her husband Charles a pioneer in the field of ethnomusicology.  They soon recognized Cotten’s talent and encouraged her playing. Their son Mike, who would go on to form the influential string band, The New Lost City Ramblers, helped her record her debut album, Folksongs and Instrumentals with Guitar, in 1958 under the Folkways label. This album, which included her iconic song "Freight Train," showcased her intricate guitar work and heartfelt compositions. It was a hugely influential album in the folk revival and was later deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" by the Library of Congress. 

Cotten continued to write new songs, perform and inspire audiences throughout her life.  She was featured at such prominent showcases as the Newport Folk Festival, the Philadelphia Folk Festival, and the Smithsonian Folk Festival, just to name a few.  She went on to record two subsequent albums for Folkways Records, Shake Sugaree (1967), and When I’m Gone (1979).  Her recordings with Folkways not only revived her career but also cemented her legacy as a master of American folk music.  She eventually earned a Grammy Award in 1985 for her album Elizabeth Cotten Live!, released on Arhoolie Records.  She was 90 years old.

Listen to more of Elizabeth Cotten’s music and explore the Global Sounds of Smithsonian Folkways at the Presser Music Library.