Elizabeth Cotten

Elizabeth Cotten (1895-1987), best known for her timeless song "Freight Train," built her musical legacy on a foundation of late 19th- and early 20th-century African American instrumental traditions. Through her songwriting and her unique left-handed guitar and banjo styles, she inspired and influenced generations of younger artists. In 1984 Cotten was declared a National Heritage Fellow by the National Endowment for the Arts and was later recognized by the Smithsonian Institution as a "living treasure." She received a Grammy Award in 1985 when she was 90, almost 80 years after she first began composing her own works. Born in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, Cotten taught herself how to play the banjo and guitar at an early age, fretting the strings with her right hand and picking the bass strings with her fingers and the treble (melody strings) with her thumb; a unique method that came to be known as the "Cotten style." A chance encounter with the Seeger family led to Cotten's employment in their home, where Peggy first heard Cotten play guitar. After Mike recorded some of her work, Cotten found herself giving small concerts in the homes of congressmen and senators, including that of John F. Kennedy. By 1958, at the age of 62, Cotten had recorded her incredibly influential first album, 'Elizabeth Cotten: Negro Folk Songs and Tunes.' Her music swiftly became a staple of the folk revival of the 1960s. She continued to tour and perform right up to the end of her life.