Two Songs played by Elizabeth Cotten

[TheTinker6871]

Every guitar player should watch this. Amazing accuracy.

[50MOLE]

wow what a women great ..stuff xxx

[delpurgatorio117]

elizabeth "lefty" cotten

[ralphcraddock]

timelessly brilliant.

[sheltonpowe]

Nice post!

[RagtimeDorianHenry]

She plays the bass with her fingers. Very interessant !

[blackieja]

That was so lovely to hear & see even if the presenter was condescending in her tone she did enjoy what she heard & was also amazed by Elizabeth's playing. After watching her play I'm even more determined to continue teaching myself to play even though I'll turn 52 in seven days time

[darmp64]

@blackieja condescending in her tone?!...you're kinda stupid for 52.

[Leftyconguero]

@darmp64 Why ruin the thread calling people names? That poster was referring to the presenter, not to Elizabeth Cotten. I don't think she was condescending, but she did seem very nervous and uncomfortable. Maybe it's just because Elizabeth is so mellow and relaxed.

[ThrashRoC]

great blues lady !

[thfbtmusic]

She must have learnt guitar on a right handed guitar. That's amazing to see her play the guitar upside down.

[bluesfolkman]

@thfbtmusic

she learned on a banjo which is in reverse tuning to a guitar.

shes such an amazing women and has a sweet beautiful soul

[Andrew60ish]

It's startling to think that this wonderful musician very nearly slipped away without ever being heard. Thank you the Seeger family! Elizabeth's flower bloomed late but it bloomed bigger and brighter than any other flower in the garden.

[boddumblues]

Thanks for the upload!!

I didn't know she was that exposed, little did I know.

Have known freight train all my life, but have never heard an album much less seen her perform.

This is most valuable (I'hav had a few private lessons with Woody Mann, this puts it in perspective). Independence of thumb is so difficult!

Libba is good!

[En3usiast]

Fabulous post !! She plays upside down too !!

[piperpipe201]

Im not trying to be d**k or anything but I remembered that people got there last names from there occupation soooo....

[alisterhrae27]

This is bloody great, good old Guitar Workshop!

[NoRosesForMe]

beautiful...thats the only word for it,,,,,beautiful. *sigh* Bless her soul ♥

[xcaper66]

jimi's guitar was strung lefty but it strung normal..bass on top

[buckbuck666]

strung lefty played upside down  lol was this jimi hendrix mommy^ \'

[retsamwohs]

1 of 10 Female Guitarist You should Know...

[Kovayne]

And to think she has to relearn how to play guitar again later on in life... it's just her destiny to be the mother of folk guitar.

[daisyroots]

what did they say about ginger rogers? ....that she did everything that Fred Astair did but in backwards and in heels....look at this woman who plays upside down... women are amazing....aren't we?

[dnissini]

@daisyroots @daisyroots humans are amazing, yes. elizabeth cotten is an amazing human being, it has nothing to do with her being a woman. most musicians male and female are terrible and write a bunch of ego songs or love songs that have already been somewhat made thousands of times. we need to find a balance, no more men and women but human beings who love each other with no thoughts concerning male and female.

[dnissini]

@dnissini i'm not being mean or trying to be offensive, i just met a bunch of people male and female and they are all the same, and could become further advanced if they would see that we are all one, and are only separated by thoughts injected into our brains that have nothing to do with anything but segregation and wanting to one-up the next man, or woman. what i'm saying is, men, stop trying to be men, and women, stop trying to be women. it's getting nowhere.

[daisyroots]

@dnissini I agree indeed.....I am not being particularly partial to women but in a world that is still dominated by men...I just had to give a shout out to my gender....You argument is right on and completely accurate however I must also say that it is seldom used in support of women, when a man excels in a particular endeavour...you feel me?

[uradragon]

Thanks for posting. So much to discover and uncover regarding our diverse heritage. love it.

[Immaculate416]

Well, now I guess where they got the song One toke over the line from

[nomiclas]

i think its interesting she plays with the neck to her left and the bass strings are on the bottom of the neck.

[Vanillablooos]

Just amazing how she plays a right-handed guitar upside-down!!!

[wondrwomn26]

amazing

[enyawdnewob]

She plays the guitar upside down in standard tuning!

[bondjbond1]

lovely lovely lovely

[grnhair2001]

She's so great. I'm glad that little girl , Peggy Seeger, got lost in that department store, or we'd not have this access to Cotten. Funny how fate works.

Am I the only one who gets dizzy watching her play the guitar upside down?

[PHJimY]

I read the comments before I heard the host talking. She was not nearly as bad as the comments led me to expect.

[mrbillhicks]

That lady got a strange look in her eyes around 7.21, look like she done seen a ghost...

[mrbillhicks]

Ladies a damn  Jimi Hendrix playing that git the way she doin...

[PHJimY]

@mrbillhicks Jimi restrung his guitar left handed, while Libba just turned a right handed guitar upside down. She also played a right handed 5-string banjo upside down.

[dandesantismusic]

A class of her own.

[poppyseller1]

an Amazing Human Being

[jonasjar]

Fantastic! Never tire of this lady, First song was way better tho :-)

[DANACABANA]

plain lovely.

[johnnyredgrave]

Fantastic guitar playing Elizabeth,this is a great video and a rare chance to see and listen to one of the few 1920's female blues guitar players,and probably the best of them all,Elizabeth Cotton..Great vid: thanks.

[wisesatyr72]

amazing woman guitar plauer..EC

[mark9780]

Superb

[EyezaGotSKILLZ]

Well it was 1969... white people were RACIST!

[jtallen12345]

@EyezaGotSKILLZ what a massive generalisation.

[PeluMaad]

@EyezaGotSKILLZ ...."were"....LOL



[EyezaGotSKILLZ]

@PeluMaad

Well some of us are still racist... shit im racist... you just gotta fight it is all. I think white people have gotten better... I mean we don't hose down black protestors anymore... that's a plus!

[PeluMaad]

@EyezaGotSKILLZ ...I respect your honesty.

[cuntmonkey007]

holy wow.

[muhollanddrive]

my favorite

[Spiritree41]

Wow I got that same guitar made in the 70s

[helpslipfrank]

tearing it up

[vikingbiff]

left handid  playing up side down! "SMO'KIN" !

[keeton]

the presenter talks like she's talking to a small child

[mutoid1]

@keeton i believe the presenter is being very compasionate and understanding unlike alot of the u.s. commentators at the time

[CKYZZIE]

Ragtime guitar! The Lady could pick!

[bigdjindustriez]

I don't like the host lady, she's condescending. She should bow down before this amazing guitarist.

[whitetrashmedicine]

"You should call it the Cotton Picking Dance! ^^"

LOL.

[guapo2525]

I really have to praise u for uploading it. not only, because the great guitarist, E Cotten, all deserves it, but mostly for its clearly displaying her right hand. So, we can appreciate how and where she placed the fingers to point the chords she picked and played. For, her fingerpicking made her famous but nobody seemed to be interested to see how she placed her right hand ... so tx-alot.

[outfidel]

btw the first song that she plays in this video is "Washington Blues", not "Spanish Flang Dang"

[pianiplunker]

@outfidel The first song, or tune, is actually St. Louis Tickle which was a was published in 1904. Cotton's version is very close to the published sheet music. The tune is a much older New Orleans folk song called funky butt which was made famous by Buddy Bolden.

[Lansdownekid]

A true Legend!! :-)

[ElemeFF]

This talented Lady is absolutely unique!

Fantastic!

[SiggyMe]

Her smile when she looks up tells it all, just brilliant.

[MartinHelin]

This lays way beyond the far side of Spectacular, it's bloody brilliant! I would also like to point out, if i may, the amount of views...? It just doesn't make any sense!

[ceepatton]

@MartinHelin

It was put on youtube not more than a week ago

[DrewAnti1960]

not only is the Guitar played left ,but she left it strung upside down,Too cool for Scool

[salus60]

The first song is not "Spanish Flang Dang" or "Spanish Fandango". The song is "Washington Blues". I love E. Cotten´s music.

[Blustercastr]

wowow!!

[loonyranger]

A truly amazing and beautiful lady. That freight train will run forever.

[riceboii101]

this is sick!!!!!!