Cotten, Elizabeth, 1893-1987

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Elizabeth Cotten, also known as Libba Cotten, (born Elizabeth Nevills, January 5, 1893, Carrboro, North Carolina – died June 29, 1987, Syracuse, New York), American folk and blues musician. She was a self-taught left-handed guitarist who played a guitar strung for a right-handed player, but played it upside down. This position meant that she would play the bass lines with her fingers and the melody with her thumb. Her signature alternating bass style has become known as "Cotten picking". National Public Radio stated "her influence has reverberated through the generations, permeating every genre of music." Her album Folksongs and Instrumentals with Guitar (1958), was placed into the National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress, and was deemed as "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". The album included her signature recording "Freight Train", a song she wrote in her early teens. In 1984, her live album Elizabeth Cotten Live!, won her a Grammy Award for Best Ethnic or Traditional Folk Recording, at the age of 90. That same year, Cotten was recognized as a National Heritage Fellow by the National Endowment for the Arts. In 2022, she was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, as an early influence.
Archival Resources
Role Title Holding Repository
referencedIn Gary Kenton Collection (#20321), 1971-1989 University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Folklife Collection.
referencedIn American Vaudeville Museum collection, 1845-2007, (bulk 1910-1940) University of Arizona Libraries, Library Special Collections
referencedIn Southern Folklife Collection Artist Name File, 1940-2005 University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Folklife Collection.
referencedIn Hugh Morton Photographs and Films, late 1920s-2006, (bulk 1940s-1990s) University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. North Carolina Collection.
Role Title Holding Repository
Relation Name
associatedWith American Museum of Vaudeville corporateBody
associatedWith Cullen, Frank, 1936- person
associatedWith Kenton, Gary, 1950- person
associatedWith McNeilly, Donald, 1945- person
associatedWith Morton, Hugh M. person
Place Name Admin Code Country
Subject
Occupation
Activity

Person

Birth 1893-01-05

Death 1987-06-29

Female

Americans

English

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