Sunday, March 7, 2010

Beauty





With her granddaughter..



I'm so moved by this woman. I think this is beautiful. Thanks, Ejay.

6 comments:

steenbeck said...

She has quite a few songs on spotify, if you'd like to hear more.

steenbeck said...

Chicks who shred! Well, shred their fingers finger-picking, anyway.

Unknown said...

Beautiful, I love her touch. Have I heard Freight Train somewhere else before? It seems familiar for some reason. I love her touch on the guitar.

sonofwebcore said...

My proudest RR moment was when I got Freight Train A-Listed for songs about adventure.
Elizabeth Cotten wrote it in 1907 when she 12 years old.
Late in life, working in a department store, she helped a lost child find her family, the incredibly musical Seegers. They offered her a job as their maid. Seeing all the instruments lying around, she picked up a guitar for the first time in decades. Turning it upside down, being a lefty, she played the bass lines with her fingers and picked the melody with her thumb. Mike Seeger and his sister Peggy, wife of Ewan McColl, writer of Dirty Old Town and The First Time Ever I Saw You Face (which was written about Peggy)were suitably stunned. Freight Train was first recorded by Mike in the Seeger living room. It was covered by many 50s and early 60s folk stars, making her a lot of money and providing her with a career in performance. She lived to be 92.

steenbeck said...

Proud moment, indeed, SWC. Thanks.

She tells the story of meeting the Seegers in one of these clips, I believe. She also tells of the job she had in order to pay for her first guitar--she was payed 75 cents a month!

sourpus said...

Great clips made all the more interesting for her left-handed, two-fingered picking technique. Never seen anyone play like that before, but so steady and to the point. Great stuff.