Today I learned that Elizabeth Cotton wrote Freight Train

[Nittersing]

I believe she was 92 in this recording

[GiqueCee]

1. Great tune...

... and even though she's left-handed (so am I, but I played right-handed), Ms. Cotton never reversed her strings, so all her chord fingering is reversed instead!

Thanks, Nittersing!

[Nittersing]

2. Yes! I read a brief bit by a musician who remarked about the different sound

she was able to create because of that stringing. Very cool to learn.

I grew up with the Peter, Paul and Mary version.

[unc70]

3. I first heard Libba Cott perform at UNC Jubilee 1969

She was born nearby in what is now part of Carrboro, NC.

That same day at Jubilee also featured Babe Stovall, the Bar-Kays, and Blood, Sweat, & Tears.

[AnotherMother4Peace]

4. Jerry Garcia & David Grisham's version of Freight Train is quite nice. nt

[AnotherMother4Peace]

5. My son just told me that the Cotton-Pickin' style was named after Elizabeth Cotton. The two finger style.

And that that she worked for Pete Seeger as a housekeeper, when Seeger heard her play.