Elizabeth “Libba” Cotten (1895-1987), best known for her timeless song “Freight Train,” built her musical legacy on a firm foundation of late 19th- and early 20th-century African-American instrumental traditions. Through her songwriting, her quietly commanding personality, 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 ninety, almost eighty years after she first began composing her own works. [Source: Folkways]
We’ve been singing a lot of Elizabeth Cotton this year. We’ll sing one of her songs, move on to something else, and then jump back into another one of her songs. They’re simple to learn and fun to sing. I’ve even caught my preschooler humming her catchy tunes.
Musical selections:
- Freight Train (Cotten) and another version. [Lyrics]
- Shake Sugaree and another version. [Lyrics]
- Oh Babe It Ain’t No Lie and another version [Lyrics] – Please listen to her hilarious explanation of the lyrics (in the second version above) before you write them off as being inappropriate. I promise you’ll change your mind!
We learned more about her life in this short Libba Cotton Documentary, and my friend turned me onto this sweet picture book, Libba, highlighting her life (Thanks, Betsy!).
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I hope your family enjoys these fun ditties as much as we have!
You can find me on Instagram @heritagemomblog. See you there!
We read Libba today and I just came over here to see if you had anything about Elizabeth Cotten and look what I found! Saved me all the trouble of searching YouTube. We listened all day to her songs on Amazon Prime. The short doc was especially wonderful. Thank you for sharing!!
Oh my goodness! I wasn’t even familiar with this book. I just put it on hold at our library, and I’m updating the post to add it right now. THANK YOU.
Elizabeth’s Song written by Michael Wenberg and illustrated Cornelius Van Wright is another option. It may be on your list already as I’m late to this post.
Excellent post Amber! I’m going to request it at our library. Thank you!
Thank you! I hope they have it, and if not, maybe they will order it for you (and others).
Hey Amber! Just found the links on the Elizabeth Cotten post for her song “Oh Babe It Ain’t No Lie” and the other version are both broken. Do you have another video from YouTube that you recommend? Thank you for all you do…we are LOVING all of your curriculum guides and book suggestions!
Oh no! Thank you so much for letting me know. This is one of my favorite posts, and I never would’ve known that the links were broken if you hadn’t taken the time to comment here. I’ve updated to new links above, so please take a look. You absolutely MUST listen to the 2nd video of Oh Babe Ain’t No Lie. Her storytelling is hilarious! I really hope that you enjoy Elizabeth Cotten as much as we do!