Elizabeth Cotten - Tumblr Posts
Song of the day
"Freight train" Elizabeth Cotten, written 1906-1912, recorded 1958 by mike seeger
Elizabeth cotton composed freight train while she was just a teenager, inspired by the trains that ran past her home in north Carolina
Song of the day
(do you want the history of your favorite folk song? dm me or submit an ask, and I'll do a full rundown like here)
"Don't Think Twice, It's Alright" Bob Dylan, 1963
"Don't Think Twice, It's Alright " was first written in 1962 and was first released in 1963. It's based on Paul Clayton's song, "Who's gonna buy you Ribbons ?(When I'm Gone)" released 1960
in Dylan: A Biography by Bob Spitz, he writes,
"Some time before the song appeared, he [bob dylan] ran into Clayton, Van Ronk, and Barry Kornfeld, another Village folksinger, at which time he said, 'Hey, man—I really dig ‘Who’s Gonna Buy Your Ribbon Saw.’ I’m gonna use that.' No one gave it a second thought. Clayton himself had copied it from an old music-hall number called 'Who’s Gonna Buy Your Chickens When I’m Gone.' The guys figured, 'Fair enough—Bob’ll probably do a nifty variation on the theme.' Unfortunately, 'Don’t Think Twice' is a dead ringer for 'Ribbon Saw'" (p.200)
and the lyrics, despite both songs being short, are very similar.
Stephen Wilson, Paul Claytons Roomate says
"[Paul Clayton] had taken two different ideas. I know this from Clayton’s own lips. He slightly changed the tune to ‘Call Me Old Black Dog.’ The words were a song he’d picked up a sheet copy of in the University of Virginia library, called ‘Who’s Gonna Buy You Chickens When I’m Gone.’ He liked the idea of it" Paul Clayton and the Folksong Revival by Bob Coltman, 2008 p. 132
Despite multiple accounts in Spitz's biography of Bob Dylan of "Who's Gonna Buy Your Chickens When I'm Gone" being a popular traditional folk song that Cynthia Gooding claimed to perform twice, there exists no recorcing or publishing of its lyrics in this Time period. The closest thing i could find was the song "Whos Goñ Bring You Chickens?" from "Eight Negro Songs (From Bedford co. Virginia)" collected and published by Francis H. Abbott in 1923
since there were no recordings available for this song, i also digitally reproduced the sheet music and recorded the song using sheetmusic reader software
here's just the vocal melody
the other song mentioned, "Call me Old black dog," is a traditional folk song with many different variations, including possibly "Salty dog." from what i could tell it was first recorded in 1929 by Dick Justice
and in 1930, by Bayless Rose
these two versions of "Black Dog Blues," the chicken version of the song, and Paul Clayton's version all remind me very very heavily of the song, "Goin' Down the Road Feeling Bad"
specifically this one by elizabeth cotten (1958)
and this one by Woody guthrie (1938-1940)
"Goin' Down that road feeling bad" was first recorded in 1923 by Henry Whitter as "Lonesome Road blues"
i don't know where else to put this but i also think Phil Ochs' "When I'm Gone" (1966) could have been inspired by one of these songs (in my opinion Paul Clayton's, as it sounds similar to the others to me)
Based on the biography interviews, it seems that Bob Dylan was widely criticized by other folk singers not for covering and changing a traditional folk song (that's a commonplace practice in folk music) but for copyrighting both the lyrics and the melody to this song, rather than just crediting the melody as "traditional" or just mentioning paul clayton at all. While Paul Clayton was struggling to make money, "Don't Think twice, it's Alright," made a lot. Either way, "Don't Think Twice, Its Alright" is a staple of the genre and has defined folk for a generation.
Peggy Seeger 2023 interview talking about Elizabeth Cotten and "Freight Train"
Modern americans can make yearnful music all we want but no one is doin it like an Appalachian or new englander balladeer recorded in the early revival and that's just a fact of life #sorry
Tribute to Elizabeth Cotten with Odetta
Elizabeth Cotten - Euphoria Tavern, Portland, Oregon, February 19, 1975
American genius Elizabeth Cotten was born at the tail-end of the 19th century, but she thankfully lived a long life. And in 1975, at the age of 82, she was in Portland, playing her guitar and banjo and singing her classic songs for a small-but-very-appreciative crowd. Originally broadcast on KBOO-FM, this show features plenty of Cotten's hugely influential fingerpicking, charmingly rambling monologues and singalongs that will bring a smile to your face and a tear to your eye.
Elizabeth Says: I just loved to play. That used to be all I’d do. I’d sit up late at night and play. My mama would say to me, “Sis, put that thing down and go to bed.” “Alright, Mama, just as soon as I finish—let me finish this.” Well, by me keep playing, you see, she’d go back to sleep and I’d sit up thirty minutes or longer than that after she’d tell me to stop playing. Sometimes I’d near play all night if she didn’t wake up and tell me to go to bed. That’s when I learned to play, ’cause then when I learned one little tune, I’d be so proud of that, that I’d want to learn another. Then I’d just keep sitting up trying. I tried hard to play, I’m telling you. I worked for what I’ve got. I really did work for it.
PS - A snippet of this performance was released a while back on a 7-inch with the great Marisa Anderson on the flipside. Go grab the digital version to support KBOO!
Elizabeth "Libba" Cotten clipping, 1987
Song of The Day
"Shake Sugaree" Elizabeth Cotten and Brenda Evans, 1960s Shake Sugaree was written sometime in the 1960s by Elizabeth Cotten's Great-Grandchildren. She explains, "Each child got a verse." The song is sung here by Brenda Evans, who was 12 years old then, and was recorded by Mike Seeger. This song could have been the inspiration for the song "Sugaree" by the Grateful Dead, but the band has denied this. Jerry Garcia was a big fan of her work and performed and the band performed some of her songs. I'm not really familiar with these people though, so I'm not sure. Brenda Evans would continue to be a musician, and I think, was a member of the band "The Undisputed Truth" for a time. And would continue to make and perform music in the 1970s.
Elizabeth Cotten's 90th birthday concert, 1983