I'm goin' to heaven in a split pea shell

October 14, 2004 1:01 PM

Remembering Elizabeth "Libba" Cotten (1895-1987): Oh, Lordy me, didn't [she] shake sugaree! [last 2 are audio]
posted by shoepal (13 comments total)

(via a trip to the always interesting Wax N' Facts)
posted by shoepal at 1:06 PM on October 14, 2004

awesome, thanks.
Cotten was also (tangentially) discussed here
posted by matteo at 1:15 PM on October 14, 2004

Libba's Place at Syracuse University.
posted by maurice at 1:31 PM on October 14, 2004

Thanks Matteo! I knew her name sounded familiar.
posted by shoepal at 1:46 PM on October 14, 2004

Great links, thank you!

My uncle from Raleigh tried to teach me "Time to Stop Your Idling" on guitar when I was pretty young, and I never got the appeal...until ten years later when I heard her in college. What a voice.
posted by dhoyt at 1:54 PM on October 14, 2004

A great post! There's an Elizabeth Cotten track featured on the latest All Songs Considered, from the "Shake Sugaree" album you linked. I was listening to that already when I wandered over into the blue and found this thread.
posted by mmahaffie at 2:23 PM on October 14, 2004

oh my god, ive been planning this post for the past week!!!! :)

shes so incredible! i read a story in Incompleat Folk Singer about when she was working for Peggy Seeger -- her kids would make a deal with Cotten : they would do the dishes if she would play guitar! :)

best story ever.
posted by Satapher at 5:26 PM on October 14, 2004

wow, Vashti Bunyan (who needs a post of her own) is on that All Songs Considered show too! impressive!
posted by Satapher at 5:33 PM on October 14, 2004

Ruth, not Peggy ;(
posted by Satapher at 5:34 PM on October 14, 2004

wait, whos singing in that first audio link? that cant be libba cotten, unless it was recorded when she was 20
posted by Satapher at 5:39 PM on October 14, 2004

Satapher, that track is from the new cd that was just released in late September on Folkways. I believe she is quite young in that recording. The record is amazing. Highly recommended.
posted by shoepal at 5:57 PM on October 14, 2004

wow, thats amazing, i was already in love with her voice from her elderly years
posted by Satapher at 6:01 PM on October 14, 2004

I just got back from playing a show with one of my bands. We played the Dead's Sugaree in the second set, always a crowd favorite.
posted by emelenjr at 11:48 PM on October 14, 2004