Sunday, November 15, 2009

I Know He Let You In

















"I was sitting around the other day, tapping my feet,
A publication came to my door, said you´d died and gone to sleep...
But I couldn´t shed a tear I never knew you well..."

A moving elegy from Minutemen successors fIREHOSE on the death of blues singer extraordinaire Elizabeth Cotten. Haven´t a clue why Mike Watt & co spelled her name wrong btw. Anyone?

"...But I´m missing you just the same,
Libba please rest easy down on Chestnut Street..."

fIREHOSE - In Memory Of Elizabeth Cotton MP3

And then there´s the object of their admiration herself: Elizabeth ´Libba´ Cotten (1895-1987). Lefthanded and self-taught, she held her guitar upside down, playing the bass lines with her fingers and the melody with her thumb: the Cotten picking technique.

"When I die Lord bury me deep,
Way down on old Chestnut Street,
So I can hear old Number 9 as she comes rolling by..."

Elizabeth Cotten - Freight Train MP3

1 comment:

mark cool said...

I'm a big Libba fan, have recorded her tunes on both of my last 2 discs.
Sugarbaby your papa cares for you is a great instrumental of hers.