Details
Track Listing
1. Shake Sugaree
2. Take Me Back to Baltimore
3. Washington Blues
4. I'm Going Away
5. Fox Chase
6. Ontario Blues
7. Fare You Well, My Darling
8. Medley
9. Mama, Nobody's Here But the Baby
10. Mama, Nobody's Here But the Baby
11. Look and Live, My Brother
12. Jesus Lifted Me
13. Jesus Is Tenderly Calling
14. Buck Dance
15. Ruben
16. Oh, Miss Lulie Gal
17. Can't Get a Letter From Down the Road
18. Shoot That Buffalo
19. Boatman Dance
20. Hallelujah, It Is Done
21. Holy Ghost, Unchain My Name
22. Little Brown Jug
23. Della
24. Ball the Jack
25. Till We Meet Again
26. When the Train Comes Along
| Details | | Producer: | Mike Seeger | | Distributor: | E1 Distribution (USA) | | Recording Type: | Studio | | Recording Mode: | Stereo | | SPAR Code: | n/a |
Album Notes
Personnel: Elizabeth Cotten (vocals, acoustic guitar); Brenda Evans (vocals).
Liner Note Authors: Mike Seeger; John Ullman.
Recording information: 1965 - 1966.
Though Elizabeth Cotten was considered a living legend well before her death in the 1980s, and her guitar and banjo playing provided one of the most important templates for folk, blues, and even rock musicians of subsequent generations, she never recorded much. A few albums on the Folkways label are all that exists of her unique sound, so this batch of mid-'60s tracks, which includes a wealth of previously unreleased material, arrived like a bolt from the blue for Cotten admirers.
Cotten is mostly regarded as an instrumentalist, and only sings on a few cuts. For most of SHAKE SUGAREE, the North Carolina folk/blues pioneer lets her fingers do the talking. Her unique, two-fingered style of picking prefigured everything from Doc Watson's bluegrass to the country blues of Taj Mahal, and decades down the road it's still striking to hear her dig into the deceptively complex picking patterns of "Take Me Back to Baltimore," "Can't Get a Letter from Down the Road," and others, with such a perfect blend of facility and pure, unadulterated soul.
Industry Reviews
Cotton's music is drawn from African-American tradition, church music, ragtime, and other styles. Her guitar playing is warm and expressive.
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