Talk:Elizabeth Cotten

message: Elizabeth Cotten said she taught herself banjo and guitar, but it is clear she didn't do that in a vacuum. Her brother, her immediate community, including her church, and popular music of the time, such as brass bands and early records would would have influenced her music. In those days music was spread by itinerant musicians who Elizabeth likely heard. 
For example, she is on record, literally, saying the banjo was her first instrument. (Track 5, about 14 seconds in, Elizabeth Cotten Live, Arhoolie 447) She "borrowed" her brother's banjo, which certainly was tuned in some commonly used tuning. On the same album, (track 9, about 3:20 in) she talks about a tune being played by a man walking down the street and reworking it into "Honey Babe, Your Papa Cares for You.) In the liner notes, for her first album, I believe, she talks about being inspired to write "Graduation March" after hearing a brass band at a University of North Carolina commencement. Her ragtime pieces, like Wilson Rag, cut 1 of her first album, clearly show the influence of the popular ragtime music of her childhood.
Most of her tunes are in "standard" EADGBE tuning which she certainly learned from others. The two open tunings she uses on her four recordings are the common open tunings used by other Southern guitar players in the early 20th century, open D and open G. These are sometimes called open E and A if the instrument is tuned to concert pitch rather than a step flat, a common practice which was kinder to the instruments and easier to play because of less tension on the strings. Ms. Cotten had her own names for these tunings, Vastopol for open D and Spanish for open G, but they were the two most common open tunings, none the less.
John Ullman (talk) 21:55, 12 May 2008 (UTC)
thread_title: Ms Cotten's Tunings and Being "Self Taught"

message: It is my opinion that there ought to be a rediretct here to the article "Elizabeth Cotten" from her nickname, of "Libba" Cotten
--done.
--Batula 21:22, 5 September 2006  (UTC)
--I agree. These two pages need to be merged (not that I know how that is done) 
===???===
I don't understand what's meant by Mrs. Cotten having "no knowledge of tuning in the traditional sense".  
--RobHutten 03:25, 21 May 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: Possible redirect

message: I don't understand what's meant by Mrs. Cotten having "no knowledge of tuning in the traditional sense".  
--RobHutten 03:25, 21 May 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: ???

message: There's an article with the spelling of her last name "Cotton" where it should correctly read as in this article "Cotten" I have suggested they be merged so the proper spelling is maintained.
--Batula 21:22, 5 September 2006  (UTC)
*Go ahead.  It's obviously the same person. Bruxism 04:20, 22 September 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: Merge

message: "This album is considered one of the most influential folk albums ever recorded." If this is a quote it needs to be cited, if not it should probably be removed for not being NPOV—The preceding Dannygutters 15:17, 24 April 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: Uncited

message: "Her influence is felt by many guitarists today."
This may be true, but should be expanded to support or cited if a quote. As a single statement it's not NPOV Dannygutters 15:22, 24 April 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Citation 2 

message: The article says she was born in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, the infobox says she was born in Carrboro, North Carolina. The towns are right next to each other, but she had to be born in one or the other. From what I've heard, she lived on Lloyd Street in Carrboro, but it's still possible she could have been born in Chapel Hill.--Gloriamarie (talk) 00:21, 4 July 2008 (UTC)
thread_title: Birthplace

message: It says she quit playing guitar in church but here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N5MTbScgKVE&feature=autoplay&list=MLGxdCwVVULXfxywk9HFH3UayUJC7lgr4T&index=10&playnext=1 at 3:39 she said that she never played in church. Removing.  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.136.193.181 (talk) 12:00, 25 March 2011 (UTC)
thread_title: Playing Guitar in Church

message: A cover of Shake Sugaree is done in the game Bioshock Infinite. An orphan in shantytown sings the song as you walk past.  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 205.178.122.203 (talk) 22:43, 13 July 2013 (UTC)
thread_title:  Bioshock Infinite 

message: A brief note on this marker: It was placed in the wrong location, but only 1/2 mile or so away from what should be its "true" location. Carrboro's Lloyd Street was confused with Chapel Hill's [previously named] Lloyd Street, which is now named Brooks Lane, and which the Cotten family lived on/near. I'm just happy the correct birthdate is on the marker, though! Evets70 (talk) 14:55, 23 September 2015 (UTC)
thread_title:  NC Highway marker 

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thread_title:  External links modified 

message: All primary source documents state she was born in 1893. I've had to change it back to 1893 from the incorrect year of 1895 like a half-dozen times and it's getting irritating. The Seegers had no idea when she was born, and so their statements are inaccurate and hearsay. Thankjs! Evets70 (talk) 19:58, 3 April 2016 (UTC)
thread_title:  PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE quit changing her birthdate to 1895! 

message: Her family name is given as Neville in the first paragraph of the article and as Nevills in the infobox and in the section "Early life" (in which her parents' surname is stated to be Nevill or Nevills). Is the spelling "Neville" a typo? If there is uncertainty about the spelling, I suggest that it be mentioned in the intro. I am reluctant to edit the article accordingly because of the possibility that "Neville" is erroneous and should be deleted altogether. Jwicklatz (talk) 01:52, 11 April 2016 (UTC)
thread_title:  Neville, Nevills, Nevill 

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thread_title:  External links modified 

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thread_title:  External links modified 

message: The article states that Elizabeth married Frank Cotten on November 7, 1910, when she was 17 years old.
On the other hand, the website of the Smithsonian Institution says that she was married when she was 15: https://folkways.si.edu/elizabeth-cotten-master-american-folk/music/article/smithsonian.
Does anyone know the correct age when she married Frank Cotten? 2601:200:C000:1A0:AC7D:FEF1:CF45:6ADD (talk) 14:15, 12 April 2021 (UTC)
thread_title:  Question about date of marriage to Frank Cotten