Freight Train, Freight Train

Here's a beautiful tune by Elizabeth Cotten, whose finger-picking style influenced at whole bunch of players. I just recently found out a little more about Elizabeth Cotten. She was "discovered" late in life after she started working as a housekeeper (?) for the Seegers. Apparently while working for the Seeger family, she took to playing the guitars in the house - without telling anyone - and was discovered playing by Peggy Seeger, who told the family, and who were amazed by what Elizabeth Cotten could do with the guitar. So here's my version of that most famous of Elizabeth Cotten songs, "Freight Train".



Freight train, freight train, run so fast
Freight train, freight train, run so fast
Please don't tell what train I'm on
They won't know where I'm gone

When I'm dead and in my grave
No more good times here I crave
Place the stones at my head and feet
And tell them all I've gone to sleep

When I die, oh bury me deep
Down at the end of old Chestnut Street
So I can hear old Number Nine
As she comes rolling by

Elizabeth Cotten actually had a really interesting guitar playing technique. She was left-handed and played a right handed guitar upside down. This means that she played the melody lines with her thumb and kept the steady alternating bass with her fingers. Even more amazing is how she gets so much rhythm out of just using her index finger and thumb! It's really quite something to watch it up close, so here's a video of her doing exactly that: