GBH Openvault
Say Brother; Great, Great Grandmothers; Interview with blues and folk singer Elizabeth Cotten
Part of Say Brother.
12/13/1973
In this clip blues and folk singer Elizabeth Cotten talks to Topper Carew about her early childhood. The inspiration for her famous song "Freight Train" is based on her experiences living next to railroad tracks. Overall, blues singers Elizabeth Cotten and "Mother" Esther Mae Scott talk with Topper Carew about their music and perform in studio for this one-hour program. Elizabeth Cotten, in her early eighties at the time of this appearance, performs her famous folk songs "Freight Train" and "Shake Sugaree" using her distinctive left-hand style of guitar playing known as "Cotten pickin'" and Esther May Scott, also in her early eighties, performs songs by Bessie Smith and Leadbelly. Both musicians were active participants in blues festival circuits at the time of the interview. Produced by Topper Carew. Directed by Conrad White.
License Clip
- Series
- Say Brother
- Program
- Great, Great Grandmothers
- Program Number
309
- Title
Interview with blues and folk singer Elizabeth Cotten
- Series Description
Say Brother is WGBH's longest running public affairs television program by, for and about African Americans, and is now known as Basic Black. Since its inception in 1968, Say Brother has featured the voices of both locally and nationally known African American artists, athletes, performers, politicians, professionals, and writers including: Muhammad Ali, Maya Angelou, Thomas Atkins, Amiri Baraka, Doris Bunte, Julian Bond, Stokely Carmichael, Louis Farrakhan, Nikki Giovanni, Odetta Gordon, Henry Hampton, Benjamin Hooks, Jesse Jackson, Hubie Jones, Mel King, Eartha Kitt, Elma Lewis, Haki Madhubuti, Wallace D. Muhammad, Charles Ogletree, Babatunde Olatunji, Byron Rushing, Owusu Sadaukai, and Sonia Sanchez. Series release date: 7/15/1968
- Program Description
Blues singers Elizabeth Cotten and "Mother" Esther Mae Scott talk with Topper Carew about their music and perform in this one hour program. Elizabeth Cotten, in her early eighties at the time of appearance, performs her famous folk song "Freight Train" and "Shake Sugaree" (using her distinctive left-hand style of guitar playing known as "Cotten pickin'") and Esther May Scott (also in her early eighties) performs covers by Bessie Smith and Leadbelly. Both musicians were active participants in blues festival circuits at the time of the interview and were recognized as grandmothers by the Black community.
- Asset Type
Clip
- Media Type
Video
- Subjects
- Women blues musicians
- Blues (Music)
- African American singers
- Scott, Esther Mae, 1893-1979
- African American women
- Cotten, Elizabeth
- African American musicians
- Genres
- Magazine
- Topics
- Race and Ethnicity
- Creators
- White, Conrad (Director)
- Barrow-Murray, Barbara (Associate Producer)
- Carew, Topper (Producer)
- Jones, Vickie (Associate Producer)
- Contributors
- Carew, Topper (Host)
- Johnson, Henry (Filmmaker)
- Publication Information
- WGBH Educational Foundation
- Citation
- Chicago: “Say Brother; Great, Great Grandmothers; Interview with blues and folk singer Elizabeth Cotten,” 12/13/1973, GBH Archives, accessed April 23, 2024, http://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/V_B3861BF9014245A59E38C2DB4BCD97F1.
- MLA: “Say Brother; Great, Great Grandmothers; Interview with blues and folk singer Elizabeth Cotten.” 12/13/1973. GBH Archives. Web. April 23, 2024. <http://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/V_B3861BF9014245A59E38C2DB4BCD97F1>.
- APA: Say Brother; Great, Great Grandmothers; Interview with blues and folk singer Elizabeth Cotten. Boston, MA: GBH Archives. Retrieved from http://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/V_B3861BF9014245A59E38C2DB4BCD97F1