Album Club: Freight Train and Other North Carolina Folk Songs - Elizabeth Cotten

~~MicShazam~~ · 03-25-2018, 03:17 AM

My mind is just all over the place on this album

I don't enjoy how some of the songs kinda sound like children's songs, especially Freight Train, and I've got to say I mostly find her vocals close to unlistenable. It's not only her voice in itself, it's also the way she phrases the lines that I find annoying. Freight Train is an all too good example of this. There's also a sort of thin, whiny quality to her voice, which I don't think has been helped by her much advanced age.

On the other hand, it's not hard to see how the sheer "rootsy", down to earth qualities of her singing and guitar playing can be highly appealing to some. This album sounds like you're sitting on a porch, in another thime, with some old people who spontaneously decided to break out their instruments.

The songs on this album are numerous, but very short. I've got to say that I found this configuration a mercy, since each individual song doesn't necessarily have many different parts or much development. Each song lays out a simple guitar progression and vocal line, then plays it through a few times, and that's it. I like folk music, but this very old, traditional stuff tends to bore me. That's just honest talk. Joan Baez has at times played songs written well before her time, but Baez has golden pipes, so that's way easier for me to get along with.

I don't know why I'm so reluctant to just outright say that I dislike the album. Maybe it's that the music clearly exhibits traits that are generally considered to be what folk music is - or should be - all about? I also don't find it hard to listen to. I'm just acutely aware of how it's not really doing much for me either. I just kind of want to turn it off and put on some Joan Baez.

I don't listen to extremely much folk music. I'm more into the somewhat related, rather vague genre of "singer/songwriter". But both the kind of folk that I do like, plus some singer/songwriter artists draw on a lot of these kinds of old folk music styles, but transformed and combined with multitudes of other influences. So perhaps I feel like this is a bit too much like going back to basics for me. Just like I - many apologies - just cannot listen to 50's Rock'n'roll and not feel somewhat bored by it.

I'm giving it a score of "fair", which might actually show a lack of honesty, since I suspect I kind of feel more like bumping it 1 more step down the ladder. I guess it's hard to argue for any obvious faults, aside from her singing, so I don't feel like I can defend a lower score if someone calls bull****

Plus something Neapolitan said a while ago made me think. I really do tend to crap on Album Club albums more often than not, don't I?
EDIT: Lo and behold, I voted after posting and I'm the only one to go so low. I swear I'm not actively trying to be a party pooper. It's just my nature.

Lisnaholic · 03-25-2018, 05:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Neapolitan

Elizabeth Cotten-Rainbow Quest Tv Show

^ Yes, thanks for posting this interesting video, Neapolitan; it's one that gives a clear idea of "Libba's" serene personality. I love at one point when she says about her employer, "She kept a guii-tar on the kitchen door, hanging."

Another nice thing about your clip is that it led me to another clip where I learned that E.C. was born in 1895. That's 123 years ago! I also discovered to my surprise that she wrote "Shake it, sugaree." This is a delightful song, though I prefer the version by Fred Neil:-

( Read more about Fred Neil here:- http://www.musicbanter.com/country-f...led-album.html )

Quote:

Originally Posted by MicShazam

The songs on this album are numerous, but very short. I've got to say that I found this configuration a mercy, since each individual song doesn't necessarily have many different parts or much development.

^

That's a really neat remark, MicShazam!

Quote:

Originally Posted by MicShazam

... both the kind of folk that I do like, plus some singer/songwriter artists draw on a lot of these kinds of old folk music styles, but transformed and combined with multitudes of other influences. So perhaps I feel like this is a bit too much like going back to basics for me. Just like I - many apologies - just cannot listen to 50's Rock'n'roll and not feel somewhat bored by it.

^ Yes, we can hardly blame Elizabeth Cotton for the fact that the music industry has moved on beyond anything she could imagine, but also we can't put our modern sensibilities aside. I noticed it even in the Pete Seeger clip: seventeen minutes of sedate, undramatic tv of the kind that no post-MTV station would transmit today afaik.

Quote:

Originally Posted by MicShazam

Plus something Neapolitan said a while ago made me think. I really do tend to crap on Album Club albums more often than not, don't I?
EDIT: Lo and behold, I voted after posting and I'm the only one to go so low. I swear I'm not actively trying to be a party pooper. It's just my nature.

^ Yeah, if I was a reg member of this club, I would've told you straight by now, "If you don't like our music, clear out and start your own club you miserable b*stard!"

View Poll Results: What say you?
Unassailable	5	55.56%
Great	0	0%
Good	1	11.11%
Fair	3	33.33%
Poor	0	0%
Garbage	0	0%
Voters: 9. You may not vote on this poll

03-25-2018, 03:17 AM	#1 (permalink)
~~MicShazam~~ Account Disabled Join Date: Aug 2015 Location: Aalborg Posts: 7,634	My mind is just all over the place on this album I don't enjoy how some of the songs kinda sound like children's songs, especially Freight Train, and I've got to say I mostly find her vocals close to unlistenable. It's not only her voice in itself, it's also the way she phrases the lines that I find annoying. Freight Train is an all too good example of this. There's also a sort of thin, whiny quality to her voice, which I don't think has been helped by her much advanced age. On the other hand, it's not hard to see how the sheer "rootsy", down to earth qualities of her singing and guitar playing can be highly appealing to some. This album sounds like you're sitting on a porch, in another thime, with some old people who spontaneously decided to break out their instruments. The songs on this album are numerous, but very short. I've got to say that I found this configuration a mercy, since each individual song doesn't necessarily have many different parts or much development. Each song lays out a simple guitar progression and vocal line, then plays it through a few times, and that's it. I like folk music, but this very old, traditional stuff tends to bore me. That's just honest talk. Joan Baez has at times played songs written well before her time, but Baez has golden pipes, so that's way easier for me to get along with. I don't know why I'm so reluctant to just outright say that I dislike the album. Maybe it's that the music clearly exhibits traits that are generally considered to be what folk music is - or should be - all about? I also don't find it hard to listen to. I'm just acutely aware of how it's not really doing much for me either. I just kind of want to turn it off and put on some Joan Baez. I don't listen to extremely much folk music. I'm more into the somewhat related, rather vague genre of "singer/songwriter". But both the kind of folk that I do like, plus some singer/songwriter artists draw on a lot of these kinds of old folk music styles, but transformed and combined with multitudes of other influences. So perhaps I feel like this is a bit too much like going back to basics for me. Just like I - many apologies - just cannot listen to 50's Rock'n'roll and not feel somewhat bored by it. I'm giving it a score of "fair", which might actually show a lack of honesty, since I suspect I kind of feel more like bumping it 1 more step down the ladder. I guess it's hard to argue for any obvious faults, aside from her singing, so I don't feel like I can defend a lower score if someone calls bull**** Plus something Neapolitan said a while ago made me think. I really do tend to crap on Album Club albums more often than not, don't I? EDIT: Lo and behold, I voted after posting and I'm the only one to go so low. I swear I'm not actively trying to be a party pooper. It's just my nature.