Blues music dates back to the early 1870s, it was created by the African-American community in the deep South and spread like wildfire across the country.
The entrancing form of music has paved the way for many brilliant artists, one of them being Elizabeth “Libba” Cotten.
She picked up the banjo at just seven-years-old and taught herself to play.
This blues legend plays her song “Sweet Bye and Bye” in fingerpicking style and goes viral for it years after.
Elizabeth “Libba” Cotten was a trailblazer in the blues world. The self-taught guitar genius formed her own style called “Cotten Picking,” that many people still use today. She was left-handed but played a right-handed guitar flipped upside down which helped her form her unique signature style.
In this video, Libba calmy plays “Sweet By and By” using her thumb to play the melody, and fingers to play the bass line.
Although she passed away long before YouTube was invented, it’s great to see her music still reaching people in 2020.
She goes through the song with ease, playing such a smooth and beautiful melody.
Her relaxed style lets off such mellow but powerful energy, and Libba doesn’t even change her facial expression the entire time.
The impressive icon picks away, rolling the melody and bassline together.
In this video she only plays the guitar, but Libba was also known for her raspy and unique voice.
Her music was phenomenal, but just as impressive was the story of how she got there.
Libba gave up the guitar for 25 years, before picking it back up and relearning her old passion.
Libba started playing the banjo at just seven years old, before switching to the guitar and perfecting her craft.
Once she got married, she gave up the guitar for a quarter of a century. When she was in her 60’s, the talented musician picked up the guitar again and began paving her way in the music industry with the help of Mike Seeger and the Seeger family who she worked for.
From there, a song called “Freight Train” that Libba wrote when she just 11 years old took off.
The song has since been covered by many famous artists like Bob Dylan and Jerry Garcia.
Libba won a Grammy in 1984 for Best Ethnic or Traditional Recording and wrote music well into her 80s.
Just three years later, Libba passed away at the age of 94 but her music clearly lives on.
The video of her playing “Sweet By and By” shows us how profound her music was. At the end of the song, she shows us her top-notch abilities by speeding up her guitar playing.
Still stone-faced, Libba finishes the rest of the song before the old black and white footage fades out.
Even all these years later, she goes viral for her one-of-a-kind style. I bet she never imagined she’d still have millions of people listening to her music. It’s timeless and too good to ignore!
Her performance of “Sweet Bye and Bye” has been viewed over 1.7 million times, with 36,000 liking it.
Nothing is better than Elizabeth “Libba” Cotten playing on her upside-down guitar—she’s the epitome of an authentic artist.
Libba is a true legend.
She passed the talent down and her great-granddaughter went on to sing for the Motown group Undisputed Truth, but that’s another story.
To see her play this song in her signature fingerpicking style, watch the video below!
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