Below is my first Non-Book Review assignment for my internet class. I received a 4/5 and was told to spice up the presentation. I had simply emailed him this. Anyhow, I've been using blogger for my homework. My second review can be found at nonbook review and the third at serial review. The second got a 5/5 and I just submitted the third one now. They are reviews designed to sell a product to a library and aren't the kind of reviews you'll find written by those review junkies, Joel and Jonathon at CDReviews.com.


Format: audio c.d.
Artist: Elizabeth Cotten
Album: Freight Train and Other North Carolina Folk Songs and Tunes
SF CD 40009
UPC: 09307-40009-22

Manufactured in the US by Smithsonian Folkways and copyrighted by Smithsonian/Folkways Recordings in 1989:
Smithsonian/Folkways Recordings
Center for Folklife Programs and Cultural Studies
955 L’Enfant Plaza, Suite 2600
Smithsonian Institution
Washington, DC 20560
Phone: (202) 287-3262

This standard sized single CD is a reissue of Elizabeth Cotten’s first LP and was originally issued in 1958 as Folkways FG 3526. It is recorded, edited, and annotated by Mike Seeger. Its 14 tracks comprise a complete running time of 34:12, and its current list price is $16.98. Like all Folkways reissues, it contains the original liner notes that provide detailed information about the artist and the individual songs. The sound quality of the recording is very good, considering that the original tapes were bedroom recordings using 1950s portable recording equipment. Any imperfections in sound remaining on the recording add to the charm and historicity of the album. Elizabeth Cotten’s unique upside-down (left-handed) playing and distinctive picking style cross over all boundaries of 20th century folk music, from blues to country ragtime, and her appearances at various folk festivals of the 1960s came to influence many younger crossover folk artists. Her original composition, Freight Train, was later covered and popularized by folk musicians Peggy Seeger, Nancy Whiskey, and Rusty Draper. Anyone of any age who is interested in folk music or American history would benefit from exposure to Cotten’s interpretations of traditional native North Carolina songs as well as the originals she composed in the context of that tradition. Elizabeth Cotten has also received widespread support in the music industry and arts communities, receiving a National Endowment for the Arts National Heritage Fellowship Award, among other awards and honors, including a Grammy. The release of this album on CD is a welcome event as it seems that the use of CDs will continue into the foreseeable future, and the recording will not deteriorate as it would have on the master copy. I highly recommend that this disc be purchased on the basis of its pleasing musical nature as well as its further benefit as a historical record of what was once a living oral music tradition, integral to the lives of this country’s citizenship.

The reviewer has a degree in English and continues to pursue his avid interest in folk history and musicology through acquiring, studying, and preserving the music of local singer/songwriters through his own field recordings.