AMG Review of Freight Train and Other North Carolina Folk Songs

Jason Ankeny
All Music Guide

Recorded in 1957 and early 1958 by Mike Seeger, Freight Train and Other North Carolina Folk Songs and Tunes collects the influential debut sides cut by a then-62-year-old Elizabeth Cotten; even decades after their first release, they remain a veritable primer in the art of finger-picked style guitar playing. The quaint, homespun quality of the material -- much of it recorded at Cotten's home with her grandchildren looking on in silence -- adds immensely to its intimacy and warmth; the sound quality varies wildly from track to track, but the amazing instrumental work shines through regardless on tracks like the opening "Wilson Rag" and the now-standard "Freight Train."