MUSICIAN

Elizabeth Cotten

1893 - 1987

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Elizabeth "Libba" Cotten (née Nevills; January 5, 1893 – June 29, 1987) was an influential American folk and blues musician. She was a self-taught left-handed guitarist who played a guitar strung for a right-handed player, but played it upside down. This position meant that she played the bass lines with her fingers and the melody with her thumb. Her signature alternating bass style has become known as "Cotten picking". Read more on Wikipedia

Her biography is available in 23 different languages on Wikipedia (up from 22 in 2024). Elizabeth Cotten is the 1,786th most popular musician (up from 1,789th in 2024), the 9,492nd most popular biography from United States (down from 9,031st in 2019) and the 683rd most popular American Musician.

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Among MUSICIANS

Among musicians, Elizabeth Cotten ranks 1,786 out of 3,175. Before her are Joe Morello, Rex Brown, Peter Tork, Bart Berman, Vitamin C, and Yoko Shimomura. After her are Bob Brookmeyer, Tom Harrell, Simone Young, Lil Hardin Armstrong, Nigo, and Blind Willie McTell.

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1893, Elizabeth Cotten ranks 248. Before her are Frans Blom, Maja Berezowska, Walter Gordon, Norman Bel Geddes, Tashi Namgyal, and Cornelius Lanczos. After her are John Norton, Harlow Curtice, Nuriye Ulviye Mevlan Civelek, Betty Blythe, Katharine Cornell, and Aksel Berg. Among people deceased in 1987, Elizabeth Cotten ranks 225. Before her are József Kovács, William J. Casey, Bayard Rustin, George Mikes, Clementina de Jesus, and James Burnham. After her are Wim Lagendaal, Juan Alberto Melgar Castro, Clare Boothe Luce, Pál Gábor, Arthur F. Burns, and Milt Kahl.

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In United States

Among people born in United States, Elizabeth Cotten ranks 9,494 out of 20,380. Before her are Michael Shermer (1954), Larry Linville (1939), Edward Goodrich Acheson (1856), Kent Beck (1961), Marsden Hartley (1877), and Martha Rosler (1943). After her are Carmen Zapata (1927), George Perkins Marsh (1801), David Halberstam (1934), Bob Brookmeyer (1929), Joel Chandler Harris (1848), and Tom Harrell (1946).

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Among MUSICIANS In United States

Among musicians born in United States, Elizabeth Cotten ranks 683. Before her are Camilla Wicks (1928), Herb Ellis (1921), Joe Morello (1928), Rex Brown (1964), Peter Tork (1942), and Vitamin C (1972). After her are Bob Brookmeyer (1929), Tom Harrell (1946), Lil Hardin Armstrong (1898), Blind Willie McTell (1898), Curtis Fuller (1934), and Michael Anthony (1954).

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