Just a little more blues

This is Elizabeth Cotten playing Vestapol. Originally "The Siege of Sevastopol", this instrumental was popular in late 18th/early 19th century America. Supposedly it was in a pamphlet included with guitar sales. It popularized open d - known as 'Vestapol tuning'.

Cotten was left-handed, holding her guitar upside down - picking the melody with her thumb & the base with her fingers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S4EA8DNjxx4

#vestapol #elizabethCotten #blues #fingerpicking #guitar #music

Still loving the blues - here's Blind Willie Johnson Dark Was the Night, Cold Was the Ground
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BNj2BXW852g

Drawing from his background in the Baptist Church, this track is a evocation of haunting melancholia.

You can hear echoes of it in later players such as Ry Cooder - especially the track Paris, Texas.

This song is one of 27 samples included on the Voyager Golden Record to represent the musical diversity of the planet Earth.

#blues #slide #guitar #vestapol #BlindWillieJohnson