Carter Family
Encyclopedia
The Carter Family was a traditional American folk music
group that recorded between 1927 and 1956. Their music had a profound impact on bluegrass
, country
, Southern Gospel
, pop
and rock music
ians as well as on the U.S. folk revival of the 1960s. They were the first vocal group to become country music stars. Their recordings of such songs as "Wabash Cannonball
", "Can the Circle Be Unbroken
", "Wildwood Flower
" and "Keep On the Sunny Side
" made them country standards.
The original group consisted of Alvin Pleasant "A.P." Delaney Carter (1891–1960), his wife Sara Dougherty Carter
(1898–1979), and his sister-in-law Maybelle Addington Carter
(1909–1978). Maybelle was married to A.P.'s brother Ezra (Eck) Carter and was also Sara's first cousin. All three were born and raised in southwestern Virginia
, where they were immersed in the tight harmonies of mountain gospel music
and shape note
singing.
Throughout the group's career, Sara Carter sang lead vocals; Maybelle sang harmony and accompanied the group instrumentally; on some songs A.P. did not perform at all but at times sang harmony and background vocals and once in a while, lead vocal. Maybelle's distinctive guitar playing style became a hallmark of the group.
, to Bristol, Tennessee
, to audition for record producer Ralph Peer
, who was seeking new talents for the relatively embryonic recording industry. They received $50 for each song they recorded.
In the fall of 1927, the Victor Talking Machine Company
released a double-sided 78 rpm record of the group performing "Wandering Boy" and "Poor Orphan Child". In 1928, another record was released with "The Storms Are on the Ocean" and "Single Girl, Married Girl". This record became very popular.
On May 27, 1928, Peer had the group travel to the Victor Camden, New Jersey
studios, where they recorded many of what would become their signature songs, including: "Meet me by the Moonlight Alone"; "Keep On the Sunny Side
"; "Can the Circle be Unbroken
"; "Little Darling, Pal of Mine"; "Forsaken Love"; "Anchored in Love"; "I Ain't Goin' to Work Tomorrow"; "Will You Miss Me When I'm Gone"; "Wildwood Flower
"; "River of Jordan"; "Chewing Gum"; and "John Hardy Was a Desperate Little Man".
The group did not receive any money for this effort and left with a contract that assured a small royalty for sales of their records and sheet music. "Wildwood Flower" in both vocal and instrumental forms has endured as a signature tune for traditional country and bluegrass artists. During a February 1929 session they recorded: "I'm Thinking Tonight of My Blue Eyes"; "My Clinch Mountain Home", "Sweet Fern"; "Grave on the Green Hillside"; "Little Moses"; "Don't Forget This Song"; and "Engine 143
".
By the end of 1930 they had sold 300,000 records in the U.S. Realizing that he would benefit financially with each new song he collected and copyright
ed, A.P. traveled around the southwestern Virginia area in search of new songs. In the early 1930s, he befriended Lesley "Esley" Riddle
, a black guitar player from Kingsport, Tennessee
. Esley accompanied A.P. on his song-collecting trips. In June 1931, the Carters did a recording session in Louisville, Kentucky
along with Jimmie Rodgers
. In 1933, Maybelle met The Cook Family Singers
at the World's Fair
in Chicago
and fell in love with their signature sound. She asked them to tour with the Carter Family.
, where they had a twice-daily program on the border radio station XERA (later XERF) in Villa Acuña (now Ciudad Acuña, Mexico), across the border from Del Rio, Texas
. In the 1939–40 season, the children of A.P. and Sara (Janette Carter
, Joe Carter) and those of Maybelle (June Carter, Anita Carter
, Helen Carter
) joined the group for radio performances, now in San Antonio, Texas
, where the programs were prerecorded and distributed to multiple border radio stations. (The children did not perform however on the group's records). In the fall of 1942, the Carters moved their program to WBT
radio in Charlotte, North Carolina
, for a one-year contract. They occupied the sunrise slot, with the program airing between 5:15 and 6:15 a.m.
By 1936, A.P. and Sara's marriage had dissolved. Sara married A.P.'s cousin, moved to California
, and the group disbanded in 1944.
Maybelle continued to perform with her daughters, Anita
, June
, and Helen
, as "The Carter Sisters" (sometimes billed as "Maybelle Carter and the Carter Sisters" or "Mother Maybelle and the Carter Sisters"). Chet Atkins
joined them playing electric guitar in 1949 until leaving in 1950. A.P., Sara, and their children Joe and Janette
recorded some material in the 1950s. The Carter Sisters reclaimed the name The Carter Family for their act during the 1960s and 1970s. Maybelle and Sara briefly reunited, recorded a reunion album, and toured in the 1960s during the height of folk music
's popularity.
In 1987, reunited sisters June Carter Cash and Helen and Anita Carter, along with June's daughter Carlene Carter
, appeared as the Carter Family and were featured on a 1987 television episode of Austin City Limits
along with Johnny Cash
.
Revivalist folksingers during the 1960s performed much of the material the Carters had collected or written. For example, on her early Vanguard
albums, folk performer Joan Baez
sang "Wildwood Flower", "Little Moses", "Engine 143", "Little Darling, Pal of Mine", and "Gospel Ship". The Carter Family Song "Wayworn Traveller" was covered by a young Bob Dylan
, who wrote his own words to the melody and named it "Paths Of Victory"; this recording is featured on Bootleg Series Vol. 1-3. After writing that song, he wrote new words to the melody and changed the time signature to 3/4, thus creating one of his most famous songs, "The Times They Are a-Changin'
".
playing. She developed her innovative guitar technique largely in isolation; her style is today widely known as the "Carter scratch" or "Carter style" of picking (see Carter Family picking
). While Maybelle did use a flatpick on occasion, her major method of guitar playing was the use of her thumb (with a thumbpick) along with one or two fingers. What her guitar style accomplished was to allow her to play melody lines (on the low strings of the guitar) while still maintaining rhythm using her fingers, brushing across the higher strings. Before the Carter family's recordings, the guitar was rarely used as a lead or solo instrument among white musicians. Maybelle's interweaving of a melodic line on the bass strings with intermittent strums is now a staple of steel string guitar technique. Flatpickers such as Doc Watson
, Clarence White
and Norman Blake
took flatpicking to a higher technical level, but all acknowledge Maybelle's playing as their inspiration.
The Carter Family was elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1970 and were given the nickname "The First Family of Country Music". In 1988, the Carter Family was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame and received its Award for the song "Will the Circle Be Unbroken". In 1993, the U.S. Postal Service issued a commemorative postage stamp honoring A.P., Sara, and Maybelle. In 2001, the group was inducted into the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Honor
. In 2005, the group received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award
.
did not have a country best sellers chart until 1944). Below is a select list of their 78 rpm releases.
Bluebird Records
Montgomery Ward Records
Decca Records
Victor Records
Vocalion Records
American folk music
American folk music is a musical term that encompasses numerous genres, many of which are known as traditional music or roots music. Roots music is a broad category of music including bluegrass, country music, gospel, old time music, jug bands, Appalachian folk, blues, Cajun and Native American...
group that recorded between 1927 and 1956. Their music had a profound impact on bluegrass
Bluegrass music
Bluegrass music is a form of American roots music, and a sub-genre of country music. It has mixed roots in Scottish, English, Welsh and Irish traditional music...
, country
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
, Southern Gospel
Southern Gospel
Southern Gospel music—at one time also known as "quartet music"—is music whose lyrics are written to express either personal or a communal faith regarding biblical teachings and Christian life, as well as to give a Christian alternative to mainstream secular music...
, pop
Popular music
Popular music belongs to any of a number of musical genres "having wide appeal" and is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. It stands in contrast to both art music and traditional music, which are typically disseminated academically or orally to smaller, local...
and rock music
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
ians as well as on the U.S. folk revival of the 1960s. They were the first vocal group to become country music stars. Their recordings of such songs as "Wabash Cannonball
Wabash Cannonball
"The Wabash Cannonball" is an American folk song about a fictional train, thought to have originated in the late nineteenth century. Its first documented appearance was on sheet music published in 1882, titled "" and credited to J. A. Roff...
", "Can the Circle Be Unbroken
Can the Circle Be Unbroken (By and By)
"Can the Circle Be Unbroken " is the title of a country/folk song reworked by A. P. Carter from the hymn "Will the Circle Be Unbroken?" by Ada R. Habershon and Charles H. Gabriel. The song's lyrics concern the death, funeral, and mourning of the narrator's mother.The song first gained attention due...
", "Wildwood Flower
Wildwood Flower
"Wildwood Flower" is an American song, best known through performances and recordings by the Carter Family. However, the song predates them. The original title was "I'll Twine 'Mid the Ringlets"...
" and "Keep On the Sunny Side
Keep On the Sunny Side
Keep On the Sunny Side is a popular American song originally written in 1899 by Ada Blenkhorn with music by J. Howard Entwisle . The song was popularized in a 1928 recording by the Carter Family...
" made them country standards.
The original group consisted of Alvin Pleasant "A.P." Delaney Carter (1891–1960), his wife Sara Dougherty Carter
Sara Carter
Sara Carter was an American Country music musician. Known for her deep and distinctive singing voice, she was the lead singer on most of the recordings of the historic Carter Family act in the 1920s and 1930s....
(1898–1979), and his sister-in-law Maybelle Addington Carter
Maybelle Carter
"Mother" Maybelle Carter was an American country musician. She is best known as a member of the historic Carter Family act in the 1920s and 1930s and also as a member of Mother Maybelle and the Carter Sisters.-Biography:...
(1909–1978). Maybelle was married to A.P.'s brother Ezra (Eck) Carter and was also Sara's first cousin. All three were born and raised in southwestern Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
, where they were immersed in the tight harmonies of mountain gospel music
Gospel music
Gospel music is music that is written to express either personal, spiritual or a communal belief regarding Christian life, as well as to give a Christian alternative to mainstream secular music....
and shape note
Shape note
Shape notes are a music notation designed to facilitate congregational and community singing. The notation, introduced in 1801, became a popular teaching device in American singing schools...
singing.
Throughout the group's career, Sara Carter sang lead vocals; Maybelle sang harmony and accompanied the group instrumentally; on some songs A.P. did not perform at all but at times sang harmony and background vocals and once in a while, lead vocal. Maybelle's distinctive guitar playing style became a hallmark of the group.
History
The Carter Family made their first recordings on August 2, 1927. A.P. had persuaded Sara and Maybelle the day before to make the journey from Maces Spring, VirginiaMaces Spring, Virginia
Maces Spring is a small unincorporated community in Scott County, Virginia, United States, along State Route 614. The settlement consists of a small number of houses. There are now no stores in Maces Spring and its main claim to fame is its association with the country music group, the Carter...
, to Bristol, Tennessee
Bristol, Tennessee
Bristol is a city in Sullivan County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 26,702 at the 2010 census. It is the twin city of Bristol, Virginia, which lies directly across the state line between Tennessee and Virginia. The boundaries of both cities run parallel to each other along State...
, to audition for record producer Ralph Peer
Ralph Peer
Ralph Sylvester Peer was an American talent scout, recording engineer and record producer in the field of music in the 1920s and 1930s...
, who was seeking new talents for the relatively embryonic recording industry. They received $50 for each song they recorded.
In the fall of 1927, the Victor Talking Machine Company
Victor Talking Machine Company
The Victor Talking Machine Company was an American corporation, the leading American producer of phonographs and phonograph records and one of the leading phonograph companies in the world at the time. It was headquartered in Camden, New Jersey....
released a double-sided 78 rpm record of the group performing "Wandering Boy" and "Poor Orphan Child". In 1928, another record was released with "The Storms Are on the Ocean" and "Single Girl, Married Girl". This record became very popular.
On May 27, 1928, Peer had the group travel to the Victor Camden, New Jersey
Camden, New Jersey
The city of Camden is the county seat of Camden County, New Jersey. It is located across the Delaware River from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city had a total population of 77,344...
studios, where they recorded many of what would become their signature songs, including: "Meet me by the Moonlight Alone"; "Keep On the Sunny Side
Keep On the Sunny Side
Keep On the Sunny Side is a popular American song originally written in 1899 by Ada Blenkhorn with music by J. Howard Entwisle . The song was popularized in a 1928 recording by the Carter Family...
"; "Can the Circle be Unbroken
Can the Circle Be Unbroken (By and By)
"Can the Circle Be Unbroken " is the title of a country/folk song reworked by A. P. Carter from the hymn "Will the Circle Be Unbroken?" by Ada R. Habershon and Charles H. Gabriel. The song's lyrics concern the death, funeral, and mourning of the narrator's mother.The song first gained attention due...
"; "Little Darling, Pal of Mine"; "Forsaken Love"; "Anchored in Love"; "I Ain't Goin' to Work Tomorrow"; "Will You Miss Me When I'm Gone"; "Wildwood Flower
Wildwood Flower
"Wildwood Flower" is an American song, best known through performances and recordings by the Carter Family. However, the song predates them. The original title was "I'll Twine 'Mid the Ringlets"...
"; "River of Jordan"; "Chewing Gum"; and "John Hardy Was a Desperate Little Man".
The group did not receive any money for this effort and left with a contract that assured a small royalty for sales of their records and sheet music. "Wildwood Flower" in both vocal and instrumental forms has endured as a signature tune for traditional country and bluegrass artists. During a February 1929 session they recorded: "I'm Thinking Tonight of My Blue Eyes"; "My Clinch Mountain Home", "Sweet Fern"; "Grave on the Green Hillside"; "Little Moses"; "Don't Forget This Song"; and "Engine 143
Engine One-Forty-Three
"Engine One-Forty-Three" is a ballad in the tradition of early American train wreck songs, based on the true story of the wreck of the FFV near Hinton, West Virginia on 23 October 1890. The train was on its way to Clifton Forge, Virginia, when it hit a rock slide...
".
By the end of 1930 they had sold 300,000 records in the U.S. Realizing that he would benefit financially with each new song he collected and copyright
Copyright
Copyright is a legal concept, enacted by most governments, giving the creator of an original work exclusive rights to it, usually for a limited time...
ed, A.P. traveled around the southwestern Virginia area in search of new songs. In the early 1930s, he befriended Lesley "Esley" Riddle
Lesley Riddle
Lesley "Esley" Riddle was an African-American musician whose influence on the Carter Family helped to shape country music....
, a black guitar player from Kingsport, Tennessee
Kingsport, Tennessee
Kingsport is a city located mainly in Sullivan County with some western portions in Hawkins County in the US state of Tennessee. The majority of the city lies in Sullivan County...
. Esley accompanied A.P. on his song-collecting trips. In June 1931, the Carters did a recording session in Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kentucky, and the county seat of Jefferson County. Since 2003, the city's borders have been coterminous with those of the county because of a city-county merger. The city's population at the 2010 census was 741,096...
along with Jimmie Rodgers
Jimmie Rodgers (country singer)
James Charles Rodgers , known as Jimmie Rodgers, was an American country singer in the early 20th century known most widely for his rhythmic yodeling...
. In 1933, Maybelle met The Cook Family Singers
The Cook Family Singers
The Cook Family Singers were originally formed in 1885, by David J Cook and his wife, Martha. The family hailed from Lucedale, Mississippi. Cook and his wife had six children and on Sunday afternoons after church, they would pass the time by perfecting their singing of harmonies and old gospel blends...
at the World's Fair
World's Fair
World's fair, World fair, Universal Exposition, and World Expo are various large public exhibitions held in different parts of the world. The first Expo was held in The Crystal Palace in Hyde Park, London, United Kingdom, in 1851, under the title "Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All...
in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
and fell in love with their signature sound. She asked them to tour with the Carter Family.
Second generation
In the winter of 1938–39, the Carter Family traveled to TexasTexas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
, where they had a twice-daily program on the border radio station XERA (later XERF) in Villa Acuña (now Ciudad Acuña, Mexico), across the border from Del Rio, Texas
Del Rio, Texas
Del Rio is a border city in and the county seat of Val Verde County, Texas, United States.. Del Rio is connected with Ciudad Acuña via the Lake Amistad Dam International Crossing and Del Río-Ciudad Acuña International Bridge...
. In the 1939–40 season, the children of A.P. and Sara (Janette Carter
Janette Carter
Janette Carter was the last surviving child of A.P. and Sara Carter, of Carter Family musical fame. In 1976, she and community members built an 880-seat amphitheater, the Carter Family Fold, beside the store her father operated in Southwestern Virginia...
, Joe Carter) and those of Maybelle (June Carter, Anita Carter
Anita Carter
Ina Anita Carter , the youngest daughter of Ezra and Mother Maybelle Carter, was a versatile American singer who experimented with several different types of music and played stand-up bass with her sisters Helen Carter and June Carter Cash as The Carter Sisters...
, Helen Carter
Helen Carter
Helen Myrl Carter was an American country music singer. The eldest daughter of Maybelle Carter, she performed with her mother and her younger sisters, June Carter and Anita Carter, as a member of Mother Maybelle and the Carter Sisters, a pioneering all female country/folk music group...
) joined the group for radio performances, now in San Antonio, Texas
San Antonio, Texas
San Antonio is the seventh-largest city in the United States of America and the second-largest city within the state of Texas, with a population of 1.33 million. Located in the American Southwest and the south–central part of Texas, the city serves as the seat of Bexar County. In 2011,...
, where the programs were prerecorded and distributed to multiple border radio stations. (The children did not perform however on the group's records). In the fall of 1942, the Carters moved their program to WBT
WBT (AM)
WBT is a radio station in Charlotte, North Carolina, broadcasting on the AM dial at 1110 kHz. A 50,000-watt clear-channel station, it can be heard across most of the eastern half of North America at night. It simulcasts on WBT-FM, at 99.3 MHz in Chester, South Carolina. It is owned by Greater...
radio in Charlotte, North Carolina
Charlotte, North Carolina
Charlotte is the largest city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the seat of Mecklenburg County. In 2010, Charlotte's population according to the US Census Bureau was 731,424, making it the 17th largest city in the United States based on population. The Charlotte metropolitan area had a 2009...
, for a one-year contract. They occupied the sunrise slot, with the program airing between 5:15 and 6:15 a.m.
By 1936, A.P. and Sara's marriage had dissolved. Sara married A.P.'s cousin, moved to California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, and the group disbanded in 1944.
Maybelle continued to perform with her daughters, Anita
Anita Carter
Ina Anita Carter , the youngest daughter of Ezra and Mother Maybelle Carter, was a versatile American singer who experimented with several different types of music and played stand-up bass with her sisters Helen Carter and June Carter Cash as The Carter Sisters...
, June
June Carter Cash
Valerie June Carter Cash was an American singer, dancer, songwriter, actress, comedienne and author who was a member of the Carter Family and the second wife of singer Johnny Cash...
, and Helen
Helen Carter
Helen Myrl Carter was an American country music singer. The eldest daughter of Maybelle Carter, she performed with her mother and her younger sisters, June Carter and Anita Carter, as a member of Mother Maybelle and the Carter Sisters, a pioneering all female country/folk music group...
, as "The Carter Sisters" (sometimes billed as "Maybelle Carter and the Carter Sisters" or "Mother Maybelle and the Carter Sisters"). Chet Atkins
Chet Atkins
Chester Burton Atkins , known as Chet Atkins, was an American guitarist and record producer who, along with Owen Bradley, created the smoother country music style known as the Nashville sound, which expanded country's appeal to adult pop music fans as well.Atkins's picking style, inspired by Merle...
joined them playing electric guitar in 1949 until leaving in 1950. A.P., Sara, and their children Joe and Janette
Janette Carter
Janette Carter was the last surviving child of A.P. and Sara Carter, of Carter Family musical fame. In 1976, she and community members built an 880-seat amphitheater, the Carter Family Fold, beside the store her father operated in Southwestern Virginia...
recorded some material in the 1950s. The Carter Sisters reclaimed the name The Carter Family for their act during the 1960s and 1970s. Maybelle and Sara briefly reunited, recorded a reunion album, and toured in the 1960s during the height of folk music
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
's popularity.
In 1987, reunited sisters June Carter Cash and Helen and Anita Carter, along with June's daughter Carlene Carter
Carlene Carter
Carlene Carter is an American country singer and songwriter. She is the daughter of June Carter and her first husband, Carl Smith....
, appeared as the Carter Family and were featured on a 1987 television episode of Austin City Limits
Austin City Limits
Austin City Limits is an American public television music program recorded live in Austin, Texas by Public Broadcasting Service Public television member station KLRU, and broadcast on many PBS stations around the United States...
along with Johnny Cash
Johnny Cash
John R. "Johnny" Cash was an American singer-songwriter, actor, and author, who has been called one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century...
.
Revivalist folksingers during the 1960s performed much of the material the Carters had collected or written. For example, on her early Vanguard
Vanguard Records
Vanguard Records is a record label set up in 1950 by brothers Maynard and Seymour Solomon in New York. It started as a classical label, but is perhaps best known for its catalogue of recordings by a number of pivotal folk and blues artists from the 1960s; the Bach Guild was a subsidiary...
albums, folk performer Joan Baez
Joan Baez
Joan Chandos Baez is an American folk singer, songwriter, musician and a prominent activist in the fields of human rights, peace and environmental justice....
sang "Wildwood Flower", "Little Moses", "Engine 143", "Little Darling, Pal of Mine", and "Gospel Ship". The Carter Family Song "Wayworn Traveller" was covered by a young Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
, who wrote his own words to the melody and named it "Paths Of Victory"; this recording is featured on Bootleg Series Vol. 1-3. After writing that song, he wrote new words to the melody and changed the time signature to 3/4, thus creating one of his most famous songs, "The Times They Are a-Changin'
The Times They Are a-Changin' (song)
"The Times They Are a-Changin" is a song written by Bob Dylan and released as the title track of his 1964 album, The Times They Are a-Changin. The song was ranked #59 on Rolling Stones 2004 list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time....
".
Extended family
This family tree shows the extended Carter family through several generations.Legacy and musical style
As important to country music as the family's repertoire of songs was Maybelle's guitarGuitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
playing. She developed her innovative guitar technique largely in isolation; her style is today widely known as the "Carter scratch" or "Carter style" of picking (see Carter Family picking
Carter Family picking
Carter Family picking, also known as "'thumb brush' technique or the 'Carter lick,' and also the 'church lick' and the 'Carter scratch'", is a style of fingerstyle guitar named for Maybelle Carter of the Carter Family's distinctive style of rhythm guitar in which the melody is played on the bass...
). While Maybelle did use a flatpick on occasion, her major method of guitar playing was the use of her thumb (with a thumbpick) along with one or two fingers. What her guitar style accomplished was to allow her to play melody lines (on the low strings of the guitar) while still maintaining rhythm using her fingers, brushing across the higher strings. Before the Carter family's recordings, the guitar was rarely used as a lead or solo instrument among white musicians. Maybelle's interweaving of a melodic line on the bass strings with intermittent strums is now a staple of steel string guitar technique. Flatpickers such as Doc Watson
Doc Watson
Arthel Lane "Doc" Watson is an American guitar player, songwriter and singer of bluegrass, folk, country, blues and gospel music. He has won seven Grammy awards as well as a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. Watson's flatpicking skills and knowledge of traditional American music are highly regarded...
, Clarence White
Clarence White
Clarence White was a guitar player for Nashville West, The Byrds, Muleskinner, and the Kentucky Colonels. His parents were Acadians from New Brunswick, Canada...
and Norman Blake
Norman Blake (American musician)
Norman Blake is an instrumentalist, vocalist, and songwriter. In a career spanning more than 50 years Blake has played in a number of folk and Country groups...
took flatpicking to a higher technical level, but all acknowledge Maybelle's playing as their inspiration.
The Carter Family was elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1970 and were given the nickname "The First Family of Country Music". In 1988, the Carter Family was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame and received its Award for the song "Will the Circle Be Unbroken". In 1993, the U.S. Postal Service issued a commemorative postage stamp honoring A.P., Sara, and Maybelle. In 2001, the group was inducted into the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Honor
International Bluegrass Music Hall of Honor
Induction to the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame, called the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Honor from its creation in 1991 through 2006, is managed by the International Bluegrass Music Association, and the Hall itself is maintained at the International Bluegrass Music Museum in...
. In 2005, the group received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award
Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award
The Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award is awarded by the Recording Academy to "performers who, during their lifetimes, have made creative contributions of outstanding artistic significance to the field of recording."...
.
Selected 78 rpm Records
The Carter Family's career predated any sort of best-selling chart of country music records (BillboardBillboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
did not have a country best sellers chart until 1944). Below is a select list of their 78 rpm releases.
Bluebird Records
Bluebird Records
Bluebird Records is a sub-label of RCA Victor Records originally created in 1932 to counter the American Record Company in the "3 records for a dollar" market. Along with ARC's Perfect Records, Melotone Records and Romeo Records, and the independent US Decca label, Bluebird became one of the best...
- "Anchored in Love"
- "I'll Be All Smiles Tonight"
- "Keep on the Sunny SideKeep On the Sunny SideKeep On the Sunny Side is a popular American song originally written in 1899 by Ada Blenkhorn with music by J. Howard Entwisle . The song was popularized in a 1928 recording by the Carter Family...
" - "Little Moses"
- "Mid the Green Fields of Virginia"
- "My Clinch Mountain Home"
- "Picture on the Wall"
- "Wabash CannonballWabash Cannonball"The Wabash Cannonball" is an American folk song about a fictional train, thought to have originated in the late nineteenth century. Its first documented appearance was on sheet music published in 1882, titled "" and credited to J. A. Roff...
" - "Wildwood FlowerWildwood Flower"Wildwood Flower" is an American song, best known through performances and recordings by the Carter Family. However, the song predates them. The original title was "I'll Twine 'Mid the Ringlets"...
" - "Worried Man Blues"
Montgomery Ward Records
- "Lonesome Pine Special"
- "Two Sweethearts"
- "Where We'll Never Grow Old"
Decca Records
Decca Records
Decca Records began as a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934; however, owing to World War II, the link with the British company was broken for several decades....
- "Coal Miner Blues"
- "Hello Stranger"
- "My Dixie Darling"
- "You are My Flower"
Victor Records
- "Bury Me Beneath the Weeping Willow"
- "Foggy Mountain Top"
- "Gold Watch and Chain"
- "I'm Thinking Tonight of My Blue Eyes"
- "Keep on the Firing Line"
- "My Old Cottage Home"
- "On the Sea of Gallee"
- "The Church in the WildwoodThe Church in the Wildwood"The Church in the Wildwood" is a song that was written by Dr. William S. Pitts in 1857 following a coach ride that stopped in Bradford, Iowa. It is a song about a church in a valley near the town, though the church was not actually built until several years later...
" - "The Storms are on the Ocean"
Vocalion Records
Vocalion Records
Vocalion Records is a record label active for many years in the United States and in the United Kingdom.-History:Vocalion was founded in 1916 by the Aeolian Piano Company of New York City, which introduced a retail line of phonographs at the same time. The name was derived from one of their...
- "Broken Hearted Love"
- "Can the Circle Be Unbroken"
Selected Vinyl Albums
The long-playing album did not debut until several years after The Carter Family disbanded. Most of the full-length LPs issued on The Carter Family were budget albums as was traditional on most vintage recordings.| Year | Album | Label |
|---|---|---|
| 1960 | All Time Favorites | ACME Records |
| 1963 | Mid the Green Fields of Virginia | RCA Victor Records |
| 1964 | More Favorites by The Carter Family | Decca Records Decca Records Decca Records began as a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934; however, owing to World War II, the link with the British company was broken for several decades.... |
| 1965 | Great Sacred Songs | Harmony Records Harmony Records Harmony Records was a label owned by Columbia Records. It was originally used as a label for low-price 78 rpm records in the 1920s and 1930s; subsequently it was revived as a label for budget albums of reissued tracks during the 1950s with nine or ten songs per album... |
| 1966 | Home Among the Hills | Harmony Records |
| The Happiest Days of All | RCA Camden Records | |
| 1967 | More Golden Gems | |
| 1972 | Lonesome Pine Special | |
| 1973 | My Old Cottage Home | |
| 1974 | Legendary Performers | RCA Records |
Charted albums
| Year | Album | US Country | Label |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1972 | Travelin' Minstrel Band | 44 | Columbia |
| 1973 | Mother Maybelle Carter | 44 | |
| 1976 | Country's First Family | 49 |
Rounder CD compilations
| Year | Album | Label |
|---|---|---|
| 1993 | Anchored in Love: Their Complete Victor Recordings (1927–1928) Anchored in Love: Their Complete Victor Recordings (1927–1928) Anchored in Love: Their Complete Victor Recordings is a compilation of recordings made by American country music group the Carter Family, released in 1993... |
Rounder Rounder Records Rounder Records, originally of Cambridge, Massachusetts, but now based in Burlington, Massachusetts, is a record label founded in 1970 by Ken Irwin, Bill Nowlin and Marian Leighton-Levy, while all three were still university students... |
| 1993 | My Clinch Mountain Home: Their Complete Victor Recordings (1928–1929) My Clinch Mountain Home: Their Complete Victor Recordings (1928–1929) My Clinch Mountain Home: Their Complete Victor Recordings is a compilation of recordings made by American country music group the Carter Family, released in 1993... |
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| 1995 | When the Roses Bloom in Dixieland: Their Complete Victor Recordings (1929–1930) When the Roses Bloom in Dixieland: Their Complete Victor Recordings (1929–1930) When the Roses Bloom in Dixieland: Their Complete Victor Recordings is a compilation of recordings made by American country music group the Carter Family, released in 1995. It is the third of nine compilations released by Rounder Records of the group's Victor recordings... |
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| 1995 | Worried Man Blues: Their Complete Victor Recordings (1930) Worried Man Blues: Their Complete Victor Recordings (1930) Worried Man Blues: Their Complete Victor Recordings is a compilation of recordings made by American country music group the Carter Family, released in 1995... |
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| 1996 | Sunshine in the Shadows: Their Complete Victor Recordings (1931–1932) Sunshine in the Shadows: Their Complete Victor Recordings (1931–1932) Sunshine in the Shadows: Their Complete Victor Recordings is a compilation of recordings made by American country music group the Carter Family, released in 1996. It is the fifth of nine compilations released by Rounder Records of the group's Victor recordings... |
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| 1997 | Give Me the Roses While I Live: Their Complete Victor Recordings (1932–1933) Give Me the Roses While I Live: Their Complete Victor Recordings (1932–1933) Give Me the Roses While I Live: Their Complete Victor Recordings is a compilation of recordings made by American country music group the Carter Family, released in 1997. It is the sixth of nine compilations released by Rounder Records of the group's Victor recordings... |
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| 1998 | Gold Watch and Chain: Their Complete Victor Recordings (1933–1934) Gold Watch and Chain: Their Complete Victor Recordings (1933–1934) Gold Watch and Chain: Their Complete Victor Recordings is a compilation of recordings made by American country music group the Carter Family, released in 1998. It is the seventh of nine compilations released by Rounder Records of the group's Victor recordings... |
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| 1998 | Longing for Old Virginia: Their Complete Victor Recordings (1934) Longing for Old Virginia: Their Complete Victor Recordings (1934) Longing for Old Virginia: Their Complete Victor Recordings is a compilation of recordings made by American country music group the Carter Family, released in 1998. It is the eighth of nine compilations released by Rounder Records of the group's Victor recordings... |
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| 1998 | Last Sessions: Their Complete Victor Recordings (1934–1941) Last Sessions: Their Complete Victor Recordings (1934–1941) Last Sessions: Their Complete Victor Recordings is a compilation of recordings made by American country music group the Carter Family, released in 1998. It is the final of nine compilations released by Rounder Records of the group's Victor recordings... |
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Singles
| Year | Single | Chart Positions | Album | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Country Hot Country Songs Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States.This 60-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly mostly by airplay and occasionally commercial sales... |
CAN Country | |||
| 1928 | "Bury Me Under the Weeping Willow" | — | — | singles only |
| "Wildwood Flower Wildwood Flower "Wildwood Flower" is an American song, best known through performances and recordings by the Carter Family. However, the song predates them. The original title was "I'll Twine 'Mid the Ringlets"... " |
— | — | ||
| 1929 | "I'm Thinking Tonight of My Blue Eyes" | — | — | |
| 1935 | "Can the Circle Be Unbroken (By and By) Can the Circle Be Unbroken (By and By) "Can the Circle Be Unbroken " is the title of a country/folk song reworked by A. P. Carter from the hymn "Will the Circle Be Unbroken?" by Ada R. Habershon and Charles H. Gabriel. The song's lyrics concern the death, funeral, and mourning of the narrator's mother.The song first gained attention due... " |
— | — | |
| 1971 | "A Song to Mama" (with Johnny Cash Johnny Cash John R. "Johnny" Cash was an American singer-songwriter, actor, and author, who has been called one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century... ) |
37 | 42 | Travelin' Minstrel Band |
| 1972 | "Travelin' Minstrel Band" | 42 | — | |
| "The World Needs a Melody" (with Johnny Cash) | 35 | 55 | ||
| 1973 | "Praise the Lord and Pass the Soup" (with Johnny Cash & The Oak Ridge Boys The Oak Ridge Boys The Oak Ridge Boys are an American country and gospel vocal quartet.The group was founded in the 1940s as the Oak Ridge Quartet. They became popular in southern gospel during the 1950s... ) |
57 | 65 | singles only |
| "Pick the Wildwood Flower" (with Johnny Cash) | 34 | — |
Guest singles
| Year | Single | Artist | US Country | Album |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1963 | "Busted" | Johnny Cash Johnny Cash John R. "Johnny" Cash was an American singer-songwriter, actor, and author, who has been called one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century... |
13 | Blood, Sweat and Tears Blood, Sweat and Tears (album) Blood, Sweat and Tears is the fifteenth album by singer Johnny Cash, released in 1963 . It is, in essence, a collection of songs about the American working man... |
External links
- Country Music's First Family
- Songs of the Carter Family
- The Carter Family Memorial Music Center, Inc.
- Complete song texts of the original Carter Family 1927-1941
- Native Ground Music article
- Carter Family Fold, Hiltons, Virginia
- Friends of the Carter Family Fold
- The Carter Fold Legacy
- The Carter Family Discography