Carter Family

The Carter Family was a rural country music group that performed and recorded between 1927 and 1943. Their music had a profound impact on later bluegrass, country, pop and rock musicians, as well on the as the U.S. folk revival of the 1960s.

Related Topics:
Country music - 1927 - 1943 - Bluegrass - Pop - Rock music - U.S. folk revival

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The original group consisted of Alvin Pleasant Delaney Carter (A.P.; 1891-1960), his wife, Sara Dougherty Carter (autoharp and guitar; 1898-1979), and Maybelle Carter (guitar; 1909-1978). Maybelle was married to A.P.'s brother Ezra (Eck) Carter. 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. Maybelle's distinctive and innovative guitar playing style quickly became a hallmark of the group.

Related Topics:
Alvin Pleasant Delaney Carter - Sara Dougherty Carter - Autoharp - Guitar - Maybelle Carter - Virginia - Gospel music - Shape note

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The Carters got their start on July 31, 1927 when A.P. convinced

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Sara and Maybelle (pregnant at the time) to make the journey from

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Maces Springs, Virginia to Bristol, Tennessee to audition

Related Topics:
Maces Springs, Virginia - Bristol, Tennessee

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for record producer Ralph Peer who was seeking new talent for

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the relatively embryonic recording industry. They received $50 for

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each song they recorded.

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In the Fall of 1927 the Victor recording company released a

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double-sided 78 rpm record of the group performing "Wandering Boy"

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and "Poor Orphan Child". In 1928 another record was released with

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"The Storms Are on the Ocean" and "Single Girl, Married Girl". This

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one proved very popular.

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On May 27, 1928, Peer had the group travel to Camden, New Jersey

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where they recorded many of what would become their signature songs,

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including:

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• "Meet me by the Moonlight Alone"
• "Keep on the Sunny Side"
• "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"
• "John Hardy Was a Desperate Little Man"

The group realized $600 for this effort and left with a contract

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that assured a small royalty for sales of their records and sheet

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music. "Wildwood Flower" in both vocal and instrumental forms has endured as a signature tune for traditional country and bluegrass artists.

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During a February 1929 recording session they memorialized:

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• "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"
• "Engine 143"

By the end of 1930 they had sold 300,000 records nationally.

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Realizing that he would benefit financially with

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each new song he collected and copyrighted, A.P.

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travelled around the southwestern Virginia area in

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search of new songs. In the early 1930s, he befriended

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Lesley (Esley) Riddle, a black guitar player from Kingsport.

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Esley accompanied A.P. on his song collecting trips.

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Riddle's blues guitar playing style influenced the Carters,

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especially Maybelle who learned new guitar techniques from

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watching him play.

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In June, 1931, the Carters did a recording session in

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Nashville, Tennessee along with country legend,

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Jimmie Rodgers.

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In the winter of 1938-1939, the Carter Family travelled to Texas,

Related Topics:
1938 - 1939 - Texas

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where they had a twice-daily program on border radio

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station XERA (later XERF) in Villa Acuña (now

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Ciudad Acuña),

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Mexico, across the border from Del Rio, Texas.

Related Topics:
Mexico - Del Rio, Texas

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Beginning with the 1939/1940 season,

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June Carter joined the group, this time in San Antonio, Texas, where the

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programs were pre-recorded and distributed to multiple border radio

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stations (XELO, XEG, XERB, and XEPN).

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In Fall, 1942, the Carters moved their program to WBT radio in

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Charlotte, North Carolina for a one-year contract. They occupied

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the sunrise slot with the program airing between 5:15 and 6:15 a.m.

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Throughout their time together, the Carter Family also appeared

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in many live performances, often in local schools and churches.

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In 1943, the group disbanded after Sara moved permanently to

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California.

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Maybelle continued to perform with her daughters Anita, June, and Helen as "Mother Maybelle and the Carter Sisters" into the 1960s. A.P., Sara, and their children--Joe and Jeanette--recorded some material in the 1950s.

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During the 1960s, revivalist folksingers performed much of the

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material the Carters had collected or written. For example,

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on her early Vanguard albums, folk performer Joan Baez sang: "Wildwood

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Flower", "Little Moses", "Engine 143", "Little Darling, Pal of Mine",

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and "Gospel Ship".

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As important to country music as the family's repertoire of songs was Maybelle's guitar playing. She developed her innovative guitar technique largely in isolation; her style is today widely known as the "Carter style" of flatpicking. Before the Carter family's recordings, the guitar was rarely used as a lead or solo instrument. 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 (American musician) took flatpicking to a higher technical level, but all acknowledge Maybelle's playing as their inspiration.

Related Topics:
Guitar - Doc Watson - Clarence White - Norman Blake (American musician)

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They were elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1970 and they were given the nickname "The First Family of Country Music." In 1988, the Carter Family was inducted into the

Related Topics:
Country Music Hall of Fame - 1988

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Grammy Hall of Fame and received its

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Award for

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the song "Can the Circle Be Unbroken".

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In 1993, the U.S. Postal Service issued a commemorative

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postage stamp honoring A.P., Sara, and Maybelle.

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In 2001, the group was in inducted into the

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International Bluegrass Music Hall of Honor.

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