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The Carter Family

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

The Carter Family was an American folk group that performed and recorded between 1927 and 1956. The original line-up consisted of Sara Carter, her husband A.P. Carter and her sister-in-law Maybelle Carter, all of whom had grown up in south-western Virginia. They came from the world of mountain gospel and shape note singing, and sang tight harmonies. They made their first recordings on 1 August 1927 in Bristol, Tennessee, for the Victor Talking Machine Company, under the producer Ralph Peer. A day later Jimmie Rodgers made his first records there.

Music and breakthrough

Sara sang the lead vocal and played rhythm guitar or autoharp, Maybelle sang the harmony and played lead guitar. Her style, the Carter Scratch, in which she plays melody and rhythm on the guitar at the same time, has become one of the most imitated guitar styles. Songs such as Can the Circle Be Unbroken, Wildwood Flower and Keep on the Sunny Side became standards of country music. In 1970 the group was the first to be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.

Influence

The Carter Family is regarded as one of the most important groups of the early twentieth century. They were the first vocal group to become country stars. Their influence reaches into bluegrass, Southern gospel, pop and rock, and into the folk revival of the 1960s. That is why their name belongs in every history of American folk music.

Listening

Listening tip. Listen to Wildwood Flower and notice the guitar. Do you hear how the melody and the accompaniment seem to come from a single instrument?

Discography

Studio albums

Categories: ArtistsCountry