Carter Family
The Carter Family was a pioneering musical group from rural Virginia, consisting of A. P. Carter, Sara Carter, and Maybelle Carter. Active primarily during the 1920s and 1930s, their unique sound featured Maybelle's distinctive guitar work and harmony vocals, Sara's rich lead voice accompanied by an autoharp, and A. P.'s high bass voice. They gained widespread recognition after participating in the influential 1927 Bristol recording sessions, where they recorded over three hundred singles for various labels. Their music, deeply rooted in the Anglo-American folk tradition, often explored themes of family, rural life, and emotional experiences, resonating with the struggles of many Americans during the Great Depression.
The group's repertoire included now-classic songs such as "Wildwood Flower" and "Will the Circle Be Unbroken," which have become standards in country and folk music. Their ability to blend traditional melodies with contemporary influences allowed them to reach a diverse audience, even as the music landscape began to change. Though they ceased public performances in 1943, the Carter Family's legacy endures, influencing generations of musicians and continuing to be celebrated for their authentic portrayal of everyday life. Subsequent groups, including the Carter Sisters, carried on their musical traditions, highlighting their lasting impact on American music culture.
Subject Terms
Carter Family
Identification American country music group
A. P. Carter
Sara Carter
Maybelle Carter
Performing together between 1927 and 1943, the Carter Family exerted influence on generations of country music performers, primarily because of their distinctive sound and wide repertoire of Anglo-American folk songs, religious tunes, and country music songs. During the 1930s, the Carter Family managed to speak to and befriend their listeners in a way that resonated with the daily experiences, struggles, and livelihoods of almost everyone across the United States.
The Carter Family, from rural Virginia, was made up of three family members: A. P. Carter and Sara Carter, who were married between 1915 and 1939, and A. P.’s sister-in-law Maybelle Carter. Musically, this group consisted of Maybelle’s virtuosic, distinctive guitar playing and harmony vocals; Sara’s rich, contralto lead voice and accompanying autoharp; and A. P.’s secondary high bass voice. This combination, with its unique use of women as lead vocalist and lead guitarist, allowed the Carters to create an instantly recognizable sound.
The Carter Family’s music reached a broad population throughout the 1930s. It could be heard often on wide-ranging, border-radio stations toward the end of the decade. Earlier, the Carters had traveled to Tennessee for a chance at public success, forging a relationship with the well-known businessman Ralph S. Peer, who showcased the group as part of the historically significant 1927 Bristol recording sessions. Under his tutelage, the Carter Family recorded more than three hundred singles for several different companies between 1927 and 1941. They recorded for Victor (1927–1934, 1941), the American Record Company (1935), Decca (1936-1938), and Columbia (1940). Also, the family maintained a prolific recording career and occasionally performed live in local schoolhouses and churches. Through these varying venues, the Carter Family was able to reach a large listening public and affect listeners in highly personalized forums.
The Carter Family’s songs tended to be about familial ideals, rural living, and country churches and were firmly grounded in the Anglo-American folk-song tradition. With topics including love and longing, suffering, loss, and pain, the songs’ appeal resonated with the everyday experiences of Americans during the difficult 1930s. Significantly, much of the Carter Family’s material was "collected" by A. P. on his periodic "song-hunting" trips, when he traveled into remote mountain homesteads, mills, factories, boarding houses, and coal mines. As a result of A. P.’s frequent trips, many folk songs that might otherwise have remained lost to mainstream American culture were discovered, transcribed, and recorded. Significantly, these songs appealed instantly to the listening public of the 1930s and have been widely circulated. The Carters’ songs make up some of the most standard, oft-recorded repertory in the country music, bluegrass, and folk-song movements. "Wildwood Flower," "I’m Thinking Tonight of My Blue Eyes," "Little Darling, Pal of Mine," "Jimmie Brown the Newsboy," "Keep on the Sunny Side," "Engine 143," "Worried Man Blues," and "Will the Circle Be Unbroken" are some of the songs that have continued to affect musicians.
The Carter Family’s down-home sound and folk-song sentiment spoke to a way of life that was rapidly disappearing during the 1930s. The Carters’ rural ideals, however, flourished amid an increasingly depressed economy, the further separation of rural and industrial entities, and popular country music characterized by Jimmie Rodgers—a singer not afraid to experiment with alternative sounds and styles. In comparison with Rodgers, the Carter Family depended on traditional folk music melodies and successfully wove aspects of rural, preindustrial Appalachia into mainstream, modernizing American culture. Their songs became country and folk music standards, and their unique musical style and sound have been highly envied and emulated since the group’s exit from the public in 1943.
Impact
While suddenly off the air in 1943 as American culture began to make drastic changes, the Carter Family nonetheless continued to affect country music throughout the twentieth century and into the twenty-first century by means of its repertoire and ideals. The group’s legacy is that it was able to sing about ordinary people and ordinary lives during a difficult decade.
The original Carter Family was also followed by other related groups, most notably the Carter Sisters, in which Maybelle was joined by her daughters June, Anita, and Helen Carter. This lineup also found great popularity and influence, especially during the 1960s folk music revival, and sometimes took on the Carter Family name.
Bibliography
Hirshberg, Charles, and Mark Zwonitzer. Will You Miss Me When I’m Gone? The Carter Family and Their Legacy in American Music. New York: Simon and Schuster, 2002.
Kahn, Ed. "The Carter Family on Border Radio." American Music 14 (Summer, 1996): 205-217.
Malone, Bill. Country Music USA. 3d rev. ed. Austin: University of Texas Press, 2010.
Vinopal, David. "The Carter Family." AllMusic, www.allmusic.com/artist/the-carter-family-mn0000051910/biography. Accessed 19 Oct. 2017.
Wolfe, Charles. "The Carter Family." Country Music Hall of Fame, 2017, countrymusichalloffame.org/Inductees/InducteeDetail/carter-family. Accessed 19 Oct. 2017.