The Carter Family

The Carter Family pioneered modern country music by setting folk songs to string-band backup, and were one of the most popular groups in America from 1926 until they disbanded in 1943. After that, A.P. performed sporadically with his children, and Maybelle continued to tour with her daughters through the '50s and '60s. Their songs, which included such standards as "Wildwood Flower," "Wabash Cannonball," "I'm Thinking Tonight of My Blue Eyes," "Will the Circle Be Unbroken," and their radio program theme song, "Keep on the Sunny Side," were immensely popular; the 78 rpm version of "Wildwood Flower" sold more than a million copies. The group formed in 1926 when A.P. Carter and his wife, Sara Dougherty, were joined by A.P.'s brother Ezra's wife (and Sara's cousin), Maybelle. Each had performed with friends and neighbors and as a group for about a year before they auditioned in Bristol, Tennessee, for Ralph Peer, who had been sent by the Victor label to record local musicians (Jimmie Rodgers was “discovered” by Peer on the same day). The Carter Family was soon recording quite frequently, although it wasn’t until they had left Virginia some years later that any of them could stop working day jobs. In 1928 they recorded their biggest hit, “Wildwood Flower.”

In 1936 A.P. and Sara were divorced, but the group continued to perform and record and in 1938 moved to Del Rio, Texas, where for the next three years they were regulars on radio station XERA. They then moved to Charlotte, North Carolina, to work for WBT, but shortly after their arrival, A.P. and Sara decided to retire. The original Carter Family had their last radio shows around 1939. The next year Maybelle began working with her daughters June, Helen, and Anita as Mother Maybelle Carter and the Carter Sisters. Meanwhile A.P. and several of his children had formed another group, with whom he performed until his death in 1960. After A.P. died, Maybelle and her daughters adopted the Carter Family name.

The family’s influence on latter-day singers and songwriters derives not only from their songs and recordings but also from Maybelle Carter’s unique acoustic guitar techniques, particularly what has become known as the “chicken-scratch,” or the “Carter” style, which is widely imitated by folksingers. Maybelle and Sara reunited at the 1967 Newport Folk Festival to record An Historic Reunion. Throughout the ’60s, Maybelle performed with her daughters in her son-in-law Johnny Cash’s revue and later on his television program. She sang the title track on the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band’s Will the Circle Be Unbroken in 1971. With the exception of Maybelle’s three daughters and of June’s daughter, Carlene Carter [see entry], none of the second- and third-generation Carters have achieved wide recognition, although many of them remained active in country music as performers and session musicians. June and Anita Carter each recorded solo albums; June’s 1999 album, Press On, was released by an independent alternative-rock label. Helen Carter died on June 2, 1998, and Anita Carter died on July 29, 1999.

from The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll (Simon & Schuster, 2001)