The Carter Family

The Carter Family

Maybelle, Sara, and A.P. Carter: the original Carter Family

A. P. Carter

(Vocals)

Given Name: Alvin Pleasant Delaney Carter
Date of Birth: December 15, 1893
Place of Birth: Maces Springs (Scott County), Virginia
Married: Sara Dougherty Carter (div.)
Children: Gladys (Millard), Janette (Jett), Joe
Date of Death: November 7, 1960 Maces Springs, Virginia

Sara Carter

(Guitar, Autoharp, Vocals)

Given Name: Sara Doughtery
Date of Birth: July 21, 1899
Place of Birth: Flatwoods, near Coeburn (Wise County), Virginia
Married: 1. A.P. Carter (div.), 2. Coy Bayes
Children: Gladys (Millard), Janette (Jett), Joe
Date of Death: January 8, 1979

Maybelle Carter

(Guitar, Autoharp, Vocals)

Given Name: Maybelle Kilgore Addington
Date of Birth: May 10, 1909
Place of Birth: Midway, near Nickelsville (Scott County), Virginia
Married: Ezra J. Carter
Children: Helen, June, Anita
Date of Death: October 23, 1978

The Carter Family (Maces Springs, Virginia) became the "first family" of country music when they were recorded by producer Ralph S. Peer for the Victor Talking Machine Company in Bristol, Tennessee in 1927 (the same session that also led to the discovery of country legend Jimmie Rodgers.) Alvin Pleasant Delaney ("A.P." or "Doc") Carter met and married Sara Dougherty while selling fruit trees on horseback on the north side of Clinch Mountain in the vicinity of Midway, Virginia in 1915 (the orphaned Sara was living with her Aunt Nick and Uncle Milburn Nickels there). He had tried his hand at working at sawmills, farming, blacksmithing and working on a railroad track gang in Indiana, with little success. A.P was active musically by participating in singing schools at the Mt. Vernon Methodist Church taught by his uncle, Flanders Bays, and fiddling at local dances. Sara played the autoharp, and the two began performing together locally. They were soon joined by Sara's cousin Maybelle -- who later became the wife of A.P.' s brother Ezra -- on guitar and vocals. After achieving national recognition from the Bristol Sessions Victor recordings and subsequent recordings for RCA Victor, the group quit performing for a time due to the lack of work created by the Great Depression, but regrouped for a time in the late 1930s to perform on 500,000-watt border radio station XERA in Del Rio, Texas, operated by quack doctor John R. Brinkley, which transmitted the Carter's music across all of the United States and most of the western hemisphere. Sara and A.P. separated in 1939. Maybelle began performing with daughters Anita, Helen, and June as Mother Maybelle and the Carter Sisters on the Grand Ole Opry and continued their careers during the folk revival of the 1960s, which catapulted their music to popularity once again. A.P. is especially noted today as a song collector and song arranger. Of the over 350 recordings produced by the original Carter Family, many have become standards in bluegrass and country music including "Keep on the Sunny Side," "I'm Thinking Tonight of My Blue Eyes," and "Wildwood Flower."

Country music owes much to this legendary first family of Country music, not only for the dozens of songs which became standards, but also for their pattern of harmony singing which still inspires singers today. Their haunting melodies, have appealed to everyone from Roy Acuff to Woody Guthrie and Maybelle’s "Carter lick" on the guitar has become the most influential technique in Country music’s history. Between 1927 and 1941 they made over 350 recordings which reached all over the world, and the way A.P. took old songs and made them into something new is a process which became an industry standard.

A.P.’s musical interests ranged from fiddling to conducting singing classes for local churches when he met Sara while traveling selling fruit trees. Sara played the autoharp and sang, and when they married in 1915, they continued to make music in the community. In 1926, they were joined by Sara’s young cousin, Maybelle, who had married A.P.’s brother, Ezra. In 1927 they recorded at Ralph Peer’s famed Bristol sessions, where they cut six songs. The popularity of these songs led to a trip to Camden, New Jersey for a follow-up recording session. By the time the second batch of records hit the stores it was evident Peer had a major act on his hands.

Unfortunately, the Carters' record success came just at the start of the Great Depression and they were unable to take advantage of the hits. They remained in the mountains, doing schoolhouse shows for 15 and 25 cents admission and for a time in 1929, A.P. went to Detroit and Maybelle and her husband moved to Washington, D.C. to find work.

The Carters got together for recording sessions for several years, but both women, who did most of the singing on the records were busy having children and raising families, so management of the group was left to A.P. and Peer. Finally by the mid-1930’s they got some radio contracts and in 1938 the Carters went south to appear on the "border radio" station XERA in Del Rio, Texas. Border stations had their transmitters across the border in Mexico and were exempt from federal regulations that limited the power of U.S. stations to 50,000 watts. The powerful transmitters of the border station carried the Carters music all over the Western Hemisphere. Their record sales surged and so did their popularity.

In 1939, after several earlier separations, Sara and A.P. divorced and eventually Sara remarried Coy Bayes and moved to California. In 1941 the border station went off the air for good and for a short time the trio reunited at Charlotte. The same week that Life magazine planned to run a cover story on them, the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor and the story was scrapped. A.P. returned to Maces Springs, where he spent the rest of his life irregularly running a country store, and Sara retired to Angels Camp, California. Maybelle took her daughters, Helen, June and Anita to Nashville and formed Mother Maybelle and the Carter Sisters.

In 1952, A.P. re-formed the Carter Family with his ex-wife and their children and opened an outdoor arena called Summer Park in Maces Springs. They did some recording for the Acme label in the early 1950’s but the original Carter Family disbanded in 1956. Sara and Maybelle had a more successful comeback when they reunited in 1966, playing Folk festivals and cutting a reunion album for Columbia. The sons and daughters and cousins of the original Carter Family have carried on the tradition of music in a variety of ways.

Recordings include: