A.P. Carter, Pioneer Old Time Country Singer and Song Collector (December 15, 1891-November 7, 1960)
rjblaustein
Alvin Pleasant Delaney Carter was born on December 15, 1891 in the
Poor Valley section of Scott County, Virginia near Maces Springs, now
known as Hiltons.
A.P. married Sara Doughtery on June 18, 1915; they soon had three
children, Gladys, Joe and Janette. A.P. and Sara began singing with
Sara's cousin Maybelle Addington, who was also an accomplished
guitarist.
In late July of 1927, Victor Records talent scout Ralph Peer set up a
temporary recording studio on the Tennessee side of State Street in
the twin cities of Bristol.
Peer's advertisement for local musical talent in the Bristol newspaper
attracted singers and musicians from the surrounding Southern
Appalachian region.
A.P., Sara and Maybelle and their small children made what was then a
long, difficult journey by automobile from Maces Springs down to
Bristol.
The Carters recorded "Bury Me Under The Weeping Willow," "Little Log
Cabin By The Sea," and "The Storms Are On The Ocean" for Peer on the
first of August; the next day, they recorded "Single Girl, Married
Girl" and "The Wandering Boy."
As all lovers of old time country music already know, the Carters and
Jimmie Rodgers were the most commercially successful artists to emerge
from the Bristol Sessions. The Carters recorded more hit songs for
Victor in Camden, New Jersey on May 27, 1928, including "Keep On The
Sunny Side," "Can The Circle Be Unbroken" and their signature song,
"Wildwood Flower." The Carters returned to Camden again in February of
1929 to record more classic songs such as "I'm Thinking Tonight Of My
Blue Eyes, "Sweet Fern" and "Engine 143."
By 1930 the Carters had sold over 300,000 records. With the help of
African-American guitarist and singer Leslie Riddle from nearby
Kingsport, Tennessee, A.P. began searching for and adapting old time
songs to add to the Carter Family's repertory.
Despite their growing commercial success, A.P. and Sara's marriage was
failing.
The couple separated in 1932 and officially divorced in 1939. In the
intervening years, the Carters recorded with Jimmie Rodgers in 193
and played at the 1933 World's Fair in Chicago .Though A.P. and
Sara's marriage had dissolved, they still managed to work together as
a musical partnership. In 1938-39, the Carter Family appeared on
XERA, a powerful radio station with its studio in Del Rio, Texas and
its transmitter across the Mexican border whose signal covered much of
the North American continent. In 1939-40, the Carters moved to San
Antonio, Texas to record radio programs which were then distributed to
a number of border stations.
After the Carter Family finally broke up in 1943, A.P. went back to
Maces Springs where he ran a small country store. Maybelle and her
daughters Helen, Anita and June continued to perform together until
the 1970s. Between 1952 and 1956, A.P. and Sara reunited as a musical
group with their children Joe and Janette. Interest in the Carter
Family began to grow during the folk revival of the 1960s, but by that
time, A. P. Carter had passed away at the age of sixty-eight on
November of 1960 in the city of Kingsport, just over the state line in
Sullivan County, Tennessee.
In 1970 A.P. Carter was posthumously inducted into the Country Music
Hall Of Fame. In 1993 a U.S. postage stamp was issued honoring the
Carter Family, and in 2001, A.P. Carter was inducted into the
International Bluegrass Association's Hall of Fame.
To hear a 2002 National Public Radio program devoted to the Carter
Family including Bob Edwards' review of Mark Zwonitzer and Charles
Hirshberg's book, Will You Miss Me When I'm Gone?
The Carter Family and Their Legacy in American Music and several
original Carter Family recordings, go to:
http://www.npr.org/programs/morning/features/2002/jul/carter/index.html
To see a complete Carter Family discography, go to:
http://www.hankwilliamsdiscography.com/p/carterfamily/
To see a google map showing where A.P. Carter was born and spent his
career as a pioneer old time country music singer and song collector,
go to:
http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?hl=en&ie=UTF8&msa=0&msid=108456232374072017347.00047ac50f5febc372b90&ll=36.949892,-90.307617&spn=24.111903,50.537109&z=5
To see a photograph of A.P. Carter's gravestone, go to:
http://www.rlrouse.com/ap-carter-grave.html
Many records by the Carter Family are available on youtube; here are
just a few examples:
"Bury Me Under The Weeping Willow Tree"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YCniFuHlPG0
"Single Girl, Married Girl"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ub6Bj08X2PA&feature=related
"Keep On The Sunny Side"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZbmQQ4RfzVE
"I Never Will Marry"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1l_zYH_YYnE&feature=related
"Little Moses"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQcg6cjv6sk&feature=related
"Engine 143"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4K41qsqhmvc&feature=related
"Hello Stranger"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_djXCWEhHKU&feature=related
"Jimmy Rodgers Visits The Carter Family"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIZIqsRZreY
You can hear a high quality recording of the Carter Family's "Wildwood
Flower" on the Internet Archive website:
http://www.archive.org/details/Wildwood
You can hear several high quality Carter Family radio transcriptions
on juneberry78s:
"Cyclone Of Rye Cove"
http://www.juneberry78s.com/otmsampler/140%20Carter%20Family%20-%20Cyclone%20Of%20Rye%20Cove.mp3
"Charlie Brooks"
http://www.juneberry78s.com/otmsampler/139%20Carter%20Family%20-%20Charlie%20Brooks.mp3
"Winding Stream"
http://www.juneberry78s.com/otmsampler/141%20Carter%20Family%20-%20Winding%20Stream.mp3
You can hear eighty-eight original recordings by the Carter Family on
the Honkingduck. com website (warning: the audio quality is not very
good):
http://honkingduck.com/mc/audio/by/artist/carter_family
Joel
"In 1938-39, the Carter Family appeared on
XERA, a powerful radio station with its studio in Del Rio, Texas and
its transmitter across the Mexican border whose signal covered much of
the North American continent."
Richard, some 30 or 35 years ago I spent some lovely time with Frank
and Ray Estey, brothers who were traditional lumber-woods singers in
the Miramichi area of New Brunswick (Ca.). They sang "My Heart's
Tonight In Texas" and some other Carter Family songs that I believe
they learned from those broadcasts.
Joel
otfiddler
> African-American guitarist and singer Leslie Riddle from nearby
> Kingsport, Tennessee, A.P. began searching for and adapting old time
> songs to add to the Carter Family's repertory.
>
Are there any estimates as to how much money Ralph Peer's companies have
made over time from the Carter family royalties and the total amount the
Carters received in return?
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Joel
>
> Are there any estimates as to how much money Ralph Peer's companies have
> made over time from the Carter family royalties and the total amount the
> Carters received in return?
>
Acuff-Rose.
Joel