The original trio were the first country recording superstars in the 20s, and by the fifties they were reconfigured with Mother Maybelle and her daughters (including June, who pulled Johnny Cash from the depths of his personal torments and married him). They sold millions of records and did radio shows out of the border stations, reaching a huge number of listeners.

I’ve always found them particularly fascinating because not only were they the first group to achieve great commercial success with traditional American music, they also lived at the very end of the era where we had true regional music. After the settlers with itchy feet made it across the Appalachians in the early 18th century, they were essentially cut off from outside cultural influences, until the coming of radio and the railroad 200 years later. Most of the Carter songs were the music of ordinary people who lived very hard lives, read the Bible, and got together on rare occasions for some singing and dancing. The music was homemade, and passed between generations as a craft. In many ways, their music is like a time machine, transporting you back to a very different time.

Even songs like “Keep on the Sunny Side” warn of the darker side of things; this was a time where people worked like mules, had a relatively short lifespan, and very little in the way of modern medicine. The days of child deaths, feuds, and tragic accidents. There is always a very solemn feeling in their songs, to our ears. Taken in the cultural context, though, it is just every day life. And you can just feel it in your bones.

Recommended Music:

TrackBack URI for this entry

Comments (0)

Subscribe to this comment's feed

Show/Hide comments

Show/Hide comment form

Name

Email

Website

Title

Comment

Add Comment