biography
| biography:
| A family of country music singers and songwriters: A(lvin) P(leasant) (1891–1960), born in Scott Co, Virginia, USA. In 1915 he married Sara Dougherty (1898–1979), born in Wise Co, VA, and they began singing together for friends and relatives. Maybelle Addington (1909–79), born in Nicklesville, VA, married A P's brother Ezra in 1926. She joined the group and proved to be talented on the guitar, banjo, and autoharp. They made their first records for the Victor Co in 1927 (at the same session where Jimmie Rodgers debuted), and soon they became known to a wider audience with their recordings, live radio broadcasts, and personal appearances. With a repertoire of both traditional folksongs, gospel music, and their own compositions (‘Wildwood Flowers’, ‘Will the Circle Be Unbroken’), they embodied the authentic mood and style of Southern folk music. The original trio broke up in 1943 (A P and Sara had separated in 1933) and Maybelle began to perform with her daughters Helen, June, and Anita as Mother Maybelle and the Carter Sisters; they were a popular fixture on the Grand Ole Opry (1950–67). When June married Johnny Cash in 1968 the group toured with his show until 1973. A P and Sara had virtually retired in 1943, but they joined their children, Joe and Janette, to make recordings in 1952 and 1956, and Maybelle and Sara made an album together, An Historic Reunion (1967). The abiding influence of the original Carter Family trio on several generations is now recognized by all who perform and enjoy American country and folk music. |
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