Search - Original Carter Family :: Can Circle Be Broken: Country Music's First Family

Where Our Country's Music Begins

James E. Bagley | Sanatoga, PA USA | 02/01/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The history of American roots music lies with southwestern Virginia's Carter Family's hymns, white blues, transplanted British folk ballads and sentimental 19th-century parlor songs. Playing melody on her bass strings, Maybelle helped to bring the guitar to the forefront of pop instrumentation.

Even at the peak of their 1920s-30s success, lead singer Sara's deep tones resonated with restrained sorrow (perhaps for a troubled marriage and a career she wanted far less than husband A.P. and sister-in-law Maybelle). With a voice as weathered as her native Clinch Mountains, Sara, though only in her 30s, sounded like "Worried Man Blues" would eat at her until she reached the "River Of Jordan."

These 20 rural tunes come from 1935 and 1940 sessions for ARC and OKeh. None of them were previously recorded for Victor, but Legacy's sound far surpasses Rounder's catalog of their Victor output."

Key to all subsequent country and folk records...

William E. Adams | Midland, Texas USA | 12/04/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"These tracks were laid down in 1935 and 1940, mostly re-recordings of their first hits from 1927-34 with a different record company. So the trio had more confidence in their talents, but perhaps less spirit, as another reviewer noted. Recording quality is a tad better than the earlier stuff, as another reviewer mentioned. And since the group was active until the early '40's, this collection is limited...they preserved about 250 performances, and here you get 20. But if you only want one Carter CD for your collection, it's a fine choice. And if you care about roots music, how can you not have a Carter disc on the shelves? Founder A.P. Carter scoured the hills of Southern Virginia throughout the 20's and 30's, collecting mostly old songs from his neighbors, and copyrighting them with his arrangements. The original writers have mostly been lost to history, but the songs remain. Many of these can be found with different verses on recordings by other artists: "Worried Man Blues" eventually became "It Takes a Worried Man" for the Kingston Trio in the late 1950's. Woody Guthrie put some of his best lyrics to tunes found or written by the Carter Family, such as "Wildwood Flower" which was used for "Ballad of the Reuben James." Woody's song "Hesitating Beauty" on Billy Bragg's "Mermaid Avenue" collection, carries the tune of the Carters' "Lulu Walls". Whether Woody chose that, or Bragg, I don't know. But the Carter Family archive is still important, still enjoyable. There is a five-CD set of the Carters available for only twice the price of this one disc, so look up other offerings if you want an even better bargain. But if one hour of these country pioneers is all you think you need, don't worry about this one...it will serve you well. Maybelle Carter's guitar playing alone would make this a good buy, but add Sara's voice and autoharp and A.P.'s bass vocal accents, and it's a treasure."

Important mid-period recordings from seminal Country artists

hyperbolium | Earth, USA | 12/10/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

"With a career as seminal, vital and prolific as the Carter Family's, it's difficult to pinpoint which, if any, are the "best" recordings of their career. This reissue consists of recordings made for ARC in 1935, just after the Carter's left Victor (with whom they'd recorded the first versions of their most famous songs, beginning in 1928), and just before signing with Decca. These "mid-period" tracks include a number re-recordings of their most famous songs, including "Can the Circle Be Unbroken," "I'm Thinking Tonight of My Blue Eyes," "Wildwood Flower," and "Keep on the Sunny Side." It also includes British folk songs ("Black Jack David"), gospel traditionals ("Gospel Ship") and blues ("Worried Man Blues").What makes these recordings so interesting is that they are the product of rather different circumstances than the Family's first blaze of glory. By 1935 the Carters were seasoned performers, and the 'family' was something of a professional convenience, given that A.P. and Sara had been separated for a few years, and would divorce in a few more. The depression and its repercussions had also dragged on for six years, and the dislocation that was gripping the country as a whole had physically separated the Carters, as well. Combined with the birth of Sara and Maybelle's children, much of the early 30s saw the group uniting only at recording sessions such as this. The result are hugely professional recordings that display the abundant charms of the Carter Family's invention, but lack the hunger and drive that marked their earliest dates.These are great recordings, and would be an obvious introduction to the roots of Country music, if only the Carter's original Victor recordings weren't so well anthologized. Even still, these mature renderings of Carter classics, plus songs from the ever expanding A.P. Carter collection, are an essential part of the group's canon, and essential listening for anyone with more than a passing interest in the Family's work."