Will You Miss Me When I'm Gone?

 Mark Zwonitzer with Charles Hirshberg -- 2002

   

The first biography of the Carter Family, who burst out of Maces Spring, Virginia in 1927 and became perhaps the most important musical artists in American history. An inspirational tale of three people from an isolated rural community who created music that shook the world, and still reverberates today. A. P., Sara, and Maybelle Carter are universally recognized as having created the genre of Country music. But the influence of their recordings, particularly Maybelle's innovative guitar technique, also profoundly affected the development of Blues, Pop and Rock and Roll; in essence, the entirety of American popular music.

This is fabulous book with very affecting stories of real people, experiencing triumph and loss, sorrow and joy. Mark Zwonitzer wrote the book, in large part from interviews conducted by Charles Hirshberg with the family, friends, neighbors and colleagues of the principals. From the stories they told him, Hirshberg had obviously earned the trust and respect of his subjects. But it's not just an account of dates and record releases. Zwonitzer frames the Carters within the world from which they came -- the hard scrabble life in the hills and valleys of southwest Virginia, from the latter part of the 19th century onward.
 
In the limited leisure time from their back-breaking toil the folks in the mountains of southwest Virginia sang in church, studied music with itinerant teachers, and played fiddle, guitar and autoharp on their front porches. A. P. and Sara Carter, from opposite sides of Clinch Mountain, married sharing in common little more than their well-regarded singing voices. After 11 years of marriage, Sara's 17-year-old cousin Maybelle married A. P.'s brother Ezra. The younger couple moved into a loft in their in-laws' house, and in short time formed a trio, featuring Sara's ringing voice, Maybelle's breakthrough guitar, and A. P.'s bass tenor in beautiful three part vocal harmony. When Victor Records scheduled an open recording tryout for all comers in nearby Bristol, Tennessee in August 1927, A. P. convinced the ladies to take a chance.

Those recording sessions became known as the "Big Bang" of Country music, making stars of both the Carters and Jimmie Rodgers. Although the Carters only sold about 1 record for every 10 that Rodgers sold, their royalties made for a comfortable living. They didn't give live performances much, and never travelled far from home, but recorded hundreds of songs. A. P. spent long periods away from home, scowering the countryside for old and forgotten songs the Carters needed to make more records. He's credited today for a significant contribution to the nation's cultural patrimony by preserving songs that would have otherwise been forgotten. But his long periods away from home and his obsession with arranging material for pressing recording sessions caused such strains on his and Sara's already fragile relationship that they split by the mid-thirties.

As the Depression deepened, record sales plummeted. People discovered that buying a radio could provide unlimited music for a one-time purchase price. As royalty payments dried up, the Carters took up an offer to spend six months per year performing on a 500,000-watt Mexican border radio station. Broadcasted live on a signal that could be picked up in much of the United States, and even up into Canada, millions listened to the Carters daily. Many of those listeners were young people who would become the next generation of Country music stars.

After the Carters' final performances in the early 1940's, the book focuses on Maybelle and her daughters, who performed for more than thirty years as Mother Maybelle and the Carter Family. They were real troupers, starting out on a 5000-watt radio station out of Richmond, Virginia, while often driving all night to play shows in small theaters in surrounding states. They were far from the big time, and far from a big paycheck. Yet with her unfailing kindness and generous spirit, Maybelle Carter continued to bolster American music with her quiet support of new artists. She took on a struggling young guitar virtuoso named Chet Atkins. Before accepting the offer of a coveted spot at the Grand Ole Opry, the Carters insisted that the blackballed Atkins be allowed to join them. Maybelle's loyalty established Atkins in a Nashville that he would dominate in the 1960's, transforming and updating Country music for a new generation. Maybelle and her daughters befriended many of the greatest figures in American music -- A young Elvis Presley, who was thwarted in his play for Anita, youngest of the Carter sisters; Hank Williams, who they failed to save from his demons; and Johnny Cash, who they rescued from his.  

With the folk revival of the 1960's and a spot touring with Johnny Cash, a true crossover superstar if there ever was one, the legacy of the Carter Family and Maybelle Carter was recognized and celebrated for its true significance. But it never translated into record sales.

A. P. died in 1960, never returning to music. Sara lived a quiet life in California, being coaxed to perform only a few times; notably at the Newport folk festival in 1967, and an appearance on Maybelle's son-in-law's television program in 1970. Maybelle performed infrequently after the death of Ezra in 1975, troubled by arthritis. She passed in 1978, followed 3 months later by Cousin Sara.

If you're interested in American music, read this book! If you're not familiar with the music of The Carter Family (I wasn't) you can follow along on YouTube to hear the important musical milestones described in each chapter.