I still can't believe, that no film of the original Carter Family (Sara, Maybelle & A.P.) survived, given their status of real super stars in their times.
Maybelle absolutely changed the way guitarists used their right hand (assuming one plays right-handed). Of all her work on the original recordings, my favorite is "Canon Ball Blues." She puts the capo up a lot higher here than on the original recording. I wonder why. Just a fascinating performer.
This video was filmed at the Newport Folk Festival. Maybelle and Sarah were walking back to thier vehicle when they were stopped and asked to play two songs.
EVERY guitar player in country/western & rock n' roll and yes even Heavy Metal owes a debt to Maybelle Carter. If it was not for her progressive playing guys like Jimi Hendrix, Jimmie Page, Tony Iommi[Black Sabbath] up to more current guitar heroes such as Mike McCready of Pearl Jam follow in Maybelle's path, the ORIGINAL guitar hero!!!
A.P. and Lesley Riddle struck up a friendship, and A.P. invited him up to Poor Valley,” Seeger said. “Lesley came up there for maybe as much as a week, and while he was up there, Maybelle picked up several songs from him, including “The Cannonball,” and Lesley also picked up some songs from them, which is a familiar story in country music. It’s that exchange between black and white musicians that really made American music American.”
In the Pbs special you follow them through their lives--and this video ends it---- with incredible effect. maybelle playing with her kapo and Sarah playing and singing with as much energy as ever. As they both were ailing as it tells in the book "will you miss me when im gone?" as Maybelle drove off she said "thats the last ill ever see Sarah' inside the house Sarah said at the same time---"thats the last time ill ever see Maybelle." Sarah gasped and broke down upon Maybelles passing first
Whoa.. Priceless video folks. Maybelles guitar has a sort of 'electric' sound to it.. maybe it's the camera? or is it the way she tuned those 'bass' strings? truly great sound!!
@hwoods01 Maybelle was actually tuned to where she was in "standard" with the capo at either 3rd or 4th fret. Not sure why but maybe so she didn't have to reach so far on the L5 when playing in C or G in her scratch style. If you tune your guitar this way you will hear where Maybelle's tone came from albeit with primitive recording equipt in the '20s and 30s.
The Guitaro that Sara plays is an awesome instrument. Hopefully soon i will have one. To bad some of the instrument makers and luthiers of today don't make any of them. Only 24 strings... but a powerfully beautiful sounding instrument !!!
Let's give some credit to the filmmaker, John Cohen of the New Lost City Ramblers. This was the closing clip of his short film "Sara and Maybelle," which was one of three John Cohen films on the video "That High Lonesome Sound" (Shanachie 1404).
Classic video. This was recored at the Newport Folk Festival around 1965. Sara and Maybelle were walking back to their car when they were stopped and the sang two songs for the camera.
It was a reunion of sorts, Maybelle and Sara got back together and record an album, and appeared together at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival. The clips are on DVD in a video called "That High Lonesome Sound." Sara and Maybelle were walking back to thier car when they put thier cases down and plaved two songs for John Cohen who recorded the performance, no one else was around.
thats awesome, i love the people in the back, just walking along, completly unaware of the 2 legends of country music just jamming under the tree. you cant se them so much in this video, but in the other you can
actually thats exactly what she did. she had an affair with APs cousin, and then divorced AP and married him. Sara was more like todays woman in alot of ways, she smoked and cussed and cheated, to bad for AP though, cause he was never the same after. then the carter family got back together, cause that was there best way to make money during hard times, can you imagine how hard that was for him?
one play the string one play... Its the number one...yes indeed. If someone played it with great tunes. Its great. But mama maybell did it it with style...Thank you
Pleasant Carter met Leslie Riddle in Kingsport Tenn in 1928. Maybelle was learning the guitar and excelled; her brothers asked her to play with them so that in itself says alot about her style. It can be argued that Leslie Riddle did influence Maybelle but she played essentially what she'd taught herself. Find a copy of AP singing The Cannonball -it was his first recorded solo. He also was offered a contract before the Family but out of deference to his mother he declined No fiddling by AP.
I think the Cannonball Blues was based on Charlie Poole's White House Bues.
Can anyone here create a forum about the Carter Family?A place where we could share lyrics,videos,photos,interviews and many other things related to The Carter Family and their legacy.
I'd create one myself but I don't have the ability or time to do it : )
what is it about this clip and the style of this music that is so absorbing and uplifting. I sit here in the North of England, a long way from the appalacian mountains for sure , maybe I was there in another life, either way what a great post thanks. I know the Carter family from the Johnny Cash shows we got in the uk years ago, but this one is very special.
Great Video!! Love this... Please click on my name to watch a modern day video trubute to Maybelle Carter's "Will The Circle Be Unbroken" sung by 17 year old Michelle Lea.
fscofi is correct,Maybelle taught herself the guitar and the style is hers,Riddle's influence is way overrated.I think is more probable he was influeced by the Carters and other appalachian musicians,not the other way around.But he was probably a great guy,since The Carters liked him.
Thank you very much for this video,it shows the Carters as they really were:a simple and great kind of people.
"Esley" Riddle was a big influence to Maybelle (they both talked about picking together for hours at the Carters home in the Valley), however her style at the core came from the five string banjo her mother taught her to play. According to Maybelle, she got her first guitar at 13 and said, "I started trying different ways to pick, because there weren't many guitar players around. I just played the way I wanted to".
I imagine it does not matter to some but Maybelle taught herself the guitar and the style is "hers". Leslie Riddle came into her life after she had developed "thumb melody, chord scratch" Many people knew the thumb bass, chord strum but very few people can replicate unique Maybelle's style. Leslie Riddle's influence can be heard and easily distinquished from hers on several later recordings.
You are correct. Sara married Coy Bayes, hence my very lame pun - blue eyed Bayes. I knew nothing about his marriage to Gladys Nickerson which is a strange twist to the already convoluted love and union of Sara and Coy.
-no, he was A.P.'s cousin. He sent him to his home to help Sara with the 3 children in the 30's - and they married in Del Rio in 1939 after Sara had written a song for him. Coy married later Sara's best friend Gladys Nickerson.
Charlie Poole sings "from Buffalo to Washington" in his White House Blues, about the assassination of President McKinley and he uses the identical tune. It seems irrelevant there, so presumably this is the earlier strand.
Sorry Dotty....But why does it seem irrelevent there? McKinley Died in 1901, the Carter's recorded this in 1930. Please Do not hate one's whose music bring America such joy!! Thanks Dot~!!!
Most Carter Family songs were from other southern(the great majority appalachian) musicians,and that is what makes them so special,they helped to preserve the "original" musical tradition while developing a new style.
These songs are mostly from simple and hardworking european-american(especially irish,english and scoth-irish) who,even in the other side of the ocean,preserved their traditions.
A.P. and Lesley Riddle collected songs from both "european-American" and African-American households. Many of their gospel songs were sung in both white and black churches.
I don't think so. Maybelle was using the Carter scratch on their first recording, back in 1927. I'm pretty sure this was before Lesley Riddle was involved.
Actually, they recorded 6 tracks in Bristol, Tennessee in August, 1927: Bury Me Under the Weeping Willow; Little Log Cabin by the Sea; The Poor Orphan Child; The Storms Are on the Ocean; Single Girl, Married Girl; and The Wandering Boy. They recorded 12 more in May, 1928, including Wildwood Flower and Keep on the Sunny Side.
sepiroth, thats where you're wrong. the carter family started recording back in 1927.. riddle helped them compose several songs though, including this one.. back in 1927, yes, she was scratching.. but it wasnt a carter scratch, lol. recordings in 1928 when they met riddle, you will notice that the scratch starts to sound distinguished from the way she did it in 1927.
I purchased the DVD "That High Lonesome Sound" just so I could have this clip and the "Sweet Fern" video. Sara and Maybelle were returning to thier car when they stopped and performed these two songs for John Cohen. Priceless footage
Maybelle had a truly stoic demeanor. She always said she loved playing music with Sara, and you can sometimes catch the sideways goofy grin that she gives.
That's one of my many favorites of the Carters! It's also really cute to see Sara and Maybelle outdoors playing like that. They were both beautiful ladies and were still pretty as older ladies too!
Well, jon, I wish Americans appreciated this as much as Europeans. Unfortunately, we've got millions of kids growing up with no concept of music beyond rap and hip hop.
First cousins. Also sisters-in-law. Sara was married to A.P., the group's founder, leader, and lyricist. Maybelle was married to A.P.'s brother. Later Sara divorced A.P. and married another one of his brothers. Remember, this was appalachia.
@agingstoner Where do people get their information? Maybelle and Sara were 1st cousins (Maybelle's mother was Margaret Kilgore and Sara's was Elizabeth, they were sisters). Sara "never"married A.P.'s brother but his 1st cousin (A.P.'s mother was Mollie Bays and her brother was Charlie Bays, father of Coy who was Sara's 2nd. husband)...
From what I have read besides her issues with JP Sara was also tired of the music business and its constant traveling. She had to be persuaded to make appearances like this one and made very few after leaving the group.
their natural musicianship is sooo original! I'd like to know more about the autoharp that Sara is playing - it is a lot different than the type we normally see today. anybody know?
It's not an autoharp. It's some kind of experimental instrument she was using in the sixties. Another person posting here on youtube called it a "guitaro"...but I thought a guitaro was a guitar/banjo hybrid.
If you really want to hear something find AP Carter singing the Cannonball. It was his first recorded solo. He always floated around in the back harmonies but the Cannonball was his first waxing.
I purchased the DVD "That High Lonesome Sound" just so I could have this clip and the "Sweet Fern" video. Sara and Maybelle were returning to thier car when they stopped and performed these two songs for John Cohen. Priceless footage.
Absolutely beautiful. Awesome. Pure gold, priceless. Very humble and true. I wish Mom would have seen this. She would have loved it. My parents were a very BIG fan of the Carter Family. Thank God He created the Carter Family.
This clip was recorded at the Newport Folk Festival. Maybelle convinced Sara to appear with her. This and the other clip appears On "That High Lonesome Sound, films of American rural life and music by John Cohen" Cohen of the New Lost City Ramblers did some great recordings, most audio, of Sara and Maybelle.
Smile, they were not on stage just asked to do this off to the side. Talk about talent. Also, I cannot think of a time when Maybelle was playing with Sara that she didn't smile througout, she was never happier...
Doc Watson recorded this song as "White House Blues", about the assassination of President McKinley. The recording is on the collection "Trouble in Mind".
this is a really good video. i love the carter family. i noticed that sara is using a guitaro, not an autoharp, maybelle tried to promote these back in the 50's but it was a flop
When the Carters re-redid this in 35 for what became Columbia, Sara did the lead on that, not AP, who sang the lead on the original version. I like how Maybelle combined her scratch style and that bluesy fingerpicking on the solos for this song. Sara's rhythm style on both the autoharp and guitar perfectly complemented Maybelle's lead, in my opinion.
WOW ! I never expected to see moving pictures of the Carter women. I think A.P.s version of this song is the best piece of music in the last century, but this one is really great too.
that's the coolest clip i've ever seen on here. it's probably the closest i'll ever get to seeing the "original" carter family perform. simply amazing!
I still can't believe, that no film of the original Carter Family (Sara, Maybelle & A.P.) survived, given their status of real super stars in their times.
HDN1956 2 weeks ago
Pick It Mama"
MartinD28V1 2 weeks ago
beautiful.
MrFlatroofer 1 month ago
jaw-dropping and priceless. Thanks to bluesriff! cheercheercheer
mrhipsterdoofus 1 month ago 2
Kiss my ass if it dont get much better than this! Fawk this is bad azz!
coolanddark 3 months ago
Maybelle absolutely changed the way guitarists used their right hand (assuming one plays right-handed). Of all her work on the original recordings, my favorite is "Canon Ball Blues." She puts the capo up a lot higher here than on the original recording. I wonder why. Just a fascinating performer.
whosiskid 3 months ago
In a word...magnificent!
Pickinbuddy 5 months ago
This video was filmed at the Newport Folk Festival. Maybelle and Sarah were walking back to thier vehicle when they were stopped and asked to play two songs.
mikegilbo 5 months ago
lovely setting, lovely music. impressive that they werent put off by the strong winds!
Romamb 7 months ago 2
EVERY guitar player in country/western & rock n' roll and yes even Heavy Metal owes a debt to Maybelle Carter. If it was not for her progressive playing guys like Jimi Hendrix, Jimmie Page, Tony Iommi[Black Sabbath] up to more current guitar heroes such as Mike McCready of Pearl Jam follow in Maybelle's path, the ORIGINAL guitar hero!!!
CajonDS 9 months ago
A.P. and Lesley Riddle struck up a friendship, and A.P. invited him up to Poor Valley,” Seeger said. “Lesley came up there for maybe as much as a week, and while he was up there, Maybelle picked up several songs from him, including “The Cannonball,” and Lesley also picked up some songs from them, which is a familiar story in country music. It’s that exchange between black and white musicians that really made American music American.”
pdxjo 6 months ago
'Billy Lyons & Stack O' Lee' FURRY LEWIS (1927) Blues Guitar Legend
sound similar.
pdxjo 6 months ago
Comment removed
pdxjo 6 months ago
In the Pbs special you follow them through their lives--and this video ends it---- with incredible effect. maybelle playing with her kapo and Sarah playing and singing with as much energy as ever. As they both were ailing as it tells in the book "will you miss me when im gone?" as Maybelle drove off she said "thats the last ill ever see Sarah' inside the house Sarah said at the same time---"thats the last time ill ever see Maybelle." Sarah gasped and broke down upon Maybelles passing first
phantomvibrationsX 1 year ago
@phantomvibrationsX: This film is from the mid 60s. Sara died in 1979 and outlived Maybelle, who died in 1978.
agingstoner 1 year ago
Whoa.. Priceless video folks. Maybelles guitar has a sort of 'electric' sound to it.. maybe it's the camera? or is it the way she tuned those 'bass' strings? truly great sound!!
hwoods01 1 year ago 2
@hwoods01 Maybelle was actually tuned to where she was in "standard" with the capo at either 3rd or 4th fret. Not sure why but maybe so she didn't have to reach so far on the L5 when playing in C or G in her scratch style. If you tune your guitar this way you will hear where Maybelle's tone came from albeit with primitive recording equipt in the '20s and 30s.
LP61RI 5 months ago
Magical magical moment!
brummy123 1 year ago
god I love This Stuff.
dalet63 1 year ago
PRICELESS !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ufferndiawl 1 year ago
Maybelle's fingering and style still blows my mind. The magic of their voices.
rotano 1 year ago 2
Beautiful. It's a miracle that this wonderful, historic footage exists.
Smasher5257 1 year ago
Beautiful amateurish photography with the flailing trees and grass in the background!!
betterthanbrad 1 year ago
this is some real american history right here folks. 1's and 0's could never compare to this.
ncbloom 1 year ago
I see again, with my pleasure, this rare video. I have known Maybelle late, but I'm still now a fan of Maybelle.
Grazie blue
FAUSTORICCARDO 1 year ago
My most favourite Carter video of all time!!
betterthanbrad 1 year ago
So old! That means good!
bamerongirl4ever 1 year ago
The Guitaro that Sara plays is an awesome instrument. Hopefully soon i will have one. To bad some of the instrument makers and luthiers of today don't make any of them. Only 24 strings... but a powerfully beautiful sounding instrument !!!
delita60 1 year ago
People we are so blessed to have this video. Sarah could have easily said she want to do it. She had long since retired from music.
Great job, and thanks to bluesriff for posting it.
danthebassman07 1 year ago
My favourite guitar player of all time.
bennyc741 1 year ago
unbelievably good.
GhostReportin07 1 year ago
Thats a guitar pickin mofo
kidthump 2 years ago
you mean "daddy-fo" right,.....
lol
porkinwitz 2 years ago
sorry kid, i meant for that to be a thumbs up! Maybelle was an oldschool guitar pickin mofo
Commentarian1 1 year ago
Let's give some credit to the filmmaker, John Cohen of the New Lost City Ramblers. This was the closing clip of his short film "Sara and Maybelle," which was one of three John Cohen films on the video "That High Lonesome Sound" (Shanachie 1404).
SaulPioe 2 years ago 2
Maybelle is one of my all time guitar heroes. Great rare clip, cheers!
gringoflamenco 2 years ago
Classic video. This was recored at the Newport Folk Festival around 1965. Sara and Maybelle were walking back to their car when they were stopped and the sang two songs for the camera.
mikegilbo 2 years ago
really? i thought this was from a carter family reunion
bsinbreed 2 years ago
It was a reunion of sorts, Maybelle and Sara got back together and record an album, and appeared together at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival. The clips are on DVD in a video called "That High Lonesome Sound." Sara and Maybelle were walking back to thier car when they put thier cases down and plaved two songs for John Cohen who recorded the performance, no one else was around.
mikegilbo 2 years ago
thats awesome, i love the people in the back, just walking along, completly unaware of the 2 legends of country music just jamming under the tree. you cant se them so much in this video, but in the other you can
bsinbreed 2 years ago
WOW thank you for posting this!
harleyspringer1 2 years ago
how cool was that !!! thanks
bopbopbobert 2 years ago
Thanks for posting!
It's amazing how much sound
comes out of those 2 ladies and
2 instruments.
Loved seeing those beautiful ladies
and the beautiful guitar and auto harp!!!
They gave us so much!!
I'm so glad to SEE them and hear them!
friendofTN 2 years ago
Mother Maybelle was an extraordinarily handsome woman.
panzalarga 2 years ago 6
I watched the documentary on PBS's American Experience and I think that Sara was the real beauty....
dabluz1125 2 years ago
I agree. Mother Maybelle had beautiful blue eyes!
cherokeehippie 2 years ago 2
you can see in grandma Sara's eyes she was depressed without papa A.P.
GoCarters101 2 years ago
uhh, Sara and A.P. Divorced in 1939...
dabluz1125 2 years ago
uhhh im kinda aware of that!?!
GoCarters101 2 years ago
then why did she cheat, and remarry?
bsinbreed 2 years ago
exscuse me!!!! how dare you!
GoCarters101 2 years ago
thats right, she cheated with the cousin of A.P., and the married the man. tell me im wrong. i love the carter family to, but thats what happened
bsinbreed 2 years ago 2
i know its what happened but dont insult them!!!!!
GoCarters101 2 years ago 2
This has been flagged as spam show
whats it to you?
bsinbreed 2 years ago
First of all, let's define "cheat". I seriously doubt that Sara did any such thing, at least not in the modern sense.
agingstoner 2 years ago
She sure did, read the biography Will You Miss Me When I'm Gone. No doubt about it.
danwarning 2 years ago
actually thats exactly what she did. she had an affair with APs cousin, and then divorced AP and married him. Sara was more like todays woman in alot of ways, she smoked and cussed and cheated, to bad for AP though, cause he was never the same after. then the carter family got back together, cause that was there best way to make money during hard times, can you imagine how hard that was for him?
bsinbreed 2 years ago
poor, poor AP.. Sarah was a flapper all along.
Commentarian1 1 year ago
If you like this then read "They'll Miss Me When I'm Gone" the great book about the Carter Family.
abbnerd 2 years ago
That's a very good book! But isn't "Will you miss me when I'm gone?" by Mark Zwonitzer?
baasting 2 years ago
So Neat! Loved it!
BlindPigAndTheAcorn 2 years ago
I don't remember this song, but I know the Carter's were natural born singers.
sweetthing77203 2 years ago
you can hear a good portion of these lyrics in the flatt and scruggs classic, mckinleys gone. from buffalo to washington
bsinbreed 2 years ago
wow...this is amazing!! thank you so much for posting this!!!
MegaHollywood02 2 years ago
one play the string one play... Its the number one...yes indeed. If someone played it with great tunes. Its great. But mama maybell did it it with style...Thank you
jonpetteroie 2 years ago
Pleasant Carter met Leslie Riddle in Kingsport Tenn in 1928. Maybelle was learning the guitar and excelled; her brothers asked her to play with them so that in itself says alot about her style. It can be argued that Leslie Riddle did influence Maybelle but she played essentially what she'd taught herself. Find a copy of AP singing The Cannonball -it was his first recorded solo. He also was offered a contract before the Family but out of deference to his mother he declined No fiddling by AP.
fscofi 2 years ago
FANSTASTIC!
coolanddark 2 years ago
extraordinary way to play guitar by Lady Maybelle. Love it
FAUSTORICCARDO 2 years ago
Thank god someone has taken the trouble to preserve and share this video.
welshhillbillyful 2 years ago 30
Amazing! Love it!
aGlowingTeapot 2 years ago
Awesome video. How incredi ble to be able to watch this performance from so many years ago.
bulbheadmyass 2 years ago
I love this song! The tune reminds me of Blind Willie McTell's "Delia." Which was recorded first? Either way, they're both amazing! :D
shmutzman 2 years ago
This tune was recorded first.
I think the Cannonball Blues was based on Charlie Poole's White House Bues.
Can anyone here create a forum about the Carter Family?A place where we could share lyrics,videos,photos,interviews and many other things related to The Carter Family and their legacy.
I'd create one myself but I don't have the ability or time to do it : )
rafaelflob 2 years ago
what is it about this clip and the style of this music that is so absorbing and uplifting. I sit here in the North of England, a long way from the appalacian mountains for sure , maybe I was there in another life, either way what a great post thanks. I know the Carter family from the Johnny Cash shows we got in the uk years ago, but this one is very special.
minniethemoocher2 2 years ago 3
It was great of A.P.! He walked around and knocked at peoples doors to collect songs..
baasting 2 years ago
This has been flagged as spam show
Great Video!! Love this... Please click on my name to watch a modern day video trubute to Maybelle Carter's "Will The Circle Be Unbroken" sung by 17 year old Michelle Lea.
kcgentz 3 years ago
fscofi is correct,Maybelle taught herself the guitar and the style is hers,Riddle's influence is way overrated.I think is more probable he was influeced by the Carters and other appalachian musicians,not the other way around.But he was probably a great guy,since The Carters liked him.
Thank you very much for this video,it shows the Carters as they really were:a simple and great kind of people.
PS:Sorry about my english.
rafaelflob 3 years ago
"Esley" Riddle was a big influence to Maybelle (they both talked about picking together for hours at the Carters home in the Valley), however her style at the core came from the five string banjo her mother taught her to play. According to Maybelle, she got her first guitar at 13 and said, "I started trying different ways to pick, because there weren't many guitar players around. I just played the way I wanted to".
I'm sure glad she did!!
SettlersMuseum 3 years ago
Listen to to that autoharp!!
katiedalyfan 3 years ago
I LOVE IT HERE IN ARKANSAS!
ladyblue614 3 years ago
I imagine it does not matter to some but Maybelle taught herself the guitar and the style is "hers". Leslie Riddle came into her life after she had developed "thumb melody, chord scratch" Many people knew the thumb bass, chord strum but very few people can replicate unique Maybelle's style. Leslie Riddle's influence can be heard and easily distinquished from hers on several later recordings.
fscofi 3 years ago 11
You are correct. Sara married Coy Bayes, hence my very lame pun - blue eyed Bayes. I knew nothing about his marriage to Gladys Nickerson which is a strange twist to the already convoluted love and union of Sara and Coy.
fscofi 3 years ago
Sara Carter divorced APD Carter but did not marry one of his brothers. She married her "blue-eyed Bayes"
fscofi 3 years ago
-no, he was A.P.'s cousin. He sent him to his home to help Sara with the 3 children in the 30's - and they married in Del Rio in 1939 after Sara had written a song for him. Coy married later Sara's best friend Gladys Nickerson.
MAXAX03 3 years ago
What a beautiful haunting precious document.Just so inspiring.
bluesborn 3 years ago
Charlie Poole sings "from Buffalo to Washington" in his White House Blues, about the assassination of President McKinley and he uses the identical tune. It seems irrelevant there, so presumably this is the earlier strand.
DottyWang 3 years ago
Sorry Dotty....But why does it seem irrelevent there? McKinley Died in 1901, the Carter's recorded this in 1930. Please Do not hate one's whose music bring America such joy!! Thanks Dot~!!!
Ridger1978 3 years ago
Most Carter Family songs were from other southern(the great majority appalachian) musicians,and that is what makes them so special,they helped to preserve the "original" musical tradition while developing a new style.
These songs are mostly from simple and hardworking european-american(especially irish,english and scoth-irish) who,even in the other side of the ocean,preserved their traditions.
PS:Again,sorry about my english :)
rafaelflob 3 years ago
A.P. and Lesley Riddle collected songs from both "european-American" and African-American households. Many of their gospel songs were sung in both white and black churches.
agingstoner 2 years ago
known*
sepirothx101 3 years ago
very neat!
timm9 3 years ago
thank god for lesley riddle..
Shimiz 3 years ago
And Maybelle Carter
Ridger1978 3 years ago
he taught her that technique she uses..
sepirothx101 3 years ago
He did teach her the old thumb and finger style that a lot of blues musicians still use ,for sure; but not her scratch style, that was an original
Ridger1978 3 years ago
ya, the carter scratch that she's know for, he taught her that.
sepirothx101 3 years ago
Well whatever the case She was the one that popularzied it and She was the one that worked for years to ensure the continued growth of the music.
Ridger1978 3 years ago
Of course..
sepirothx101 3 years ago
I don't think so. Maybelle was using the Carter scratch on their first recording, back in 1927. I'm pretty sure this was before Lesley Riddle was involved.
agingstoner 3 years ago 3
i dont recall them having a song released back in 1927, can you name the song?
sepirothx101 3 years ago
Actually, they recorded 6 tracks in Bristol, Tennessee in August, 1927: Bury Me Under the Weeping Willow; Little Log Cabin by the Sea; The Poor Orphan Child; The Storms Are on the Ocean; Single Girl, Married Girl; and The Wandering Boy. They recorded 12 more in May, 1928, including Wildwood Flower and Keep on the Sunny Side.
agingstoner 3 years ago
sepiroth, thats where you're wrong. the carter family started recording back in 1927.. riddle helped them compose several songs though, including this one.. back in 1927, yes, she was scratching.. but it wasnt a carter scratch, lol. recordings in 1928 when they met riddle, you will notice that the scratch starts to sound distinguished from the way she did it in 1927.
Shimiz 3 years ago
I can hear Johnny Cash was strongly inspired by those old Carters. This is something genuine. I love it!
louisalit 3 years ago
how great the first people of country music!
carterfamily1928 3 years ago
I purchased the DVD "That High Lonesome Sound" just so I could have this clip and the "Sweet Fern" video. Sara and Maybelle were returning to thier car when they stopped and performed these two songs for John Cohen. Priceless footage
mikegilbo 3 years ago
i love this video but it seems as though maybelle never smiled
GoCarters101 3 years ago
Watch the sweet fern video, or the duet with JC and you'll see her crack one or two
TommiFoolerie 3 years ago
Maybelle had a truly stoic demeanor. She always said she loved playing music with Sara, and you can sometimes catch the sideways goofy grin that she gives.
Ridger1978 3 years ago
Maybelle smiled a lot in this.. she's on the left. Sara is the one who never looks like she's smiling, but she's great anyway.
jrock428 3 years ago
That's one of my many favorites of the Carters! It's also really cute to see Sara and Maybelle outdoors playing like that. They were both beautiful ladies and were still pretty as older ladies too!
fordtruxdad 3 years ago
completely amazing
mandudebroguydudeman 3 years ago
So that's where woody got the tune for hobo's lullaby.
mdgeorgie 3 years ago
Woody stole several tunes from the Carter Family, including "This Land is Your Land", which was originally "The World's on Fire".
agingstoner 3 years ago
Oh, this is just awesome!!! Thanks CathyKay for sharing!!!
sherrilynn115 3 years ago
Brilliant performance- so Gooood!
Halothewynd 3 years ago
Good Stuff!!! Excellent!
ib2fast 3 years ago 2
I am a fan a big ONE i didnt know it was music like this, nice music it is....Fantastic, i wish i could hear them in real life. This was great....
jonpetteroie 3 years ago
Well, jon, I wish Americans appreciated this as much as Europeans. Unfortunately, we've got millions of kids growing up with no concept of music beyond rap and hip hop.
agingstoner 3 years ago
bull crap agingstoner im 13 and listen to nothin but clasic country and bluegrass and same for alot of my friends and cousins
indianbeautygy 3 years ago
Glad to hear that. Please note that I said "millions", not every single one. What part of the country are you in?
agingstoner 3 years ago
virginia
indianbeautygy 3 years ago
good to hear that i'm 19 and a bluegrass player myself.
frailer2007 3 years ago
profile says 41 but im just on step moms account cause cant figure out how to get one of them email accounts to get a account on here
indianbeautygy 3 years ago
I don't know much about the Carter family, but love the pure sound of their music. What relation were Maybelle and Sara? Sisters? Sisters-in-law?
5Ducklings 3 years ago
First cousins. Also sisters-in-law. Sara was married to A.P., the group's founder, leader, and lyricist. Maybelle was married to A.P.'s brother. Later Sara divorced A.P. and married another one of his brothers. Remember, this was appalachia.
agingstoner 3 years ago
LOL - good point about appalachia. :D Any word on why they divorced?
5Ducklings 3 years ago
According to the PBS documentary "Can The Circle be Unbroken" (on DVD and highly recommended) it had a lot to do with A.P.'s temper and restlessness.
agingstoner 3 years ago
Interesting. Sad.
Thanks for the info.
5Ducklings 3 years ago
@agingstoner Where do people get their information? Maybelle and Sara were 1st cousins (Maybelle's mother was Margaret Kilgore and Sara's was Elizabeth, they were sisters). Sara "never"married A.P.'s brother but his 1st cousin (A.P.'s mother was Mollie Bays and her brother was Charlie Bays, father of Coy who was Sara's 2nd. husband)...
wmoday 1 year ago
@wmoday
A.P. was Sara's first husband and brother of Ezra Carter, Maybelle's husband.
Maybelle was A.P.'s sister-in-law, Sara's first cousin & Ezra's wife.
Sara was A.P.'s wife, Maybelle's first cousin & Ezra's sister-in-law.
Coy Bays was A.P. & Ezra's first cousin, Sara and Maybelle's cousin-in-law and Sara's second husband.
Merle Kilgore (co-writer of "Ring of Fire") was Sara and Maybelle's second cousin, once removed.
President Jimmy Carter is A.P. and Ezra's third cousin, once removed.
moproducer 6 months ago 2
From what I have read besides her issues with JP Sara was also tired of the music business and its constant traveling. She had to be persuaded to make appearances like this one and made very few after leaving the group.
RossM3838 3 years ago
I don't blame her! Thanks for all the info, everyone!
5Ducklings 3 years ago
Great, thanks for posting this!
Meteetsee 3 years ago
Absolutely fantastic. Would pay to find this in higher resolution.
milnoid 3 years ago
Thanks for posting such a wonderful clip of Maybelle playing the Gibbson L5 and Sara playing the Autoharp. What a team!
meplayin 3 years ago
Is this a dulcimer?
Vojak3 3 years ago
their natural musicianship is sooo original! I'd like to know more about the autoharp that Sara is playing - it is a lot different than the type we normally see today. anybody know?
IreneSusan 4 years ago
It's not an autoharp. It's some kind of experimental instrument she was using in the sixties. Another person posting here on youtube called it a "guitaro"...but I thought a guitaro was a guitar/banjo hybrid.
agingstoner 4 years ago
It is called a Guitaro, Oscar Schmidt built them for a while.
1972Suburban 3 years ago
This is folks, the font of country music...
UncleCaptainMidnight 4 years ago
this is't country is born
anz2161 4 years ago
what year was this may I ask?
russianpostman 4 years ago
If you really want to hear something find AP Carter singing the Cannonball. It was his first recorded solo. He always floated around in the back harmonies but the Cannonball was his first waxing.
fscofi 4 years ago
I purchased the DVD "That High Lonesome Sound" just so I could have this clip and the "Sweet Fern" video. Sara and Maybelle were returning to thier car when they stopped and performed these two songs for John Cohen. Priceless footage.
mikegilbo 4 years ago
if that aint a 5 star rating then nothing is man, blow me away to the other side so i can play with them
goldman1949 4 years ago
Great Stuff!
@}->->----
Roses are red,
violets are blue;
this little flower
i give to you.
Blessings.
TheRealBlackHair 4 years ago
The beginning rocks!!
carterfamily1928 4 years ago
I don't know what to say, I AM IN AWE, truly amazing.....!
johnnycash260 4 years ago
GREAT Video!
Sara with the guitaro - rare and great
rare video and great - please to listen to them.!
THANK YOU SO MUCH!
MAXAX03 4 years ago
id like to see a country musician try that these days, they wouldnt know where to start
fiddlenut24 4 years ago 3
Absolutely beautiful. Awesome. Pure gold, priceless. Very humble and true. I wish Mom would have seen this. She would have loved it. My parents were a very BIG fan of the Carter Family. Thank God He created the Carter Family.
Boxdancer 4 years ago
Ms. Maybelle was never a performer.
She was always a true lady and her talent remains the gift we will always treasure.
TheAtocha 4 years ago
where did this clip come from? what was it shot on?
Stebbi5742 4 years ago 2
This clip was recorded at the Newport Folk Festival. Maybelle convinced Sara to appear with her. This and the other clip appears On "That High Lonesome Sound, films of American rural life and music by John Cohen" Cohen of the New Lost City Ramblers did some great recordings, most audio, of Sara and Maybelle.
wmoday 4 years ago
Smile, they were not on stage just asked to do this off to the side. Talk about talent. Also, I cannot think of a time when Maybelle was playing with Sara that she didn't smile througout, she was never happier...
wmoday 4 years ago
this is't country is born
anz2161 4 years ago
This is truly wonderful. What more can you say.
jonno52 4 years ago
This is wonderful to see.What a classic,no one does it better!!
seedsower1962 4 years ago
Absolutely classic. I have their reunion sessions on CD, but I didn't know there was any film existing.
8441414 4 years ago
Pure Gold, I never thought I would see the pair of them singing together, Bluesriff you're a star! Thank you.
banjomansmate 4 years ago
Dido on what Mister Bunt Butler said. Great great footage. A Rare find.
cletusbuckley 4 years ago
This is simply American musical history. Absolutely priceless. Thankyou for posting it. It's what youtube is all about.
BuntButler 4 years ago
love it. History!
BillyTee 4 years ago
I just discovered the Carter Family music and these video clips of Sara and Maybelle are priceless.
mikegilbo 4 years ago
It's been said before, but this is amazing! I love to see these women play it. Great stuff!!! Thank you.
agbz 4 years ago
This is amazing.
DPFan15 4 years ago
amazin, these singin voices draws me way back, does something to me evry time...
jackrodgrs 5 years ago
Doc Watson recorded this song as "White House Blues", about the assassination of President McKinley. The recording is on the collection "Trouble in Mind".
manglorp 5 years ago
They were fantastic ladies
Sambob33 5 years ago
this is a really good video. i love the carter family. i noticed that sara is using a guitaro, not an autoharp, maybelle tried to promote these back in the 50's but it was a flop
rrdoran 5 years ago
Wunderfull old music. It's great.
meloderon 5 years ago
When the Carters re-redid this in 35 for what became Columbia, Sara did the lead on that, not AP, who sang the lead on the original version. I like how Maybelle combined her scratch style and that bluesy fingerpicking on the solos for this song. Sara's rhythm style on both the autoharp and guitar perfectly complemented Maybelle's lead, in my opinion.
JOP
mrjop1975 5 years ago
top favorit
shiambles 5 years ago
WOW ! I never expected to see moving pictures of the Carter women. I think A.P.s version of this song is the best piece of music in the last century, but this one is really great too.
HDN1956 5 years ago
amazing.. maybelle rules!!!
bashioum 5 years ago
maybelle may have ruled but only in Sarah's absence. Deal with it. That sweet, pure lead is none other than Sarah Carter. The original mountain diva.
Nightshade75 5 years ago
i was speaking of her guitar skills.. sheesh..lighten up holmes
bashioum 5 years ago
What an incredible video. Thank you very much.
BlueNote1979 5 years ago
Probably one of the most special pieces of video footage on Youtube. Thanks for putting this up!
Herb79 5 years ago
that's the coolest clip i've ever seen on here. it's probably the closest i'll ever get to seeing the "original" carter family perform. simply amazing!
disluinon 5 years ago
I like this little song!! Thanks very much.
BelleandSebby 5 years ago