Search - Carter Family :: Best of

Still singin' those mountain ballads after all these years

12/05/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Country music fans today, just listen to the music and enjoy it for what it is, but did we ever really think about the starts of country music? Who started it? What kind of songs did they sing? Were they any good? Did their children follow in their footsteps and were they sucessful?

So many questions!! This CD is the answer. The first family of country music was the Carter Family, A.P., Sara, and Maybelle of Clinch Mountain, VA. But they were much more than mountain hilbillies who liked to party on friday nights. They wrote songs about lost love, the place they knew and loved, and most of all, just fun songs.

We start off with the legendary. "Keep on the Sunny Side," the Carter's theme song. This song is basically about how if we just look on the bright side of things, they aren't so bad after all. "Storms and clouds will in time pass away, and the sun again will shine, bright and clear."

Hey June Carter fans? Did you know where "Wildwood Flower" came from? It was from the good ol' Carter Family! Actually, it was one of their first hits, probably the most reknown carter family song in the world. About lost love, it's a song you'll want to sing 24/7!

"Worried Man Blues," is my very favorite Carter Family song. It has a catchy tune, and a good beat. The song is about a man who is sentenced to go to prison, but he has no idea what he's done. Filled with fun and laughter, this will become and family favorite.

"My Clinch Mountain Home," tells you alot about the Carter's backaround history. It reflects the carter's lives from "Ole Virginny."

"Foggy Mountain Top," is a great song. It features Sara's yodeling, and Maybelle's great guitar pickin'. This song, like "My Clinch Mountain Home", secretly shares backaround information about life as a Carter as well.

Ah, "Single Girl, Married Girl," the Carter's first hit, and undoubtfully their most sucessful. This is a solo for Sara, and also a solo for her autoharp.

In "My Old Cottage Home," A.P. does most of the singing, which is rare since he usually only did backup. Very similar to "My Clinch Mountain Home," but also very different. It's one of my favorites, so yuo will proabaly liek it too.

"The Valley of Shanandoah," is a very sad song. It tells a story about how a man fell in love with a beautiful girl in the past summer and promises to return to her next year so they can be married. Sadly, when the man returns, he finds that his true love had passed away into the great kingdom above. Teh song may be sad, but it capture your heart.

"Chewing Gum," is a really fun song to sing, and it really helps past the tiem away. A song that Sara wrote when she was a child, "Chewing Gum," features many funny lines that will make you laugh out loud as if you were watching Hee-Haw!

If you buy this CD, it's liek hearing the Carter's story through music. It's truly any country msuic fan's treasure. Be sure to read my other revies for June Carter Cash's "Press On", "Wildwood Flower", "Keep on teh Sunyn Side: Her life in Music, and "Live Recordings from the Lousiana Hayride."



June





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