Thursday, March 5, 2015

Will You Miss Me When I'm Gone? - Mark Zwonitzer

sub-title: The Carter Family and their Legacy in American Music

I know next to nothing about country music.  I picked this up as a chance to educate myself a bit.  What a lesson!  Their story took me back to the roots of country music - Appalachia, traditional tunes, folk ballads, gospel and spirituals, all gathered, interpreted and shaped into the country sound my this iconic family.  They were no angels though.

The behind the scenes look at their family life and careers shows ordinary people with extraordinary talent living hard lives and suffering heartaches.  It's the evolution of the music that's the triumphant story.

In one early session in 1928, they recorded songs that are still be performed today; Wildwood Flower and John Hardy, for example. Maybelle, the guitarist, developed styles of playing that are still marvelled at by musicians.

It was a history lesson I enjoyed.

Wondrous Words Wednesday (a day late, again!)

I like participating in this over at Bermuda Onion's blog but I am derelict in getting my entries done!

A new term I learned in reading the story was "melungeon".  Reporting on A.P. Carter's travels to gather music, his buddy, Riddle, said they stayed with "a group of Cherokee or melungeons...and ate rabbit".  It refers to a group of people of "tri-racial isolate", a mix of European, Native American and African American found in the mountains of the Southeast Appalachians and was used derisively.


Published:  2002   Read: February 2015  Genre: Biography


1 comment:

  1. When I saw melungeons, I knew I'd heard it before but I couldn't remember its meaning and I'm kind of glad for that.

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