0
Maybelle Carter
Maybelle Carter
folk and country music guitarist
1
June Carter Cash
June Carter Cash
American singer, songwriter and actress (1929-2003)
2
A. P. Carter
A. P. Carter
American country musician.
3
Sara Carter
Sara Carter
American musician
4
Anita Carter
Anita Carter
American singer
5
Chet Atkins
Chet Atkins
American guitarist and record producer
6
John Carter Cash
John Carter Cash
American singer, songwriter author and producer
7
Carlene Carter
Carlene Carter
American country singer-songwriter
8
Joe Maphis
Joe Maphis
American musician
9
Skeeter Davis
Skeeter Davis
American singer-songwriter
10
Lesley Riddle
Lesley Riddle
American musician
11
Carl Smith
Carl Smith
American musician
12
John McEuen
John McEuen
American musician
13
Johnny Cash
Johnny Cash
American singer-songwriter and actor
14
Osborne Brothers
Osborne Brothers
15
Ralph Stanley
Ralph Stanley
American singer
16
Jim & Jesse
Jim & Jesse
American bluegrass duo
17
The Jordanaires
The Jordanaires
American vocal group; back-up singers for Elvis Presley
18
Wilma Lee Cooper
Wilma Lee Cooper
American musician
19
Floyd Cramer
Floyd Cramer
American pianist
20
The Peasall Sisters
The Peasall Sisters
Family Country Singing Group
21
Carl Perkins
Carl Perkins
American recording artist; rockabilly musician, songwriter
22
Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
American band
23
Patty Loveless
Patty Loveless
American country music singer
24
Jan Howard
Jan Howard
American country singer
25
Connie Smith
Connie Smith
American country music artist
26
Ruby Wright
Ruby Wright
American country singer (1939-2009)
27
Hank Williams
Hank Williams
American recording artist; songwriter, country music singer
28
The Louvin Brothers
The Louvin Brothers
American country music duo
29
Bill Monroe
Bill Monroe
American bluegrass musician, songwriter
30
Merle Travis
Merle Travis
American country/Western singer-songwriter and musician
31
Kerry Marx
Kerry Marx
musician
32
Homer and Jethro
Homer and Jethro
band
33
Arthur Smith
Arthur Smith
American country musician, songwriter and producer
34
Big Maybelle
Big Maybelle
American R&B singer and pianist
35
Steve Wariner
Steve Wariner
American country singer-songwriter and guitarist
36
Jerry Reed
Jerry Reed
American recording artist; country music singer, actor (1937-2008)
37
The Stanley Brothers
The Stanley Brothers
American bluegrass duo
38
Sonny James
Sonny James
American musician
Carter Family
traditional American folk music group

Carter Family

Intro
traditional American folk music group
Awards Received
Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award
Americana Music Association President's Award
Members, past and present
Warning: Page using Template:Infobox musical artist with unknown parameter "original_members" (this message is shown only in preview).
Warning: Page using Template:Infobox musical artist with unknown parameter "other_members" (this message is shown only in preview).

The Carter Family is a traditional American folk music group that recorded between 1927 and 1956. Their music had a profound impact on bluegrass, country, Southern Gospel, pop and rock musicians as well as on the U.S. folk revival of the 1960s.

They were the first vocal group to become country music stars, and were among the first groups to record commercially produced country music. Their first recordings were made in Bristol, Tennessee, under producer Ralph Peer on August 1, 1927, the day before country singer Jimmie Rodgers also made his initial recordings under Peer. Their recordings of songs such as "Wabash Cannonball", "Can the Circle Be Unbroken", "Wildwood Flower", "Keep On the Sunny Side" and "I'm Thinking Tonight of My Blue Eyes" made these songs country standards. The tune of the last was used for Roy Acuff's "The Great Speckled Bird", Hank Thompson's "The Wild Side of Life" and Kitty Wells' "It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels", making the song a hit all over again in other incarnations.

The original group consisted of Sara Carter, her husband A.P. Carter, and her sister-in-law Maybelle Carter. Maybelle was married to A.P.'s brother Ezra Carter (Eck) and was also Sara's first cousin. All three were born and raised in southwest Virginia, where they were immersed in the tight harmonies of mountain gospel music and shape note singing.

Throughout the group's career, Sara Carter sang lead vocals and played rhythm guitar or autoharp, and Maybelle sang harmony and played lead guitar. On some songs A.P. did not perform at all; on some songs he sang harmony and background vocals and occasionally he sang lead. Maybelle's distinctive guitar-playing style became a hallmark of the group, and her Carter Scratch (a method for playing both lead and rhythm on the guitar) has become one of the most copied styles of guitar playing. The group (in all its incarnations, see below) recorded for a number of companies, including RCA Victor, ARC group, Columbia, Okeh and various imprint labels.