The Original and Great Carter Family

My grandmother had an LP called 'The Original and Great Carter Family', that I recall listening to quite often when I was a child, and this record is now in my collection.

The main reason why I have dwelt on the music of the Carter Family in some recent song of the week emails, and now am doing in this one, is because I believe that in order to have a good understanding and an informed appreciation of Bluegrass music one must have some familiarity with the music of the Carter Family. I believe that the same holds true to one extent or another as regards certain other forms of music that predate Bluegrass for having a good understanding and an informed appreciation of Bluegrass: e.g., the American Old-Time fiddle tune square dance tradition (celebrated in Bill Monroe's classic original 'Uncle Pen'), some of the types of church singing that the fathers of Bluegrass grew up with, and select examples of pre-World War II Blues and Jazz. 

In Bluegrass circles, the music of the Carter Family is often categorized as 'pre-Bluegrass'. Outside Bluegrass circles, people variously label their music as 'Hillbilly', 'Old-Time', 'Country', 'Folk', and even sometimes as 'Bluegrass'.

The 12 songs on the record - which can all be easily found on youtube - are:

• Cryin' Holy (see song list)
• 'Diamonds In The Rough' - a song that still remains one of my primary points of reference for the type of moderately fast 3/4 time (or 6/4 if you prefer) songs that the Stanley Brothers became especially known for.
• 'God Gave Noah The Rainbow Sign' - played occasionally at the old-time jam at Pengilly's on Monday nights; recorded also by Ralph Stanley on his album 'A Distant Land To Roam: Songs Of The Carter Family': https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZbDFeiAKJrY&list=PLGf0vfriGIq-zv90SKjwUhoD9WIixOE5I
• 'Forsaken Love' - another moderately fast 3/4 time song with the kind of tragic lyrics that nowadays seem to be less commonplace in Country music than in Bluegrass. Recorded at a slower tempo, with an incomplete set of lyrics (the suicide verse, for instance, is omitted), by Flatt & Scruggs on their album 'Songs Of The Famous Carter Family' https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3ypNOfDyrY
• 'The Grave On The Green Hillside' - one of my favorite serious 'reflection on death'-type songs.
• 'I'm Thinking Tonight Of My Blue Eyes' - Many classic Country songs (e.g., 'The Great Speckled Bird' and 'Wild Side Of Life') are based on the melody of this song. 'I'm Thinking Tonight Of My Blue Eyes' is my personal primary point of reference for Prog. W8 that, at Bluegrass jams I habitually call the 'Blue Ridge Cabin Home' progression. 
• 'Little Moses' - a song that sums up some of the more memorable events related in the second book of Moses, Exodus. It is also on the same Ralph Stanley album mentioned earlier.
• 'Sweet Fern'
• 'Wabash Cannonball' - has been played many times at our beginner and intermediate jams in their various incarnations.
• 'Kitty Waltz”
• 'Wildwood Flower' - the 15th most frequently played song at the intermediate jam when it was still labeled as a beginner jam; and it remains one of the more popular songs to call at the intermediate jam. If any song deserves the title 'Hillbilly National Anthem', this might just be it. And, for many Bluegrass and Country guitar players, especially those of the older generations, this is the first song they learned to play a guitar break for.
• 'Lula Walls' - One of my primary points of reference for the V6/X6 progression combination. Knowing the melody so well to this song has served me well in quickly identifying the melodies of many other songs that use the same progression. (The regulars at the intermediate jam should recognize the progression as being that used to play the Bill Monroe/Lester Flatt Bluegrass classic, 'Little Cabin Home On The Hill'.)

To hear for yourself what I mean, compare, for instance, 'Lula Walls' with the Lester Flatt original 'Little Girl Of Mine In Tennessee', and the trad. song 'Log Cabin In The Lane':

• The Carter Family - Lula Walls: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=38wyzTfdTe8

• Flatt & Scruggs - My Little Girl In Tennessee: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nXlPT5fwT2Q
• Log Cabin In The Lane by Jim Eanes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3QyVm8hI_rM

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Shortly after I discovered Bluegrass, I came across a Bill Monroe live Bluegrass Gospel cassette tape in a friend's tape collection, and borrowed it. This was the first time I had heard Bill Monroe, and Cryin' Holy was one of the first songs on the tape. (Being new to Bluegrass at the time, I was happily surprised at how many of the songs on the tape I already knew from non-bluegrass recordings of the same songs.) I recall liking that it was played much faster than on the old Carter Family record, and with my three favorite instruments taking turns playing breaks on it: fiddle, banjo, and mandolin. I also remember finding it interesting that the lyrics were noticeably different than what I used to from the Carter Family record.