Biography
Alvin Pleasant “A.P.” Delaney Carter, recognized as the founding figure of America’s earliest country-music dynasty, guided the Carter Family from its formation in 1926 until the ensemble dissolved in 1943. An assiduous gatherer of traditional material, he amassed hundreds of folk songs throughout Britain and the Appalachian highlands, reshaping many of them into original compositions while also penning enduring country standards such as “Wabash Cannonball,” “Will the Circle Be Unbroken,” “Keep on the Sunny Side,” “Foggy Mountain Top,” “Worried Man Blues,” “I’m Thinking Tonight of My Blue Eyes,” and “Wildwood Flower.” Born in Virginia’s Clinch Mountains in 1891, he took up the fiddle in childhood, absorbed repertoire from his parents, and performed gospel quartets alongside two uncles and one sister. At twenty he encountered Sara Dougherty while peddling fruit trees; in his free hours he continued composing, and several years afterward the couple wed and began performing together throughout the surrounding countryside. Shortly before the group’s 1927 audition for Victor Records, Carter’s sister-in-law Maybelle Carter joined the lineup. The session proved successful, prompting Victor to issue three singles that swiftly registered as hits. Under an extended recording agreement the family achieved widespread popularity by the close of the decade, although the economic downturn sharply reduced phonograph sales across the United States. Despite separating in 1932, Carter and Sara persisted with sessions throughout the 1930s for ARC, Decca, and Victor alike. Their divorce was finalized in 1939, and four years later Sara formally withdrew from the act. While Maybelle embarked on tours accompanied by her three daughters, Carter operated a general store in Virginia until 1952, when he reassembled the Carter Family with Sara and several of their adult offspring. The revived lineup remained active in the studio for the ensuing four years before disbanding once more in 1956. Carter passed away in 1960.