Biography
Joe and Janette Carter, two of the three offspring of Sara Carter and A.P. Carter, entered the world in Maces Springs, Virginia—Joe on 27 February 1927 and Janette on 2 July 1923. From childhood they absorbed the family’s musical traditions, mastering every instrument featured in the act. Following the pattern set by Maybelle Carter’s children, they joined the Carter Family’s regular broadcasts on Border Radio from Del Rio, Texas, with Janette appearing in 1939 and her brother the next year. Janette also participated in the group’s sessions cut at Del Rio in 1938/9 and in Chicago and New York in 1940/1. Although Sara and A.P. divorced in 1939 after prolonged marital strain, they continued performing together with their children until Sara, newly remarried, withdrew from music in 1943.
In 1952 she agreed to return and, together with Joe, Janette and A.P., resumed appearances under the name A.P. Carter Family. The quartet worked chiefly from A.P.’s residence in Maces Springs, where his eldest daughter Gladys lived and an outdoor arena had been built. Between January 1952 and April 1956 they cut nearly one hundred titles for the Acme label, among them two duets with Mrs. Jimmie Rodgers. The original family configuration dissolved in 1956.
January 1966 found Joe and Janette, supported only by their own autoharp and guitar plus Leroy Canter on fiddle and guitar, taping both vintage Carter Family material and original songs for the County label. Although several tracks revisited earlier repertoire, the resulting album confirmed that the siblings retained the authentic sound and spirit of Old Time music. Joe’s guitar work evoked his aunt Maybelle’s style, while Janette’s command of her mother’s autoharp revealed an inherited gift for the instrument. When Maybelle and Sara reunited for recordings in 1967, Joe supplied bass vocals modeled on his late father’s and joined them at various folk festivals. In the late 1960s both siblings issued occasional solo sides on J.E. Mainer’s Blue Jay label. During the 1970s Joe, Janette and Gladys began organizing concerts that eventually gave rise to the Annual Carter Family Memorial Festival held at Hiltons, Virginia. Joe succumbed to cancer on 2 March 2005; Janette died on 22 January 2006 in Kingsport, Tennessee, following an extended battle with Parkinson’s disease.
In 1952 she agreed to return and, together with Joe, Janette and A.P., resumed appearances under the name A.P. Carter Family. The quartet worked chiefly from A.P.’s residence in Maces Springs, where his eldest daughter Gladys lived and an outdoor arena had been built. Between January 1952 and April 1956 they cut nearly one hundred titles for the Acme label, among them two duets with Mrs. Jimmie Rodgers. The original family configuration dissolved in 1956.
January 1966 found Joe and Janette, supported only by their own autoharp and guitar plus Leroy Canter on fiddle and guitar, taping both vintage Carter Family material and original songs for the County label. Although several tracks revisited earlier repertoire, the resulting album confirmed that the siblings retained the authentic sound and spirit of Old Time music. Joe’s guitar work evoked his aunt Maybelle’s style, while Janette’s command of her mother’s autoharp revealed an inherited gift for the instrument. When Maybelle and Sara reunited for recordings in 1967, Joe supplied bass vocals modeled on his late father’s and joined them at various folk festivals. In the late 1960s both siblings issued occasional solo sides on J.E. Mainer’s Blue Jay label. During the 1970s Joe, Janette and Gladys began organizing concerts that eventually gave rise to the Annual Carter Family Memorial Festival held at Hiltons, Virginia. Joe succumbed to cancer on 2 March 2005; Janette died on 22 January 2006 in Kingsport, Tennessee, following an extended battle with Parkinson’s disease.