In the 1950s Martha Carson’s gospel numbers, tinged with rock and roll, left a deep mark on fellow country performers, Elvis Presley foremost among them. She also stood among the earliest country acts to court the pop market with intention and actually register there. Born Irene Amburgey in Neon, Kentucky, she and her two sisters caught the ear of radio barn-dance promoter John Lair, who brought the trio onto the WSB Barn Dance roster in Atlanta in 1938. The sisters received the playful rural stage names Minnie, Marthie, and Mattie; after Irene departed the group to work with her husband, mandolinist James Carson, during the 1940s, the name Martha Carson remained with her. The pair appeared as the Barn Dance Sweethearts, Carson playing guitar. Following their 1950 divorce she began solo broadcasts on Knoxville’s WNOX, yet Capitol held the Barn Dance Sweethearts under contract through 1957 and blocked her from recording alone, instead attempting to team her with other male vocalists. She turned to session work, contributing to the Carlisles’ “Too Old to Cut the Mustard” and additional sides by the unrelated WNOX ensemble led by Bill Carlisle.
Her fortunes shifted after an encounter with Fred Rose in Nashville. Rose persuaded Capitol to release her as a solo artist, and in 1951 she issued her first single under her own name, the self-penned gospel piece “Satisfied,” written after listeners reacted negatively to news of her divorce. Carson’s commanding alto together with the track’s driving handclap rhythm supplied one of the foundational elements of early rock and roll. Backing came from Carlisle, Chet Atkins, and her sister Opal, now performing as Jean Chapel; although the record did not chart immediately, its audience grew steadily in the following years. By 1954 she had cut more than two dozen sides, joined the Grand Ole Opry cast, and toured with Jimmy Dickens, Ferlin Husky, and the ascending Elvis Presley. After joint shows she and Presley sang gospel duets, and he later credited her with shaping his stage manner more than any other performer.
Around 1954 Carson married pop promoter Xavier Cosse, who had studied the rising country and gospel fields through earlier associations with Hank Williams and Chet Atkins in Nashville. He viewed her as the ideal artist for broader appeal and convinced RCA producer Steve Sholes to sign her and to record her first sessions in Hollywood. By 1955 she had relocated to New York, where all subsequent work took place. Minor hits followed, among them “Journey to the Sky,” “This Ole House,” and “Saints and Chariot,” the latter a medley of traditional numbers that Presley later performed in concert. After joining the William Morris agency in 1957, Carson and Cosse settled permanently in New York; national visibility arrived via appearances on The Steve Allen Show. Temporarily setting gospel aside, she leaned toward urbane country-pop, guesting on Tennessee Ernie Ford’s program and adopting elements of his expansive vocal style and orchestral settings. The approach yielded short-term gains, yet by the late 1950s her commercial momentum faded. Sporadic releases continued on Decca, Cadence, and Sims, but while she remained a steady presence on stages in Las Vegas and California, further chart entries proved elusive. Her rockabilly foundation surfaced again during late-1950s appearances on the lively Los Angeles country broadcast Town Hall Party. By the 1980s she had entered semi-retirement.
