"Mother" Maybelle Carter (born Maybelle Addington; May 10, 1909 – October 23, 1978) was an American country musician and "among the first" to use the Carter scratch,Susan Ware, Stacy Braukman (2005). Notable American Women: A Biographical Dictionary, 5, Completing the Twentieth Century, p.105. . with which she "helped to turn the guitar into a lead instrument."Holly George-Warren, Laura Levine (2006). Honky-Tonk Heroes and Hillbilly Angels: The Pioneers of Country and Western Music, p.4. It was named after her. She was a member of the original Carter Family act from the late 1920s until the early 1940s and a member of the Carter Sisters and Mother Maybelle group.
Biography Maybelle Addington was born on May 10, 1909, in Nickelsville, Virginia, the daughter of Margaret Elizabeth (née Kilgore; 1879–1960) and Hugh Jackson Addington (1877–1929).Cash, John Carter. Anchored in Love: An Intimate Portrait of June Carter Cash (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2007), 10.
On March 13, 1926, Maybelle married Ezra Carter. They had three daughters, Helen, June, and Anita.
She was a member of the Carter Family, formed in 1927 by her brother-in-law, A. P. Carter, who was married to her cousin Sara, also part of the trio. The Carter Family was one of the first commercial rural country music groups. Maybelle helped create the group's unique sound with her innovative guitar style, using her thumb to play the melody on the bass strings and her index finger to fill out the rhythm. Her technique, sometimes known as the Carter Scratch, influenced the guitar's shift from rhythm to lead instrument.George-Warren, Holly (1997). "Hillbilly Fillies: The Trailblazers of C&W" quoted in Reddington, Helen (2007). The Lost Women of Rock Music, p.179. .
The Grand Ole Opry community of the early 1950s widely respected her, regarding her as a matriarchal figure in country music circles and popularly calling her "Mother Maybelle", although she was only in her forties. Maybelle and her daughters toured from the 1940s through the 1960s as "The Carter Sisters and Mother Maybelle", but after the death of A. P. Carter in 1960, the group revived the name "The Carter Family." They frequently toured with Johnny Cash, her son‑in‑law, beginning in 1968. The group performed regularly on Cash's weekly network variety show from 1969 to 1971. She briefly reunited with former Carter Family member Sara Carter during the 1960s folk music revival, with Sara singing lead and Maybelle providing harmony as before, in their 1966 reunion album.
Carter made occasional solo recordings during the 1960s and 1970s, usually full-length albums. Her final such work, a two-record set released on Columbia Records, appeared on Billboard'''s best-selling country albums chart in 1973 when she was 64. She was also featured on The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band's 1972 recording Will the Circle Be Unbroken.
Carter died from a respiratory disease on October 23, 1978, at age 69. She was interred next to her husband, Ezra, in Hendersonville Memory Gardens in Hendersonville, Tennessee. Two of their daughters, Helen and Anita, are buried nearby.
Family tree
Musicianship
Guitar According to statements made by Carter during a transcribed public performance, she began studying guitar at age 13 when she acquired an instrument.Carter, M., et al., (1975) Transcription of Smithsonian Institution Concert She was both an early female guitarist with national exposure and one of the first to use the guitar as a lead instrument in country music.Kyle, D. (nd). The First Guitar of Country Music. Vintage Guitar MagazineBunch, W. (2009). Mother Maybelle Carter Lauded as a True Trailblazer. Timesnews.net
Writers have identified at least three or four styles played by Maybelle Carter. She often tuned her guitar down, sometimes as many as five frets, but sometimes used a capo to increase the instrument's range.Sokolow, F. (nd). The Carter Family Collection: 32 Songs from the Royal Family of Country Music. Hal-Leonard Corporation Her most famous and widely recorded style is sometimes called "the Carter Scratch," or "thumb-lead style." This technique involved playing a melody on the instrument's three bass strings while strumming the three treble strings for rhythm. She used thumb and finger picks while playing.
Another style, later popularized by other musicians, was essentially the reverse of the thumb-lead style. In this style, Carter fingerpicked a melody on the three treble strings while brushing a rhythm on the bass strings with her thumb. It is often said that she first saw this style played by African American musician Lesley Riddle. A third style of Carter's guitar playing involved rapid flatpicking in a country blues rhythm. Her most obscure style was utilized on a few recordings by the Original Carter Family in the 1920s and early 1930s. It may be described as a Hawaiian-influenced slide technique that sometimes sounded like a modern dobro. Finally, if other musicians were playing a lead instrument, Maybelle would often strum chords on the guitar to accompany them.Seeger, M. & Carter, J. (2000). Guitary Styles of the Carter Family. (printed insert booklet) Homespunvideo2 Maybelle once filled in for Jimmie Rodgers during a recording session, perfectly mimicking his guitar playing style, in 1932. Rodgers was ill with tuberculosis at that time and had waning stamina during the session.Wheeler, B. E. (1976). Mother Maybelle Carter: Her Career Spans Half a Century.
Carter recorded her signature guitar piece, "Wildwood Flower," on numerous occasions, beginning with the original 1928 version. "The Cannon Ball," recorded with the Original Carter Family in 1930, illustrates Carter's fingerpicking style with thumb/bass fill. Her final recording in the slide guitar style was "My Old Cottage Home" in 1931. "Coal Miner's Blues," recorded for Decca, is an excellent flatpicking illustration.Wolfe, C. (2000). The Carter Family: In the Shadow of Clinch Mountain. Bear Family Records, Germany.
Guitar recordings she made with the Carter Sisters: "Fourteen Karat Nothing," "I'm Working on a Building," "Take Good Care of Him" — a rapid-tempo re-recording of "Waves on the Sea" — as well as a contemporary-sounding revision of "I'll Be All Smiles Tonight."Sunny Side Sentinel: Official Publication for the Carter Family, discography Issue (1980).
Solo guitar recordings: "Cumberland Gap," "Victory Rag," "Red Wing," and "Sweet Allie Lee."Various CD, album and single liner notes, labels and credits.
Autoharp The autoharp was relatively obscure in the earliest days of recorded country music. The Original Carter Family often used the instrument for rhythm. Still, it was played by Maybelle Carter's cousin and bandmate, Sara Carter, in her intricate style. Maybelle Carter is widely credited with the autoharp's popularity and it is still played in country and roots music, .Green, D. (1976). Sara & Maybelle Together at Maces Springs. Country News The autoharp was Maybelle's first instrument. She began tinkering with it as early as the age of four but did not turn a serious focus toward the instrument until around 1940.Fergerson, M. (1954). The Carter Sisters Led by Mother Maybelle. unknown publisher
Traditionally the autoharp was strummed as a rhythm instrument.Hickey, N. (1971). His Mother-in-Law is a Legend. TV Guide Maybelle developed (alone or perhaps independently of other musicians who did the same) a "pinch and pluck" technique that forms the basis of most modern autoharp playing styles.Carter Family Fan Club Journal.(1994) This technique allows for playing melodic lead notes on the instrument. Carter's style later evolved to add a fill-in rhythm, similar to her guitar technique. While playing the autoharp, Maybelle would often press cord bars between notes. The effect was a note slurring, a sound similar to a guitar hammer-on. It has been said that pianist Floyd Cramer was especially interested in these embellishments to Maybelle's playing and that they helped to shape his piano technique.Carter, M., et al. (1973). Mother Maybelle Carter Interview. Columbia Records
As she began to feature the autoharp more and more in concerts and radio work, Carter became frustrated with trying to steady the instrument close enough to a microphone often shared by others. She utilized tables and music stands at first but later got the idea of holding the instrument upside down, across her chest, and playing along what was essentially the head of the harp (nearest the tuning pegs). Before then, musicians played below the cord bars at the opposite end. She discovered this technique allowed more space for her complicated playing style and produced a sweeter tone. During at least one public performance, Maybelle stated that autoharps were manufactured differently to accommodate the playing style she popularized.Carter Family Fan Club Journal. (1994)
Maybelle Carter taught at least one workshop on autoharp playing in conjunction with her various appearances at Newport Folk Festivals.Carter Family Fan Club News. (2011) A moderator at the workshop noted that Maybelle should be credited with the first fingerpicked autoharp solo to be captured on commercial recording, referencing "Fair and Tender Ladies" recorded by the Carter Sisters and Mother Maybelle on Columbia Records about 1950.Autoharp Workshop with Mike Seeger in Carter, M. (1997). Wildwood Pickin'. Vanguard. [sound recording] She often played the autoharp in that group. Other examples include a simplistic but moving solo she added to "Mountain Lady" on the family's final album before her death. In addition to recordings with the Carter Sisters, which featured her autoharp playing, Maybelle Carter often featured the instrument in her solo work. On her earliest solo album, she offered an old fiddle tune, "Liberty," for the session.Sunny Side Sentinel: Official Publication for the Carter Family, discography Issue Later, Smash Records issued an album of autoharp solos by Maybelle Carter, which included a few backing musicians and subtle background vocals by the Stephen Scott Singers. "Green Valley Waltz" and "Barbara Allen" were included along with ten other titles. The bulk of her final solo album (from 1973) was composed of autoharp solos in which a whole band of studio musicians accompanied her.
Mother Maybelle frequently found studio work with other artists to capture the fresh sound she had created. She recorded at least two songs with Johnnie & Jack and at least two with the Wilburn Brothers. The latter collaboration registered a top-ten hit (to which Maybelle Carter was not credited), "Go Away with Me." She also played autoharp on Carl Smith's Sunday Down South gospel album. A similar pairing with Flatt & Scruggs led to the Songs of the Famous Carter Family album, on which Maybelle contributed mostly through her autoharp playing. In the 1960s, Maybelle helped record an instructional record sold with an autoharp through a mail-order chain store. She contributed a demonstration of the instrument and a small amount of dialogue.
Singing
Original Carter Family