The body of this review has been used elsewhere in this space to comment on other The Carter Family CDs.

This information is from a review of a PBS documentary and serves my purpose here by bringing out the main points that are central to the place of The Carter Family in American musical history. The last paragraph will detail the outstanding tracks on this CD.

"I have reviewed the various CDs put out by the Carter Family, that is work of the original grouping of A.P., Sara and Maybelle from the 1920's , elsewhere in this space. Many of the thoughts expressed there apply here, as well. The recent, now somewhat eclipsed, interest in the mountain music of the 1920's and 30's highlighted in such films as "The Song Catcher" and George Clooney's "Brother, Where Art Thou", of necessity, had to create a renewed interest in the Carter Family. Why? Not taking the influence of that family's musical shaping of mountain music is like neglecting the influence of Bob Dylan on the folk music revival of the 1960's. I suppose it can be done but a big hole is left in the landscape.

What this PBS production has done, and done well, is put the music of the Carters in perspective as it relates to their time, their religious sentiments and their roots in the seemingly simple mountain lifestyle. Is there any simpler harmony than the virtually universally known Carter song (or better, variation) "Will the Circle Be Unbroken"? Nevertheless, these gentle mountain folk were as driven to success, especially A.P, as any urbanite of the time. Moreover, they seem, and here again A.P. is the example, to have had as many interpersonal problems (in short, marital difficulties) as us city folk.

I have mentioned elsewhere, and it bears repeating here, that the fundamentalist religious sentiment expressed throughout their work does not have that same razor-edged feel that we find with today's evangelicals. This is a very personal kind of religious expression that drives many of the songs. These evangelical people took their beating during the Scopes Trial era and turned inward. Fair enough. That they also produced some very simple and interesting music to while away their time is a product of that withdrawal. Listen."

So what is good here? Obviously the classic title track "Gold Watch and Chain" that I first heard covered by Alice Stuart over forty years ago. The pathos of desperate, seemingly unrequited, love still comes through after all that time. The much covered "See That My Grave Is Kept Green" (clean, in other versions that I have heard), "Cowboy Jack" and "Faded Flowers" also stick out. I would also note that unlike some other early Carter Family anthologies that I could listen to the whole CD at one time. Moreover, the relatively high technical quality, for the times, of the Victor label shows here.

This collection caught my attention for "I'll Be All Smiles Tonight", a piece that I know from the Cox Family rendition. The two renditions have little in common; together they show the ability of a good song to adjust to the musical tastes of the performers while remaining true to the original conception.

The notes for this collection are fascinating - giving the date of composition and the composer/lyricist for these "folk songs". It is also interesting to know that some tracks were previously unreleased and that the sales fell "through the floor" - an indication that they were under-appreciated at the time of recording.

Several of the cuts showcase Sara at her best - When the Roses Come Again and Away Out on Saint Sabbath being two examples. The Tin Pan Alley piece "One Little Word" is excellent piece with which I was unfamiliar. Darling Little Joe showcases music by A.P. with Sara singing the lead. Throughout the album the musicianship associated with the Carter family is consistently present.

Relax and enjoy ...

So let me see if I understand this correctly-today's groups like the Beastie Boys, who whine and use their harmonies and instruments with all the dexterity of kids banging on pots and pans, are the darlins' of fawning critics; but wonderful melodies like "I Loved You Better Than You Knew", "I'll Be All Smiles Tonight" or "Will My Mother Know Me There?" (with A.P.'s shakey bass-baritone providing irresistable counterpoint to Sara's clear-eyed vocal) or even the silly "Over The Garden Wall" are forgotten or laughed at. There's something wrong here somewhere. The one consolation a modern-day devotee has is the foreknowledge or hunch that fifty years down the line this music and belief-a "Storms Are Over The Ocean" or "On The Sea Of Galilee"- will still be valid and "Fight For Your Right To Party" increasingly ignored.

So let me see if I understand this correctly-today's groups like the Beastie Boys, who whine and use their harmonies and instruments with all the dexterity of kids banging on pots and pans, are the darlins' of fawning critics; but wonderful melodies like "I Loved You Better Than You Knew", "I'll Be All Smiles Tonight" or "Will My Mother Know Me There?" (with A.P.'s shakey bass-baritone providing irresistable counterpoint to Sara's clear-eyed vocal) or even the silly "Over The Garden Wall" are forgotten or laughed at. There's something wrong here somewhere. The one consolation a modern-day devotee has is the foreknowledge or hunch that fifty years down the line this music and belief-a "Storms Are Over The Ocean" or "On The Sea Of Galilee"- will still be valid and "Fight For Your Right To Party" increasingly ignored.