Helen Carter

Name	Helen Carter
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Helen Myrl Carter
Born	September 19, 1927
Origin	Maces Spring, Virginia
Died	June 02, 1998
Instrument	Accordion, autoharp, guitar, piano, mandolin
Genre	Country
Years active	1937–1998
Associated acts	Carter Family Carter Sisters

Helen Myrl Carter (September 19, 1927 – June 2, 1998) was an American country music singer. The eldest daughter of Maybelle Carter, she performed with her mother and her younger sisters, June Carter and Anita Carter, as a member of Mother Maybelle and the Carter Sisters, a pioneering all female country/folk music group. The group was also known as The Carter Family.

Overview

Helen Carter had a professional career in music that spanned 60 years. Many historians point to her 1937 radio debut as the beginning of her career but Jeanette Carter (Helen's cousin and daughter of original Carter Family band members A. P. and Sara Carter) recalled that she and Helen performed together at original Carter Family personal appearances at least two years prior to this date. As a child, Helen Carter played to some of the largest radio audiences in history by way of the powerful signals from the Mexican Border Stations of the 1930s and 1940s. Some of these stations could be heard throughout and even beyond the North American continent. The group joined the cast of the Grand Ole Opry in 1950 securing Helen, June and Anita's place in country music history as being among the youngest Grand Ole Opry inductees ever. They were aged 23, 21 and 17 respectively. The Carters were on the first nationally televised network program to feature country music, The Kate Smith Show'', and were among the first country music acts to tour behind the Iron Curtain in Czechoslovakia. Many writers and historians list Helen Carter as the best overall musician and most talented songwriter among the Carter Sisters. Helen Carter was largely responsible for arranging the group's vocals. She was also widely regarded as the Carter Sister most in touch with the group's rich musical tradition and the one most dedicated to its preservation. Along with her mother, Maybelle Carter, Helen Carter was recorded by the Smithsonian Institution in 1975. In the 1960s, Helen teamed with Dolores Dinning of the Dinning Sisters to form a short-lived group called the Blondettes that recorded for MGM. Though each had her own style, it is of note that all members of the Carter Sisters & Mother Maybelle group (in various combinations) often sang and played on one another's solo recordings. Therefore, it was not unusual for the members' solo recordings to sound a lot like the group recordings.

Another possible reason for Helen Carter's limited success with her solo recordings may simply have been that she was ahead of her time in terms of what the conservative country music establishment was willing to accept. The 1950s was an era in which barriers were being broken by the likes of Kitty Wells. Yet, some of Helen's self-penned lyrics may have been deemed a bit risque:

From Unfit Mother: My neighbors said I was too wild, unfit to mother my own child

From Heart Full of Shame: I came to him in a veil of purest white, but you came to him as an angel of the night

Helen's greatest commercial success came by way of her songwriting. She wrote for Acuff-Rose Music and Pamper Music, among other companies. and did guest spots on recordings by her niece Carlene Carter and Southern Gospel artist Jacky Jack White later in her life. She also teamed with various members of the Carter Family for periodic recordings. In addition to the numerous recordings before Maybelle's death, Helen recorded with later versions of the Carter Family. In the 1980s a group featuring Helen (with three of her sons: David, Kevin & Danny) and Anita (with her daughter Lorrie) recorded two albums and some singles for the Audiograph label. Helen, Anita and June (with one of her daughters, Carlene) recorded for Polygram/Mercury a few years later. June's other daughter, Rosie joined the group after Carlene's solo career began to gain momentum in the 1990s. On personal appearances it was not unusual for the lineup of the Carter Family to change. June's son John Carter Cash, and her granddaughter, Tiffany; as well as other relatives, sometimes performed with the group. Many were duet recordings with brother-in-law Johnny Cash. It is also of note that the group was prominently featured on numerous Cash recordings but often went uncredited. Throughout their careers, in fact, all four group members recorded (in various combinations) with such acts as Johnny Horton, Dolly Parton, the Wilburn Brothers, Grandpa Jones, Flatt & Scruggs, Carl Smith, Merle Haggard, Darrell Glenn and many others. They were sought after for both their vocal and instrumental contributions in the studio. Unlike the majority of recordings made with her family, most tracks from the collection prominently featured Helen on lead vocal.

In 2009 Rosanne Cash released her acclaimed album The List. In publicity for the album Cash repeatedly discussed the impact that Helen Carter (her aunt through marriage) had on her as a musician, performer and as a songwriter. Cash also noted that Helen Carter spent hours teaching her to play guitar.

References

Category:1927 births Category:1998 deaths Category:American country musicians Category:American country singers Category:American female singers Category:American female guitarists Category:Musicians from Virginia Category:People from Scott County, Virginia