modern Autoharp

The autoharp is a musical string instrument having a series of chord bars attached to dampers, which, when depressed, mute all of the strings other than those that form the desired chord. Despite its name, the autoharp is not a harp at all, but a chorded zither.^[1][2]

History[link]

Autoharp (center) by C.F. Zimmermann Co. in 1896–1899;
(left is Marxophone, right is Dolceola)

There is debate over the origin of the auto-harp. A German immigrant in Philadelphia by the name of Charles F. Zimmermann was awarded US 257808  in 1882 for a design for a musical instrument that included mechanisms for muting certain strings during play. He named his invention the "autoharp".^[3] Unlike later autoharps, the shape of the instrument was symmetrical, and the felt-bearing bars moved horizontally against the strings instead of vertically. It is not known if Zimmermann ever commercially produced any instruments of this early design. Karl August Gütter of Markneukirchen, Germany, built a model that he called a "Volkszither," which most resembles the autoharp played today. Gütter obtained a British patent for his instrument circa 1883–1884. Zimmermann, after returning from a visit to Germany, began production of the Gütter design in 1885 but with his own design patent number and catchy name. Gütter's instrument design became very popular, and Zimmermann has often been mistaken as the inventor.

Trademark[link]

The term "Autoharp" was registered as a trademark in 1926.^[4] The word is currently claimed as a trademark by U.S. Music Corporation, whose Oscar Schmidt division manufactures Autoharps.^{[citation needed]} The USPTO registration, however, covers only a "Mark Drawing Code (5) WORDS, LETTERS, AND/OR NUMBERS IN STYLIZED FORM" and has expired.^[5] In litigation with George Orthey, it was held that Oscar Schmidt could only claim ownership of the stylized lettering of the word Autoharp, the term itself having moved into general usage.

Construction[link]

Modern autoharps have 36 or 37 strings, although some examples with as many as 47 strings, and even a rare 48-string model exists. They are strung in either diatonic (1, 2 or 3 key models) or chromatic scales. Standard models have 15 or 21 chord bars, or buttons, available, a selection of major, minor, and dominant seventh chords. These are arranged for historical or systemic reasons, as for example:^[6]

Eb  Bb  F   C   G   D   A
 F7  C7  G7  D7  A7  E7  B7
  Ab  Bb7 Cm  Gm  Dm  Am  Em

Although the autoharp is often thought of as a rhythm instrument for playing chordal accompaniment, modern players can play melodies on the instrument. Diatonic players are able to play fiddle tunes by using open-chording techniques, "pumping" the damper buttons while picking individual strings. Skilled chromatic players can perform a range of melodies.

Diatonically strung single key instruments from modern day luthiers such as Orthey, Fladmark, Hollandsworth, D'Aigle, Baker, Daniels and Goose Acres are known for their lush sound. This is accomplished by doubling the strings for individual notes. Since the strings for notes not in the diatonic scale need not appear in the string bed, the resulting extra space is used for the doubled strings, resulting in fewer damped strings. Two- and three-key diatonics compromise the number of doubled strings to gain the ability to play in two or three keys, and to permit tunes containing accidentals, which could not otherwise be rendered on a single key harp. A three-key harp in the circle of fifths, such as a GDA, is often called a festival or campfire harp, as the instrument can easily accompany fiddles around a campfire at a festival in their favored keys.

Electric Autoharp

Electric autoharp[link]

Prior to the 1960s there were no pickups to amplify the autoharp other than a rudimentary contact microphone, which had a poor-quality, tinny sound. Eventually a bar magnetic pickup was designed by Harry DeArmond, and manufactured by Rowe Industries. Roger Penney of Bermuda Triangle Band was the first person to introduce the electric autoharp to the public, as cited in a 1968 Variety article.^[7] In the 1970s Oscar Schmidt came out with their own magnetic pickup.

Shown at the right is a 1930 refinished Oscar Schmidt Inc. Model "A". This harp has 2 DeArmond magnetic pickups (one under the chord bars), with a fine tuning mechanism, and chord bar assembly, and was used in a 1968 MGM/Heritage Records recording by Euphoria.

A synthesized version of the autoharp, the Omnichord, was introduced in 1981 and is now known as the Q-Chord, described as a "digital songcard guitar".

Notable performers[link]

Autoharps have been used in the United States as bluegrass and folk instruments, perhaps most famously by Maybelle Carter, Sara Carter, Helen Carter and June Carter, all of the Carter Family. They are relatively easy to learn to play as a rhythm instrument, but offer great rewards to the more committed player as a melody instrument. Grand Ole Opry star Cecil Null was the first to develop the upright style for playing the autoharp that was in turn used by the Carter Family.

Maybelle Carter's granddaughter Carlene Carter frequently plays the autoharp onstage and on her recordings; her song "Me and the Wildwood Rose", a tribute to her grandmother, makes prominent use of the autoharp.

Outside of bluegrass and country music, both acoustic and electric autoharp were occasionally used in the folk-influenced parts of late 1960s/1970s progressive rock, psychedelia and related genres by e.g. Genesis, Renaissance and Led Zeppelin.

Sylvia Tyson of Ian & Sylvia featured the autoharp in a number of recordings, including "You Were on My Mind".

Several Lovin' Spoonful songs feature the autoharp playing of John Sebastian, including "Do You Believe in Magic" and "You Didn't Have to Be So Nice".

Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of the Worlds' score features a part for autoharp.

Janis Joplin also played the autoharp, which can be heard in her early, unreleased recording "So Sad to Be Alone".^[8]

British musician PJ Harvey played the autoharp on her 2004 album Uh Huh Her, specifically on the song "The Darker Days of Me & Him"). Her 2007 album White Chalk also features the instrument on many tracks. She also wrote and recorded most of her latest album Let England Shake on the autoharp.

Canadian singer song writer Basia Bulat, is a well known user of the Autoharp, using it both live and on her recording material, in particular her 2010 album Heart of My Own.

British singer songwriter Corinne Bailey Rae regularly plays the autoharp and composed the title track "The Sea" from her 2010 Mercury Award nominated album called "The Sea" using chords that she composed on the autoharp.^[9]

James Dale from the British pop band Goldheart Assembly used an Autoharp for their song "Last Decade".

American musician John Mellencamp plays the autoharp in the video for his song "Cherry Bomb".

US band Midlake use an autoharp on the album The Courage of Others.

New York based band Billy Nayer Show uses autoharp prominently in their music.

Brian Briggs, lead singer of Stornoway (band) uses the autoharp in their new song 'The Sixth Wave'. He learnt the instrument especially for the song.

Marc Gunn, a celtic artist, uses the autoharp in nearly all of his songs.

Dolly Parton occasionally plays the autoharp onstage.

The song "Bees" off of Animal Collective's seventh studio album, Feels, features an autoharp.

See also[link]

• Dolceola
• Marxophone
• Guitar zither (chord zither, fretless zither)
• AirHarp / Aeolian harp

References[link]

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (September 2011)

Billy Connolly
Connolly in 2005
Birth name	William Connolly, Jr.
Born	(1942-11-24) 24 November 1942 (age 69) Anderston, Glasgow, Scotland
Medium	Stand-up, television, film
Nationality	Scottish[1]
Years active	1965 – present
Genres	Observational comedy, Musical comedy
Influences	Chic Murray, Dave Turner[2]
Influenced	Eddie Izzard, Ross Noble, Michael McIntyre, Jason Manford, Bill Bailey, Tim Vine, Jimmy Carr, Ronnie Golden, Russell Howard, Craig Ferguson, Stewart Lee, Chris Addison, Kevin Bridges.
Spouse	Iris Pressagh (1969–1985, divorced) Pamela Stephenson (1989–present)
Website	BillyConnolly.com
BAFTA Awards
Lifetime Achievement Award 2003

William "Billy" Connolly, Jr., CBE (born 24 November 1942) is a Scottish comedian, musician, presenter and actor. He is sometimes known, especially in his native Scotland, by the nickname 'The Big Yin' ('The Big One').^[3] His first trade, in the early 1960s, was as a welder (specifically a boilermaker) in the Glasgow shipyards, but he gave it up towards the end of the decade to pursue a career as a folk singer in the Humblebums and subsequently as a soloist. In the early 1970s, he made the transition from folk-singer with a comedic persona to full-fledged comedian.

Connolly is also an actor, and has appeared in such films as Indecent Proposal (1993); Muppet Treasure Island (1996); Mrs. Brown (1997), for which he was nominated for a BAFTA; The Boondock Saints (1999); The Man Who Sued God (2001); Water (1985); The Last Samurai (2003); Timeline (2003); Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events (2004); Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties (2006); Open Season (2006); The X-Files: I Want to Believe (2008); and Open Season 2 (2008). Connolly reprised his role as Noah "Il Duce" MacManus in The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day. Connolly appears as the King of Lilliput in the 2010 remake of Gulliver′s Travels.

Early life[link]

Connolly was born at 69 Dover Street^[4] ("on the linoleum, three floors up"^[5] "at six o'clock in the evening")^[4] in Anderston, Glasgow, to William Connolly and his wife Mary "Mamie" (McLean) Connolly, a hospital cafeteria worker. Connolly's grandfather was an Irish immigrant.^[6][7][8] In 1946, when he was barely four years old, Connolly's mother abandoned her children when his father was still away in the army. Connolly and his sister, Florence, were cared for by two aunts, Margaret and Mona Connolly, his father's sisters. His biography, written by wife Pamela Stephenson, documented years of physical and sexual abuse by his father, which began when he was ten and lasted until he was about fifteen.^[9]

"Twice in my life, little birds have flown in and made a huge difference," explained Connolly in 1996.^[10] When he was seven, the Connolly family went to Rothesay on holiday. He was sent to get some milk and bread rolls. On his way back with his hands full, a bird landed on his head. Connolly immediately thought God had called him and "nearly had a coronary".^[10] "It was a jackdaw, and I didn't know you could teach jackdaws to speak. But I was walking along, and this thing landed on my head and said hello. I nearly passed away. I learned subsequently that it was a tame bird, and we became friends and I got used to the idea: the bird would land on me and I was quite happy. My life had changed forever."^[10] Connolly said the second "bird" was Brett Whiteley, an Australian artist he met through Mark Knopfler of Dire Straits in the 1980s.

Between the ages of fourteen and twenty, Connolly was brought up in a tenement in the Anderston district of Glasgow.^[5] He later lived in Partick.

He attended St. Peter's Primary School in Glasgow and St. Gerard's Secondary School in Govan.^[8] At age 12, Connolly decided he wanted to become a comedian but did not think he fitted the mould, feeling he needed to become more "windswept and interesting". At 15, he left school with two engineering qualifications, one collected by mistake which belonged to a boy named Connell.^[11]

Connolly was a year too young to work in the shipyards. He became a delivery boy until he was sixteen, when he was deemed overqualified (due to his J1 and J2 certificates) to become an engineer.^[11] Instead, he worked as a boilermaker^[10] at Alexander Stephen and Sons Shipyard in Linthouse.^[11]

Connolly also joined the Territorial Army Reserve 15th (Scottish) Battalion, the Parachute Regiment (15 PARA). He later commemorated his experiences in the song "Weekend Soldier".^[11]

Career[link]

Origin of "The Big Yin"[link]

Connolly's The Big Yin nickname was first used during his adolescent years to differentiate between himself and his father.^[3] "My father was a very strong man. Broad and strong. He had an 18½-inch neck collar. Huge, like a bull. He was "Big Billy" and I was "Wee Billy". And then I got bigger than him, and the whole thing got out of control. And then I became The Big Yin in Scotland. So, we'd go into the pub and someone would say, 'Billy Connolly was in.' 'Oh? Big Billy or Wee Billy?' 'The Big Yin.' 'Oh, Wee Billy.' If you were a stranger, you'd think, 'What are these people talking about?'"^[10]

1960s[link]

In 1966, after he had completed a five-year apprenticeship as a boilermaker, Connolly accepted a ten-week job building an oil platform in Nigeria. Upon his return to Scotland, he worked at John Brown & Company, but focused increasingly on being a folk singer.

Connolly's career as a folk singer led to him forming a folk-pop duo called The Humblebums with Tam Harvey. After recording one album, Harvey left the partnership and was replaced by future rock star Gerry Rafferty. Connolly’s time with Rafferty possibly influenced his future comedy as years later he would recall how Rafferty’s expert prank telephone calls, made while waiting to go on stage, used to make him "scream" with laughter. The Connolly-Rafferty version of The Humblebums recorded two more albums for independent record label Transatlantic Records. The albums were not big commercial successes but enjoyed cult status and critical acclaim. Connolly's contributions were primarily straightforward pop-folk with quirky and whimsical lyrics, but he had not especially focused on comedy at this point.

In 1970, the Humblebums broke up, with Rafferty going on to record a solo album: Can I Have My Money Back (1971). Connolly returned to being a folk singer. His live performances featured folk songs with humorous introductions that became increasingly long in duration.

The head of Transatlantic Records, Nat Joseph, who had signed The Humblebums and had nurtured their career, was concerned that Connolly find a way to develop a distinctive solo career just as his former bandmate, Gerry Rafferty, was doing. Joseph saw several of Connolly's performances and noted his comedic skills. Joseph had successfully nurtured the recording career of another Scottish folk entertainer, Hamish Imlach, and saw potential in Connolly following a similar path. He suggested to Connolly that he drop the folk-singing and focus primarily on becoming a comedian. It was a life-changing suggestion.

1970s[link]

In 1972, Joseph produced Connolly's first solo album, Billy Connolly Live!, a mixture of comedic songs and short monologues that hinted at what was to follow. In late 1973, Joseph produced the breakthrough album that propelled Connolly to British stardom. Recorded at a small venue, The Tudor Hotel in Airdrie, the record was a double album titled Solo Concert. Releasing a live double-album by a comedian who was virtually unknown (except to a cult audience in Glasgow) was an unusual gambit by Joseph but his faith in Connolly's talent was justified. Joseph and his marketing team, which included publicist Martin Lewis, successfully promoted the album to chart success on its release in 1974. It featured one of Connolly's most famous comedy routines: "The Crucifixion", in which he likens Christ's Last Supper to a drunken night out in Glasgow. The recording was banned by many radio stations at the time. Building on his cult Scottish following, they broke Connolly throughout the UK – an unusual development for a regional comedian.

Connolly's banana boots, a regular in his act during the 1970s, are now on display in the People's Palace in Glasgow.

In 1975, the rapidity and extent of Connolly's breakthrough was used to secure him a booking on Britain's premier TV talk show, the BBC's Parkinson. Connolly made the most of the opportunity and told a bawdy joke about a man who had murdered his wife and buried her bottom-up so he'd have somewhere to park his bike. This ribald humour was unusually forthright on a primetime Saturday night on British television in the mid-1970s, and his appearance made a great impact. He became a good friend of the host, Michael Parkinson, and now holds the record for appearances on the programme, having been a guest on fifteen occasions.^[12] Referring to that debut appearance, he later said: "That programme changed my entire life." Parkinson, in the documentary Billy Connolly: Erect for 30 Years, stated that people still remember Connolly telling the punchline to the 'bike joke' three decades after that TV appearance. When asked about the material, Connolly stated, "Yes, it was incredibly edgy for its time. My manager, on the way over, warned me not to do it, but it was a great joke and the interview was going so well, I thought, 'Oh, fuck that!!' I don't know where I got the courage in those days, but Michael did put confidence in me."^[12] Connolly's UK success spread to other English-speaking countries: Australia, New Zealand and Canada. However, his broad Scottish accent and British cultural references made success in the US improbable.

His increased profile led to contact with other individuals, including musicians such as Elton John. John at that time was trying to assist British performers whom he personally liked to achieve success in the US (he had released records in the US by veteran British pop singer Cliff Richard on his own Rocket Records label.) John tried to give Connolly a boost in America by using him as the opening act on his 1976 US tour. But the well-intentioned gesture was a failure. Elton John's American fans had no interest in being warmed-up by an unknown comedic performer – especially a Scotsman whose accent they found incomprehensible. "In Washington, some guy threw a pipe and it hit me right between my eyes", he told Michael Parkinson two years later. "It wasn't my audience. They made me feel about as welcome as a fart in a spacesuit."

Connolly continued to grow in popularity in the UK. In 1975 he signed with Polydor Records. Connolly continued to release live albums and he also recorded several comedic songs that enjoyed commercial success as novelty singles including parodies of Tammy Wynette's song "D.I.V.O.R.C.E." (which he performed on Top of the Pops in December 1975) and the Village People's "In the Navy" (titled "In the Brownies").

In 1979, Connolly was invited by producer Martin Lewis to join the cast of The Secret Policeman's Ball, the third in the series of the Secret Policeman's Ball fundraising shows for Amnesty International. Connolly was the first comedic performer in the series who was not an alumnus of the Oxbridge school of middle-class university-educated entertainers and he made the most of his appearance. His performance was considered to be one of the highlights of the show's comedy album (released by Island Records in December 1979) and feature film (released by ITC Films in 1980). Appearing in the company of long-established talents such as John Cleese and Peter Cook helped elevate the perception of Connolly as one of Britain's leading comedic talents. Lewis also teamed Connolly with Cleese and Cook to appear in the television commercial for the album.

1980s[link]

In 1981, John Cleese and Martin Lewis invited Connolly to appear in that year's Amnesty show, The Secret Policeman's Other Ball. Connolly's performance was again reported as one of the highlights of the show and he was prominently featured in the subsequent comedy album (Springtime!/Island Records 1981) and UK film (UIP 1982). The commercial success of the special US version of The Secret Policeman's Other Ball film (Miramax Films 1982) introduced Connolly to a wider American audience, who were attracted to the film because of the presence of Monty Python members. His on-screen presence alongside these performers – who were already familiar to Anglophile comedy buffs – helped lay down a marker for Connolly's eventual return to the US in his own right eight years later.

In 1985, he divorced Iris Pressagh, his wife of sixteen years (they had separated four years earlier after living together in Drymen).^[13] He was awarded custody of their two children. That same year, he performed An Audience with..., which was videotaped at the South Bank Television Centre in front of a celebrity audience for ITV. The uncut, uncensored version was subsequently released on video. In July 1985 he performed at the Wembley leg of Live Aid, immediately preceding Elton John.

In 1986, he visited Mozambique to appear in a documentary for Comic Relief. He also featured in the charity's inaugural live stage show, both as a stand-up and portraying a willing 'victim' in his partner Pamela Stephenson's act of sawing a man in half to create two dwarves.

Connolly completed his first world tour in 1987, including six nights at the Royal Albert Hall in London, which was documented in the Billy and Albert video.

When the Fox Network aired Freedomfest: Nelson Mandela's 70th Birthday Celebration in 1988, Connolly was still virtually unknown in the States, but his performance drew attention, particularly from producers, and interest in him grew.

In 1988, Connolly's father died after a stroke, the eighth of his life.^[5] His mother died five years later of motor neurone disease. She was living in Dunoon at that point.^[14]

On 20 December 1989, in Fiji, Connolly married Pamela Stephenson, the New Zealand-born comedy actress he had met when making a cameo appearance on the BBC sketch show Not the Nine O'Clock News, in which she was one of four regular performers. He had been living with her since 1981. "Marriage to Pam didn't change me, it saved me," he later said. "I was going to die. I was on a downwards spiral and enjoying every second of it. Not only was I dying, but I was looking forward to it."

In October 1989, Connolly shaved off his trademark shaggy beard for a film role and he remained clean-shaven for several years.

1990s[link]

Although Connolly had performed in North America as early as the 1970s, and had appeared in several movies that played in American theatres, he nonetheless remained relatively unknown until 1990 when he was featured in the HBO special Whoopi Goldberg and Billy Connolly in Performance, produced by New York's Brooklyn Academy of Music. Goldberg introduced Connolly, and his performance has been cited as the moment that officially launched his career in the States. Soon after, Connolly succeeded Howard Hesseman as the star of the sitcom Head of the Class for the 1990–1991 season, but the series was cancelled during his tenure.

Connolly joined Frank Bruno and Ozzy Osbourne when singing 'The War Song of the Urpneys' in The Dreamstone.

The following year, Connolly and Stephenson moved to Los Angeles, and the family won green cards in the Morrison Visa Lottery. In 1991, Connolly received his first (and, to date, only) leading television role as the star of Billy, another sitcom and a spin-off of Head of the Class. It lasted only a half-season.

On 4 June 1992, Connolly performed his 25th-anniversary concert in Glasgow. Parts of the show, and its build-up, were documented in The South Bank Show, which aired later in the year.^[15]

Connolly was dealt a blow in 1993 when his close friend and fishing partner, Jimmy Kent, died.^[16] This year also saw him contribute vocals to Mike Oldfield's single The Bell as the "Master of Ceremonies".

In early January 1994, Connolly began a 40-date World Tour of Scotland, which would be broadcast by the BBC later in the year as a six-part series. It was so well received that the BBC signed him up to do a similar tour two years later, this time in Australia. The eight-part series followed Connolly on his custom-made Harley Davidson trike.

Also in 1995, Connolly recorded a BBC special, entitled A Scot in the Arctic, in which he spends a week by himself in the Arctic Circle. He voiced Captain John Smith's shipmate, Ben, in Disney's animated film, Pocahontas.

A year later, he appeared in Muppet Treasure Island as Billy Bones.

In 1997, Connolly starred with Judi Dench in Mrs. Brown, in which he played John Brown, the favoured Scottish servant of Queen Victoria. He was nominated for a BAFTA Award and a BAFTA Scotland Award for Best Actor, as well as a Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance.

In 1998, Connolly's best friend, Danny Kyle, died. "He was me dearest, dearest, oldest friend," Connolly explained to an Australian audience on his Greatest Hits compilation, released in 2001.

He performed a cover version of the Beatles' song, "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite", on George Martin's 1998 album, In My Life.

In November 1998, Connolly was the subject of a two-hour retrospective entitled Billy Connolly: Erect for 30 Years, which included tributes from Judi Dench, Sean Connery, Whoopi Goldberg, Robin Williams, Dustin Hoffman, and Eddie Izzard. The special was released on DVD in North America in 2004.

The following year, Connolly undertook a four-month, 59-date sellout tour of Australia and New Zealand. Later in the year, he completed a five-week, 25-date sellout run at London's Hammersmith Apollo. In 2000 he travelled to Canada for two weeks on a 13-date tour.

2000s[link]

In 2000 Connolly starred in Beautiful Joe alongside Sharon Stone. The following year he completed the third in his "World Tour" BBC series, this time of England, Ireland and Wales, which began in Dublin and ended in Plymouth. It was broadcast the following year.

Also in 2001, Pamela Stephenson's first biography of her husband, Billy, was published. It outlines his career and life, including the sexual abuse by his father that lasted from his tenth to his fourteenth years. Much of the book is about Connolly the celebrity but the account of his early years provides a context for his humour and point of view. A follow-up, Bravemouth, was published in 2003.

Connolly has also written several books, including Billy Connolly (late 1970s) and Gullible's Travels (early 1980s), both based upon his stage act, as well as books based upon some of his "World Tour" television series. He has stated that his comedy does not work on the printed page.

A fourth BBC series, World Tour of New Zealand, was filmed in 2004 and aired that winter. Also in his 63rd year, Connolly performed two sold-out benefit concerts at the Oxford New Theatre in memory of Malcolm Kingsnorth, who for twenty-five years was Connolly's tour manager and sound engineer.

He has continued to be a much in demand character actor, appearing in several films such as White Oleander (2002), The Last Samurai (2003) and Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events (2004). He has also played an eclectic collection of leading roles in recent years, including a lawyer who undertakes a legal case of Biblical proportions in The Man Who Sued God (2001), and a young boy's pet zombie in Fido (2006).

In January 2005, Connolly came 8th in The Comedian's Comedian, a poll voted for by fellow comedians and comedy insider and embarked on a major UK tour with 15 sold-out nights in Glasgow.

Also in 2005, Connolly and Stephenson announced, after fourteen years of living in Hollywood, they were returning to live in the former's native land. They purchased a 120-foot (37 m) yacht with the profits from their house-sale, and split the year between Malta and Candacraig House in Aberdeenshire.^[17]

Later in the year, Connolly topped an unscientific poll of "Britain's Favourite Comedian" conducted by TV network Five, placing him ahead of performers such as John Cleese, Ronnie Barker, Dawn French, and Peter Cook.

In 2006, Connolly revealed that he also has a house on the island of Gozo.^[18] He and his wife also have an apartment in New York City, near Union Square.^[19]

On 30 December 2007, Connolly escaped uninjured from a single-car accident on the A939 near the Scottish town of Ballater, Aberdeenshire.^[20]

In late February it was announced that Connolly would play ten shows in early April at the Post Street Theatre in San Francisco.

On 10 March 2008, tickets went on sale for Connolly's Irish tour, set to take place in May, June and July. He performed three shows in University Concert Hall, Limerick, ten shows at the Olympia Theatre, Dublin, five shows at the Waterfront Hall in Belfast and three shows at the Cork Opera House. They all sold out in a matter of hours. The tour also travelled to Kerry (two shows) and Mayo (two shows).

In October 2009 he played a tour of his homeland, and sold out everywhere, despite adding extra dates. He stated he was proud to have broken the computer system for Glasgow and Edinburgh, as they could not handle the rush for tickets. In Glasgow he was playing at SECC. The SECC was built near the site where his family had lived when he was a child.

2010s[link]

In 2010, Connolly revealed that he and his wife were now living full-time in New York City.^[21]

In May 2011 Connolly suffered a broken rib and a gashed knee when his motor trike rolled on top of him while filming for the ITV travel documentary Billy Connolly's Route 66. He returned to filming a week later.^[22]

In February 2012 it was released in the media that Connolly would star in The Hobbit (2012/13 film) movies as Dain Ironfoot, a great dwarf warrior and cousin of Thorin Oakenshield. Sir Peter Jackson stated that "We could not think of a more fitting actor to play Dain Ironfoot, the staunchest and toughest of dwarves, than Billy Connolly, the Big Yin himself. With Billy stepping into this role, the cast of The Hobbit is now complete. We can't wait to see him on the battlefield."^[23]

Personal life[link]

Connolly has been married to his second wife, comedian and psychologist Pamela Stephenson, since 1989. In the book Billy, and in a December 2008 online interview, Connolly states he was sexually abused by his father between the ages of 10 and 15. He believes this was a result of the Catholic Church not allowing his father to divorce after his mother left the family. Due to this, Connolly has a "deep distrust and dislike of the Catholic church and any other organization that brainwashes people".^[24] In a 1999 interview with The Sunday Herald Connolly labelled the SNP as "racist" and the new Scottish parliament as a "joke".^[25][26]

Connolly has one sibling: an older sister, Florence, who is a retired school-teacher. He is also the father to five children: two from his first marriage and three from his second.

Connolly is a fan of Glasgow-based Celtic F.C. and has a seat for life at their stadium, Celtic Park, along with singer Rod Stewart.^[27]

Controversy[link]

In October 2004, during an 18-night stint at London's Hammersmith Apollo, Connolly was criticised for making jokes about the hostage Kenneth Bigley.^[28] Shortly after Connolly joked about the future killing of the hostage and touched on the subject of Bigley’s young Thai wife, Bigley was beheaded in Iraq. Connolly claims he was misquoted. He has declined to clarify what he actually said, claiming that the context was as important as the precise words used.^[29]

Support for charity[link]

Connolly is a patron of the National Association for Bikers with a Disability.^[30] He is also a patron of Celtic Football Club's The Celtic Foundation.^[31]

Folk music[link]

In 1965, together with Tam Harvey, Connolly started a group called the Humblebums. At their first gig, Connolly reportedly introduced them both to the audience by saying, "My name's Billy Connolly, and I'm humble. This is Tam Harvey, he's a bum." The band would later include Gerry Rafferty. After Harvey left the group, Connolly and Rafferty continued as a duo and the latter two of their three albums featured just that duo. Connolly sang, played five-string banjo, guitar and autoharp, and at live shows entertained the audience with his humorous introductions to the songs.

Frank Bruno and Billy Connolly provided lead vocals on The War Song of the Urpneys from The Dreamstone, although the version heard in the series was largely sung by composer Mike Batt.

In his World Tour of Scotland, Connolly reveals that at a trailer show during the Edinburgh Festival, the Humblebums took to the stage just before the late Yehudi Menuhin.

The Humblebums broke up in 1971 and both Connolly and Rafferty went solo. Connolly's first solo album in 1972, Billy Connolly Live! on Transatlantic Records, featured him as a singer/songwriter.

His early albums were a mixture of comedy performances with comedic and serious musical interludes. Among his best known musical performances were "The Welly Boot Song", a parody of the Scottish folk song "The Wark O' The Weavers," which became his theme song for several years; "In the Brownies", a parody of the hit Village People song "In the Navy" (for which Connolly filmed a music video); "Two Little Boys in Blue", a tongue-in-cheek indictment of police brutality done to the tune of Rolf Harris' "Two Little Boys"; and the ballad "I Wish I Was in Glasgow," which Connolly would later perform in duet with Malcolm McDowell on a guest appearance on the 1990s American sitcom Pearl (which starred Rhea Perlman). He also performed the occasional Humblebums-era song such as "Oh, No!" as well as straightforward covers such as a version of Dolly Parton's "Coat of Many Colors," which was included on his Get Right Intae Him! album.

In November 1975, his spoof of the Tammy Wynette song "D-I-V-O-R-C-E" was a UK No. 1 single for one week. Wynette's original was about parents spelling out words of an impending marital split to avoid traumatising their young child. Connolly's spoof of the song played on the fact that many dog owners use the same tactic when they do not wish their pet to become upset about an impending trip to the vet. Connolly's song is about a couple whose marriage is ruined by a bad vet visit (spelling out "W-O-R-M" or "Q-U-A-R-A-N-T-I-N-E", for example.) His song "No Chance" was a parody of J. J. Barrie's cover of the song "No Charge".

In 1985 he sang the theme song to Super Gran, which was released as a single and in 1996 he performed a cover of Ralph McTell's "'In the Dreamtime" as the theme to his World Tour of Australia. By the late 1980s, Connolly had all but dropped the music from his act, though he still records the occasional musical performance, such as a 1980s recording of his composition "Sergeant, Where's Mine?" with The Dubliners. In 1998 he covered The Beatles' "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!" on the George Martin tribute album, In My Life. Most recently, he sang a song during the film Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events. And in 1995 and 2005, he released two albums of instrumental performances Musical Tour of Scotland and Billy Connolly's Musical Tour of New Zealand, respectively.

Connolly is among the artists featured on Banjoman, a tribute to American folk musician Derroll Adams, released in 2002. He plays one song, "The Rock".

Stand-up comedy[link]

It is as a stand-up comedian that Connolly is best known. His observational comedy is idiosyncratic and often off-the-cuff. He has outraged certain sectors of audiences, critics and the media with his free use of the word "fuck". He has made jokes relating to masturbation, blasphemy, defecation, flatulence, haemorrhoids, sex, his father's illness, his aunts' cruelty and, in the latter stages of his career, old age (specifically his experiences of growing old). In 2007 and again in 2010, he was voted the greatest stand-up comic on Channel 4's 100 Greatest Stand-Ups.

Since the 1980s, Connolly has worn a black T-shirt as part of his on-stage attire. The first one was by English designer Steven King.^[21]

Discography[link]

A partial list of musical and comedic recordings:

• 1972 - Billy Connolly Live
• 1974 - Cop Yer Whack for This
• 1974 - Solo Concert
• 1975 - Get Right Intae Him!
• 1975 - Words and Music
• 1975 - The Big Yin
• 1976 - Atlantic Bridge
• 1977 - Billy Connolly
• 1977 - Raw Meat for the Balcony!
• 1978 - Anthology
• 1979 - Riotous Assembly
• 1981 - The Pick of Billy Connolly (compilation)
• 1983 - A Change is Good as Arrest
• 1983 - In Concert
• 1984 - Big Yin Double Helping (compilation)
• 1985 - An Audience With Billy Connolly
• 1985 - Wreck on Tour
• 1987 - Billy & Albert
• 1991 - Live at the Odeon Hammersmith London
• 1995 - Musical Tour of Scotland
• 1999 - Comedy and Songs (compilation)
• 1999 - One Night Stand Down Under
• 2002 - The Big Yin - Billy Connolly in Concert (compilation)
• 2003 - Transatlantic Years (compilation of material recorded between 1969 and 1974)
• 2005 - Billy Connolly's Musical Tour of New Zealand
• 2007 - Live in Concert
• 2010 - The Man Live in London, recorded January 2010

The above list does not include at least two albums recorded with the Humblebums prior to 1972, and only includes a sampling of the many reissues and compilations released over the years.

Playwright[link]

Connolly has written three plays:

• An' Me Wi' A Bad Leg Tae (1975)
• When Hair Was Long And Time Was Short (1977)
• Red Runner (1979)

Film actor[link]

Connolly has often joked about the regularity of the deaths of the characters he portrays in movies. "If you want to see me in a movie, you have to hurry to the theatre, because I usually die in the first fifteen minutes. I'm never in the sequel."^[32] Connolly also claims to be the only man to ever die in a Muppet movie.^[33] Notable film appearances include Absolution (1978) with Richard Burton, and Mrs Brown (1997) with Judi Dench.

Filmography[link]

Television guest appearances[link]

• The South Bank Show on 13 May 1979
• Aspel & Company in episode (#2.11), 23 March 1985
• Minder as Tick Tack in episode "Fatal Impression" (#7.3), 16 January 1989
• The South Bank Show on 4 October 1992
• Late Show with David Letterman on 18 November 1993
• Clive James in episode (#1.3), 6 March 1994
• Pearl as William 'Billy' Pynchon in episode "Billy Returns" (#1.22), 25 June 1997 and episode "Billy" (#1.4), 30 September 1996
• Veronica's Closet as Campbell in "Veronica's Got a Secret" (#1.11), 8 January 1998
• Tracey Takes On... as Rory Cassidy in episode "Culture" (#3.9), 1 March 1998
• 3rd Rock from the Sun as Inspector Macaffery one episode "Dial M for Dick" (#5.4), 9 November 1999
• Rove Live on 23 October 2001
• The Late Late Show on 17 October 2003
• Tinseltown TV on 6 December 2003
• Parkinson in 1975 and on 2 January 1978; 3 April 1982; 23 January 1998; 17 December 1999; 20 October 2001; 18 October 2003; 4 September 2004; 16 December 2007
• Late Night with Conan O'Brien on 14 December 2004
• The Daily Show with Jon Stewart on 15 December 2004
• Last Call with Carson Daly on 22 December 2004
• Britain's Finest on episode "Actresses", 18 July 2005 and episode "Actors", 11 July 2005
• Real Time with Bill Maher on episode (#3.22), 28 October 2005
• Enough Rope on 20 February 2006
• The Daily Show with Jon Stewart on 10 May 2006
• The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson on 28 September 2006
• Late Night with Conan O'Brien on 9 June 2007
• The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson on 2 November 2009
• The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson on 18 December 2010 (Won the first Golden Mouth Organ after participating in the Mouth Organ Challenge at the end of the interview.)
• House on 27 February 2012, in the 14th episode of Season 8 ("Love is Blind"), as Mr. Thomas Bell, House's thought-to-be biological father (it was later revealed however that this was not the case).

Awards[link]

Connolly was awarded an honorary Doctor of Letters degree by the University of Glasgow on 11 July 2001.^[34]

In 2003, the BAFTA presented him with a Lifetime Achievement award.^[35] Also in 2003, he received a CBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours.^[36]

On 4 July 2006, Connolly was awarded an honorary doctorate by Glasgow's Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama (RSAMD) for his service to performing arts.^[37]

On 18 March 2007 and again on 11 April 2010, Connolly was named Number One in Channel 4's "100 Greatest Stand Ups".^[38]

On 22 July 2010, Connolly was awarded an honorary degree of Doctor of Letters (DLitt) by Nottingham Trent University^[39]

On 20 August 2010, Connolly was made a Freeman of Glasgow with the award of the Freedom of the City of Glasgow.^[40]

Bibliography[link]

• Stephenson, Pamela (2003). Billy. Perennial Currents. ISBN 0-06-053731-0. 
• Stephenson, Pamela (2002). Billy (Audio Edition read by Pamela Stephenson). HighBridge Company. ISBN 1-56511-725-5. 

• Stephenson, Pamela (2003). Bravemouth: Living with Billy Connolly. Headline. ISBN 0-7553-1284-8. 

References[link]

External links[link]

This article's use of external links may not follow Wikipedia's policies or guidelines. Please improve this article by removing excessive or inappropriate external links, and converting useful links where appropriate into footnote references. (January 2011)

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Billy Connolly

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Billy Connolly

• Connolly's official website
• Billy Connolly at the Internet Movie Database
• A Guardian interview with Connolly from 2001
• "Enough Rope" interview with Andrew Denton; 20 February 2006
• Connolly's interview with The Guardian, September 2001
• Whiteman, Hilary (16 September 2008). "Billy Connolly: From welder to wit". CNN. http://edition.cnn.com/2008/SHOWBIZ/TV/09/16/billy.connolly/index.html?eref=rss_latest. Retrieved 16 September 2008. 
• "A laugh a minute? Life with Billy Connolly" - CNN.com

Basia Bulat
Basia Bulat performing with her autoharp in 2008
Background information
Born	Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Origin	London, Ontario
Genres	Folk
Occupations	Musician, songwriter
Instruments	Vocals, guitar, autoharp, hammered dulcimer, piano, ukelele, charango
Years active	2004–present
Labels	Rough Trade, Hardwood, Secret City
Website	basiabulat.com

Basia Bulat ( /ˈbɒʃə buːˈlɒt/),^[1][2] is a Canadian folk singer-songwriter. She is known for performing with an autoharp.^[3]

Career[link]

Basia Bulat grew up in Etobicoke, Ontario^[2] where her mother was a music teacher^[4] who taught piano and guitar. She is an honorary member of Ontario's "Polonia" Polish community.^[5] She has said the radio at home was permanently tuned to an oldies station.^[6] “I don’t think I realised the radio had more than one station til I was 11 or 12,” Basia Bulat says.^[7] She attended the University of Western Ontario where she received a degree in English;^[8] she also took some classes with Olenka Krakus, also of Polish descent, of the band Olenka and the Autumn Lovers.^[9] While a student there, she was coaxed by friends into opening for Julie Doiron^[10] and soon gained a local following.^[2]

She released an independent EP in 2005 and was subsequently signed to Rough Trade Records, which released her full-length debut album, Oh, My Darling in April 2007. The album was later released in Canada by Hayden's Hardwood Records.

Her singles "Snakes and Ladders", "Little One" and "I Was a Daughter" have been playlisted on CBC Radio 3 while various tracks have received airplay on college radio in Canada and the United States. Her album Oh, My Darling made the short list for the 2008 Polaris Music Prize.^[11]

Bulat has toured across Canada, the U.S., Europe; in June 2008, she ventured to Australia. She played the 2008 Dawson City Music Festival in the Yukon. Bulat cited the week she spent in the quiet and remote location as an inspiration for her songwriting.^[12]

Her second album, Heart of My Own, was released by Rough Trade Records in the US and Canada on January 26, 2010.^[13]

Along with Don Cherry she appeared on Hockey Night in Canada on December 10, 2011, during which she sang the Canadian national anthem for the Vancouver Canucks, who beat the Ottawa Senators 5:0, at the former Corel Centre.

Discography[link]

• Basia Bulat (2005, EP)
• Oh, My Darling (2007)
• Touch the Hem of His Garment (2008, 7")
• Heart of My Own (2010)

Compilations[link]

• Friends in Bellwoods II (2009): "My Heart Is a Warning"
• Ho! Ho! Ho! Canada Deux (2010): "You Are A Gift"

Other media[link]

• The song "Little Waltz" was used in a 2007 Australian Volkswagen Eos advertisement.
• Her first official music video, "In the Night," was released in December 2007.
• The song "In the Night" was used on AMC's Every Night at 8 promotion for February 2008.^[14]
• The song "Before I Knew" was used in a commercial for 2010 Subaru Outback.

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Basia Bulat

• Basia Bulat
• Basia Bulat on Myspace

June Carter Cash
Carter playing at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, Tennessee, July 1999
Background information
Birth name	Valerie June Carter
Born	(1929-06-23)June 23, 1929
Origin	Hiltons, Virginia, USA
Died	May 15, 2003(2003-05-15) (aged 73) Nashville, Tennessee, USA
Genres	Country
Occupations	Singer-songwriter, actress, dancer, comedienne
Instruments	Vocals, guitar, banjo, harmonica, autoharp
Years active	1939–2003
Associated acts	Carter Family, Johnny Cash

Valerie June Carter Cash (June 23, 1929 – May 15, 2003)^[1] was an American singer, dancer, songwriter, actress, comedian, and author who was a member of the Carter Family and the second wife of singer Johnny Cash. She played the guitar, banjo, harmonica, and autoharp and acted in several films and television shows. Carter Cash was inducted into the Christian Music Hall of Fame in 2009.^[2] She was ranked #31 in CMT's 40 Greatest Women in Country Music in 2002.

Biography[link]

Early life[link]

June Carter Cash was born Valerie June Carter in Maces Spring, Virginia to Maybelle Addington Carter and Ezra Carter. She was born into country music and performed with the Carter Family from the age of ten, beginning in 1939. In March 1943, when the Carter Family trio stopped recording together at the end of the WBT contract, Maybelle Carter, with encouragement from her husband Ezra, formed "Mother Maybelle & the Carter Sisters" with her daughters, Helen, Anita, and June. The new group first aired on radio station WRNL in Richmond, Virginia, on June 1. Doc (Addington) and Carl (McConnell)—Maybelle's brother and cousin, respectively— known as "The Virginia Boys," joined them in late 1945. June, then 16, was a co-announcer with Ken Allyn and did the commercials on the radio shows for "Red Star Flour", "Martha White," and "Thalhimers Department Store", just to name a few.^[3] For the next year, the Carters and Doc and Carl did show dates within driving range of Richmond, through Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, and Pennsylvania. June later said she had to work harder at her music than her sisters, but she had her own special talent—comedy.^[4] A highlight of the road shows was her "Aunt Polly" comedy routine. Carl McConnell wrote in his memoirs that June was "a natural born clown, if there ever was one." She attended John Marshall High School during this period.^[5]

After Doc and Carl dropped out of the music business in late 1946, Maybelle and her daughters moved to Sunshine Sue Workman's "Old Dominion Barn Dance" on the WRVA Richmond station. After a while there, they moved to WNOX in Knoxville, TN, where they met Chet Atkins with Homer and Jethro.

In 1949, Maybelle & The Carter Sisters, along with their lead guitarist, a young Chet Atkins, were living in Springfield, Missouri, and performing regularly at KWTO. Ezra "Eck" Carter, Maybelle's husband and manager of the group, declined numerous offers from the Grand Ole Opry to move the act to Nashville, Tennessee, because the Opry would not permit Atkins to accompany the group onstage. Atkins' reputation as a guitar player had begun to spread, and studio musicians were fearful that he would displace them as a 'first-call' player if he came to Nashville. Finally, in 1950, Opry management relented and the group, along with Atkins, became part of the Opry company. Here the family befriended Hank Williams and Elvis Presley (to whom they were distantly related), and June met Johnny Cash.

June and her sisters, with mother Maybelle and aunt Sara joining in from time to time, reclaimed the name The Carter Family for their act during the 1960s and 1970s.

With her thin and lanky frame, June Carter often played a comedic foil during the group's performances alongside other Opry stars Faron Young and Webb Pierce.

Career highlights[link]

While June Carter Cash may be best known for singing and songwriting, she was also an author, dancer, actress, comedian, philanthropist and humanitarian.^[6] Director Elia Kazan saw her perform at the Grand Ole Opry in 1955 and encouraged her to study acting. She studied with Lee Strasberg and Sanford Meisner at the Neighborhood Playhouse in New York. Her acting roles included Mrs. "Momma" Dewey in Robert Duvall's 1998 movie The Apostle, Sister Ruth, wife to Johnny Cash's character Kid Cole, on Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman (1993–1997), and Clarise on Gunsmoke in 1957. June was also "Momma James" in The Last Days of Frank and Jesse James.

As a singer, she had both a solo career and a career singing with first her family and later her husband. As a solo artist, she became somewhat successful with upbeat country tunes of the 1950s like "Jukebox Blues" and, with her exaggerated breaths, the comedic hit "No Swallerin' Place" by Frank Loesser. June also recorded "The Heel" in the 1960s along with many other songs. She won a Grammy award in 1999 for her solo album, Press On. Her last album, Wildwood Flower, was released posthumously in 2003 and won two additional Grammys. It contains bonus video enhancements showing extracts from the film of the recording sessions, which took place at the Carter Family estate in Hiltons, Virginia, on September 18–20, 2002. The songs on the album include "Big Yellow Peaches," "Sinking in the Lonesome Sea," "Temptation" and the trademark staple "Wildwood Flower".

Her autobiography was published in 1979, and she wrote a memoir, From the Heart, almost 10 years later.^[7]

Personal life[link]

June Carter Cash with husband, Johnny, in 1969

Carter was married three times and had one child with each husband. All three of her children would go on to have successful careers in country music.

She was married first to honky-tonk singer Carl Smith from July 9, 1952, until their divorce in 1956. Together they wrote "Time's A-Wastin'". They had a daughter, Rebecca Carlene Smith, aka Carlene Carter, a country musician.^[8]

June's second marriage was to Edwin "Rip" Nix, a former football player, police officer, and race car driver, on November 11, 1957. They had a daughter, Rosanna Lea aka Rosie, on July 13, 1958. The couple divorced in 1966. Rosie Nix Adams was a country/rock singer. On October 24, 2003, Rosie died on a bus from possible carbon monoxide poisoning.^[8]

Carter and the entire Carter Family had performed with Johnny Cash for a number of years. In 1968, Cash proposed to Carter during a live performance at the London Ice House in London, Ontario, and they married on March 1, 1968.^[7] They remained married until her death in May 2003, just four months before Cash died. Carter and Cash had one son, John Carter Cash, who is a musician, songwriter and producer.

In 1970, Carter's distant cousin, future US President Jimmy Carter, became closely acquainted with Cash and Carter and maintained their friendship throughout their lifetime. In a June 1977 speech, Jimmy Carter acknowledged that June Carter was his distant cousin, with whom they shared a common patrilineal ancestor.^[9]

Carter was a longtime supporter of SOS Children's Villages. In 1974 the Cashes donated money to help build a village near their home in Barrett Town, Jamaica, which they visited frequently, playing the guitar and singing songs to the children in the village.^[10]

Death[link]

June Carter Cash died in Nashville, Tennessee, on May 15, 2003, of complications following heart valve replacement surgery, in the company of her family and her husband of 35 years, Johnny Cash^[7][11] who died less than four months later on September 12, 2003. At Carter's funeral, her stepdaughter, Rosanne Cash, stated that "if being a wife were a corporation, June would have been a CEO. It was her most treasured role."^[12] June and Johnny Cash are buried in Hendersonville Memory Gardens near their home in Hendersonville, Tennessee.

Awards[link]

Carter and her future husband, Johnny Cash reached #2 on the US Country charts with their 1967 duet of "Jackson". Their performance won the 1968 Grammy Award for Best Country & Western Performance Duet, Trio or Group.

The two - now married - won the 1971 Grammy Award, for Best Country Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group, for their 1970 duet "If I Were a Carpenter".

Carter Cash won the 2000 Grammy Award, for Best Traditional Folk Album, for her 1999 album Press On.

Carter Cash's last album, Wildwood Flower, was released posthumously in 2003. Carter Cash won the 2004 Grammy Award for Best Traditional Folk Album, and she also won the while the 2004 Grammy Award for Best Female Country Vocal Performance for the single "Keep on the Sunny Side".^[3]

Legacy[link]

June Carter was played by Reese Witherspoon in Walk the Line, a 2005 biopic of Johnny Cash (played by Joaquin Phoenix). The film largely focused on the development of their relationship over the course of 13 years, from their first meeting to her final acceptance of his proposal of marriage. Witherspoon performed all vocals for the role, singing many of June's famous songs, including "Juke Box Blues" and "Jackson" with Phoenix.^[13] Witherspoon won an Academy Award, Golden Globe, BAFTA and Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Actress in the role.^[14]

Musician and actress Jewel (singer) is set to portray June Carter Cash in a Lifetime (TV network) television movie called The June Carter Cash Story in 2012. The film will be based on John Carter Cash's memoir Anchored in Love: An Intimate Portrait of June Carter Cash.^[15]

Discography[link]

Albums[link]

Albums with Johnny Cash[link]

Selected Singles[link]

NOTE: June Carter released at least 19 additional non-charting solo singles between 1950 and 1975.

Singles with Johnny Cash[link]

See also[link]

Biography portal

• Walk the Line

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• Carter, Jimmy, Public papers of the presidents of the United States: Jimmy Carter, 1977, Government Printing Office, 1978
• Cash, June Carter. Among My Klediments. Grand Rapids, MI, Zondervan, 1979. ISBN 0-310-38170-3.
• Dawidoff, Nicholas. In the Country of Country: A Journey to the Roots of American Music. Vintage Books, 1998. ISBN 0-375-70082-X.
• McConnell, Carl P. A Brief History of My Family and an Autobiographical Sketch of My Musical Life. January 24, 1976. Background for liner notes for a Doc and Carl album recorded at Johnny Cash's Nashville studio. Online at "Southernmusic.net". http://www.southernmusic.net. 
• Zwonitzer, Mark, with Charles Hirschberg. Will you miss me when I'm gone? : the Carter Family and their legacy in American music. New York Simon & Schuster, 2002.

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: June Carter Cash

• Keep on the Sunnyside: June Carter Cash Remembered
• June Carter Cash Forum
• at Yahoo! Music
• June Carter Cash at the Internet Movie Database
• A.P. Carter Museum
• Friends of the Carter Family Fold

v t e Johnny Cash Studio albums With His Hot and Blue Guitar Sings the Songs That Made Him Famous The Fabulous Johnny Cash Greatest! Sings Hank Williams Now, There Was a Song! Now Here's Johnny Cash The Sound of Johnny Cash All Aboard the Blue Train Ring of Fire: The Best of Johnny Cash I Walk the Line Orange Blossom Special Everybody Loves a Nut Happiness is You Old Golden Throat More of Old Golden Throat Hello, I'm Johnny Cash Man in Black A Thing Called Love Any Old Wind That Blows Ragged Old Flag Junkie and the Juicehead Minus Me John R. Cash Look at Them Beans One Piece at a Time The Last Gunfighter Ballad I Would Like to See You Again Gone Girl Silver Rockabilly Blues The Baron The Adventures of Johnny Cash Johnny 99 Rainbow Johnny Cash is Coming to Town Classic Cash: Hall of Fame Series Water from the Wells of Home Boom Chicka Boom The Mystery of Life American Recordings Unchained American III: Solitary Man American IV: The Man Comes Around American V: A Hundred Highways American VI: Ain't No Grave Concept albums Songs of Our Soil Ride This Train The Lure of the Grand Canyon Blood, Sweat and Tears Bitter Tears: Ballads of the American Indian Sings the Ballads of the True West From Sea to Shining Sea America: A 200-Year Salute in Story and Song The Johnny Cash Children's Album The Rambler Gospel albums Hymns by Johnny Cash Hymns from the Heart The Holy Land Sings Precious Memories A Believer Sings the Truth Believe in Him My Mother's Hymn Book Christmas albums The Christmas Spirit The Johnny Cash Family Christmas Classic Christmas Johnny Cash Country Christmas Collaborations Carryin' On with Johnny Cash and June Carter Johnny Cash and His Woman The Legend of Jesse James The Survivors Live Highwayman Heroes Class of '55 Highwayman 2 The Road Goes on Forever VH1 Storytellers Live albums At Folsom Prison At San Quentin The Johnny Cash Show På Österåker Strawberry Cake At Madison Square Garden A Concert Behind Prison Walls Soundtrack albums I Walk the Line Little Fauss and Big Halsy The Gospel Road Return to the Promised Land Compilation albums Greatest Hits, Vol. 1 Heart of Cash The World of Johnny Cash Greatest Hits, Vol. 2 Sunday Morning Coming Down International Superstar Five Feet High and Rising Greatest Hits, Vol. 3 The Unissued Johnny Cash Johnny & June Tall Man Encore Biggest Hits The Man in Black 1954–1958 The Man in Black 1959–1962 Come Along and Ride this Train Wanted Man The Man in Black 1963–1969 16 Biggest Hits Love, God and Murder The Essential Johnny Cash Unearthed The Legend The Legend of Johnny Cash 16 Biggest Hits: Johnny Cash & June Carter Cash Personal File The Legend of Johnny Cash Vol. II Songs "25 Minutes to Go" "Any Old Wind That Blows" "The Ballad of Ira Hayes" "Ballad of a Teenage Queen" "Big River" "Blistered" "A Boy Named Sue" "Busted" "Cat's in the Cradle" "Cocaine Blues" "Cry! Cry! Cry!" "Daddy Sang Bass" "Dark as a Dungeon" "Don't Take Your Guns to Town" "Engine 143" "Flesh and Blood" "Folsom Prison Blues" "Get Rhythm" "Goodnight, Irene" "Green, Green Grass of Home" "Greystone Chapel" "Guess Things Happen That Way" "Hey Porter" "Home of the Blues" "Hurt" "I Still Miss Someone" "I Walk the Line" "If I Were a Carpenter" "It Ain't Me Babe" "In My Life" "In the Jailhouse Now" "Jackson" "Kate" "The Man Comes Around" "Man in Black" "The Matador" "Oh Lonesome Me" "One Piece at a Time" "Oney" "Orange Blossom Special" "The One on the Right Is on the Left" "Remember the Alamo" "(Ghost) Riders in the Sky" "Ring of Fire" "Rock Island Line" "Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down" "Tennessee Flat Top Box" "A Thing Called Love" "Understand Your Man" "What Is Truth" "What'd I Say" Family June Carter Cash John Carter Cash Rosanne Cash Carlene Carter Vivian Liberto Tommy Cash Carter Family Related articles Discography Sun Records discography Highwaymen Walk the Line Book:Johnny Cash

"Mother" Maybelle Carter (May 10, 1909 – October 23, 1978) was an American country musician. She is best known as a member of the historic Carter Family act in the 1920s and 1930s and also as a member of Mother Maybelle and the Carter Sisters.^[1]

Biography[link]

Maybelle Carter was born Maybelle Addington on May 10, 1909 in Nickelsville, Virginia, the daughter of Hugh Jackson Addington and Margaret S. Kilgore. According to family lore, the Addington family of Virginia is descended from former British prime minister Henry Addington, 1st Viscount Sidmouth.^[2]

On March 13, 1926, Maybelle married Ezra J. Carter. They had three daughters, Helen, Valerie June (better known in later life as June Carter Cash), and Anita.^[1]

She was a member of the original Carter Family, which was formed in 1927 by her brother-in-law, A. P. Carter, who was married to her cousin, Sara, also a part of the trio. The Carter Family was one of the first commercial rural country music groups. Maybelle, who played autoharp and banjo as well as being the group's guitarist, created a unique sound for the group with her innovative 'scratch' style of guitar playing, where she used her thumb to play melody on the bass and middle strings, and her index finger to fill out the rhythm.^[1] Although Maybelle herself had first picked up this technique from the guitarist Leslie Riddle^[3][4][5], it became widely known as Carter Family picking, an indication of the group's pivotal role in popularizing the style.

Perhaps the most remarkable of Maybelle's many talents was her skill as a guitarist. She revolutionized the instrument's role by developing a style in which she played melody lines on the bass strings with her thumb while rhythmically strumming with her fingers. Her innovative technique, to this day known as the Carter Scratch, influenced the guitar's shift from rhythm to lead instrument.

—Holly George-Warren^[6]

She was widely respected and loved by the Grand Ole Opry community of the early 1950s, and was popularly known as "Mother Maybelle" and a matriarchal figure in country music circles although only in her forties at the time. Maybelle and her daughters toured during the 1950s and 1960s as "Mother Maybelle and the Carter Sisters" but after the death of A. P. Carter in 1960 the group revived the name "The Carter Family", frequently touring with Johnny Cash (her son-in-law from 1968 on); the group were regular performers on Cash's weekly network variety show from 1969-71. Maybelle briefly reunited with former Carter Family member, Sara Carter, during the 1960s folk music craze, with Sara singing lead and Maybelle providing harmony as before.

Maybelle 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, placed on Billboard's best-selling country albums chart in 1973 when she was 64. Maybelle was also featured on The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band's 1972 recording Will the Circle Be Unbroken.

Maybelle Carter died in 1978 after a few years of poor health, and was interred next to her husband, Ezra, in Hendersonville Memory Gardens, Hendersonville, Tennessee. All three of their daughters, "The Carter Sisters" - Helen, June, and Anita - are buried nearby in the same cemetery.^[7]

Legacy[link]

Maybelle Carter was inducted as part of The Carter Family in the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1970.^[8]

In 1993, her image appeared on a U.S. postage stamp honoring the Carter Family. In 2001 she was initiated into the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Honor. She would rank #8 in CMT's 40 Greatest Women of Country Music in 2002. In 2005, she was portrayed by Sandra Ellis Lafferty in the Johnny Cash biopic Walk the Line.

She was the subject of her granddaughter Carlene Carter's 1990 song "Me and the Wildwood Rose".

In 2010, Lipscomb University in Nashville named the stage in Collins Alumni Auditorium after her.

Solo albums discography[link]

See The Carter Family for albums with A.P. & Sara or with her daughters.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Maybelle Carter at Find a Grave

Sources[link]

• Wolfe, Charles. (1998). "Carter Family". In The Encyclopedia of Country Music. Paul Kingsbury, Editor. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 84–85.
• Zwonitzer, Mark with Charles Hirshberg. (2002). Will You Miss Me When I'm Gone?: The Carter Family and Their Legacy in American Music. New York: Simon & Schuster.