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Title: Will You Miss Me When I'm Gone?: The Carter Family and Their Legacy in American Music by Charles Hirshberg, Mark Zwonitzer ISBN: 0-684-85763-4 Publisher: Simon & Schuster Pub. Date: 10 July, 2002 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $25.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.26 (19 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: Clinch Mountain and beyond
Comment: To all but a few of us -- that "few" being those who knew them personally -- A.P., Sara, and Maybelle Carter have always been little more than stoic, unsmiling, unreadable faces on the covers of Carter Family reissues. Mark Zwonitzer, assisted by Charles Hirshberg, manages to put breath and life into these three giants of country and folk music. Though they were ordinary people, they possessed an extraordinary gift, and it took them far from the shadow of their native home in Clinch Mountain, Virginia, and into the ears and hearts of people all over the world -- yet without ever revealing very much of anything about themselves.
In a number of ways, this is a sad story. Alvin Pleasant Carter emerges as something of a tragic figure. He is also by far the most interesting personality of the three, even if not possessed of the stunning musical talents of Sara and Maybelle. The book comes most to life, in my opinion, when A. P., without whom none of us would have heard of the Carter Family, is at its center.
As a purely human story, Will You Miss Me When I'm Gone? -- the title comes from one of the family's most doleful songs -- will keep you reading far into the night. In focusing on the personal aspects, however, it foregoes the sort of deeper musical analysis some of us would like to have seen. It also lacks a discography, which one would have thought essential to a volume of this kind. Even so, this is a welcome, informative book which treats its subjects with an appealing warmth devoid of sentimental gloss.
Rating: 4
Summary: Makes You Pine for Your Clinch Mountain Home
Comment: "Will You Miss Me When I'm Gone" represents a real step up from the typical celebrity bio it might have been. As you might expect, it chronicles the hard times and triumphs of the first two generations of the musical Carter family, starting with A.P. and his then-wife Sara, and Sara's cousin and sister-in-law Maybelle, and continuing on through Maybelle's daughters (Helen, Anita, and June Carter Cash), in-laws (Johnny Cash) and even granddaughters. The author(s) received the full cooperation of the surviving members of the family; the book has benefited tremendously, for example, from interviews with June Carter Cash and Johnny Cash.
Hirshberg and Zwonitzer's aim, however, goes beyond the tell-all. They are trying to convey not just the fundamental integrity of the Carters and their music, but also the rise of country 'hillbilly' music in the 20s and 30s and what it meant to the people that heard it. As a result the reader leaves the book wanting to hear more of the music, which to my mind is a mighty fine result.
Rating: 4
Summary: A very interesting book about some classic musicians
Comment: This is a great book for fans of old time music who would also like to get into the history of this interesting family. It takes you along from the early days in the mountains through their extensive musical career. It was a very interesting, even tempered account of life in the music business. I really got a good idea of the personalities involved. Johny Cash fans may get some new insights into into his background in more "traditional" forms. There seems to be none of the sensationalism that sometimes plagues books of this sort.
Just a little tip...If, like me, you had not heard as many of the Carter Family classics as you would like, go to your area libraries and get out some of the Victor reissue recordings to play as you read this book. Their style set such a standard and it helps to have recordings around as the songs are mentioned in the book.
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Title:The Carter Family: 1927-1934 ASIN: B00005TPB7 Publisher: Jsp Records Pub. Date: 30 April, 2002 List Price(USD): $28.98 Comparison N/A, buy it from Amazon for $25.99 |
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Title: The Original Carter Family : with a biography by Johnny Cash by Hal Leonard, Johnny Cash ISBN: 063400381X Publisher: Hal Leonard Pub. Date: 01 March, 1999 List Price(USD): $9.95 |
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Title:Wildwood Flower ASIN: B0000C05MO Publisher: Dualtone (Red) Pub. Date: 09 September, 2003 List Price(USD): $17.98 Comparison N/A, buy it from Amazon for $13.99 |
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Title:Can the Circle Be Unbroken?: Country Music's First Family ASIN: B00004RC8J Publisher: Sony Pub. Date: 04 July, 2000 List Price(USD): $11.98 Comparison N/A, buy it from Amazon for $10.99 |
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Title:Press on ASIN: B00008O30J Publisher: Dualtone (Red) Pub. Date: 01 April, 2003 List Price(USD): $17.98 Comparison N/A, buy it from Amazon for $14.99 |
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