Sara & Maybelle Carter
This renowned reunion of Sara and Maybelle Carter (with Sara's ex-husband A.P.'s son Joe filling in on guitar and bass vocals) marked the finest recording made by members of the Carter Family since their 1944 dissolution. Recorded in the mid '60s for Columbia, the disc ranges from sanctified "holiness songs" to proverb-inspired traditionals, white-blues-type songs, and even an anti-Vietnam tune written by Tom T. Hall, "I Told Them What You're Fighting For." The typically detailed liner notes by scholar Charles K. Wolfe denote the diverse sources for each tune on the disc. Sara was 69 and sister-in-law Maybelle 59 when this album was made, but their hands were still nimble on the autoharp and guitar. Their voices are weathered and not always able to hit every note, yet they are still capable of true beauty--perhaps made all the more potent because of the ragged, inexact quality. Note: 11 of the 24 tracks on this import appear on the domestically issuedAn Historic Reunion: Sara and Maybelle: The Original Carters.--Mike McGonigal