ABSTRACT
It was the granddaddy of all country music success stories, the pattern on which dozens of Music Row Cinderella tales would be founded. A local group, used to singing on front porches and at country churches, wanders into what today would be termed a talent call. More by accident than by design, the group gets an audition; the big-time talent scout can’t believe his ears. A contract is signed; records are cut; in a matter of months, the group hears its records playing from the Victrolas rolled out in front of the appliance stores in its hometown. Across the country, millions hear the same music, and are charmed by its feeling, its simplicity, its soul. A career is launched, and soon the little country group is making it in the big time, on national radio, continuing to produce great music but struggling to ward off personal problems, divorce and changing tastes. It is a story almost as familiar as the music of the group or the name of the group: The Carter Family.
