Helen Carter
Encyclopedia
Helen Myrl Carter 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
.
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. After the breakup of the original Carter Family in 1943, Maybelle formed a group with Helen and her sisters 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. They were given the "Favorite Country Group" award by the American Music Awards in 1973 and the "Gospel Act of the Year" award by the Music City News Awards in 1980.
Helen rarely sang lead in the Carter Family group and seemed content to focus her efforts on harmony and instrumental backing. She played a variety of instruments including accordion, autoharp, guitar, piano and mandolin. 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.
. She had releases on major labels such as Columbia
and Okeh
as well. She recorded duets with such acts as The Willis Brothers
, Johnny Bond
, famed Grand Olde Opry announcer Grant Turner, and Wiley Barkdull (a singer who sounded a lot like Lefty Frizzell
). 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. While many of Carter's solo recordings were favorites with loyal fans and always welcomed by concert goers, they did not have a great deal of commercial success. One likely reason for Helen's limited success as a solo artist may have been competition for radio air play with other members of her famous clan.
Throughout the recording career of the Carter Sisters & Mother Maybelle, much of the time, all four group members had individual recording contracts as well. 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. Some of the better known titles she wrote or co-wrote include "The Kneeling Drunkard's Plea", "Wall to Wall Love", "Rosanna's Going Wild", "Poor Old Heartsick Me", "Is This My Destiny?" and "What am I Supposed to Do?" Music acts as diverse as Red Foley, the Byrds
, Jan Howard
, Wanda Jackson
, Johnny Cash
, Billy Grammer
, Ray Price
, Willie Nelson
, Jean Shepard
, the Louvin Brothers
, Ann-Margret
, Waylon Jennings
and Mark Dinning
are among the more than sixty who have recorded her songs.
Helen Carter recorded two solo albums for Old Homestead Records 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 two of her sons: David & Kevin; another son, Danny, performed with an earlier version of the group in the 1970s) 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.
. 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.
Helen Carter was a regular on Johnny Cash's network television program and on his TV specials. Along with other members of the Carter Family, Helen received a gold record for her participation in the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
's Will the Circle Be Unbroken, Vol. II. The group sang backup on two tracks from the album.
, Glenn Daniel, David Lawrence, and Kevin Carter Jones) and six grandchildren.
Her interment was next to her son, Kenneth
, in Hendersonville Memory Gardens
in Hendersonville, Tennessee
. Buried nearby in the same cemetery are her parents, Ezra and Maybelle Carter
, and her sisters, June
and Anita
.
. "Juke Box Blues", co-written with Maybelle, was used in the 2005 movie Walk the Line
.
In 2006, a forgotten set of recordings that Helen made with her sisters and a niece in 1991 was discovered and released to the public on Sphere Records. 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.
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
singer. The eldest daughter of Maybelle Carter
Maybelle Carter
"Mother" Maybelle Carter 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.-Biography:...
, she performed with her mother and her younger sisters, June Carter and Anita Carter
Anita Carter
Ina Anita Carter , the youngest daughter of Ezra and Mother Maybelle Carter, was a versatile American singer who experimented with several different types of music and played stand-up bass with her sisters Helen Carter and June Carter Cash as The Carter Sisters...
, 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
Carter Family
The Carter Family was a traditional American folk music group that recorded between 1927 and 1956. Their music had a profound impact on bluegrass, country, Southern Gospel, pop and rock musicians as well as on the U.S. folk revival of the 1960s. They were the first vocal group to become country...
.
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.A. P. Carter
Alvin Pleasant Delaney Carter , best known as A.P. Carter, was an American musician and founding member of The Carter Family, one of the most notable acts in the history of country music.-Life:...
and Sara Carter
Sara Carter
Sara Carter was an American Country music musician. Known for her deep and distinctive singing voice, she was the lead singer on most of the recordings of the historic Carter Family act in the 1920s and 1930s....
) 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. After the breakup of the original Carter Family in 1943, Maybelle formed a group with Helen and her sisters The group joined the cast of the Grand Ole Opry
Grand Ole Opry
The Grand Ole Opry is a weekly country music stage concert in Nashville, Tennessee, that has presented the biggest stars of that genre since 1925. It is also among the longest-running broadcasts in history since its beginnings as a one-hour radio "barn dance" on WSM-AM...
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. They were given the "Favorite Country Group" award by the American Music Awards in 1973 and the "Gospel Act of the Year" award by the Music City News Awards in 1980.
Helen rarely sang lead in the Carter Family group and seemed content to focus her efforts on harmony and instrumental backing. She played a variety of instruments including accordion, autoharp, guitar, piano and mandolin. 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.
Solo career
Helen pursued a solo career apart from the family. She recorded for a number of historically important independent labels such as Tennessee, Republic, Starday and HickoryHickory Records
Hickory Records is a United States record label founded by Acuff-Rose Music in 1954 which operated the label up to 1979. Present owner Sony/ATV Music Publishing revived the label in 2007. Originally based in Nashville, functioning as an independent label throughout its history, it has had several...
. She had releases on major labels such as Columbia
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
and Okeh
Okeh Records
Okeh Records began as an independent record label based in the United States of America in 1918. From 1926 on, it was a subsidiary of Columbia Records.-History:...
as well. She recorded duets with such acts as The Willis Brothers
The Willis Brothers
The Willis Brothers were a country music ensemble from Oklahoma, consisting of several brothers.Three of the Willis brothers played together as teenagers from the early 1930s under the name Oklahoma Wranglers. They were regulars on Shawnee, Oklahoma station KGEF through the decade, but in 1939,...
, Johnny Bond
Johnny Bond
Cyrus Whitfield Bond , known professionally as Johnny Bond, was a popular American country music entertainer of the 1940s through the 1960s.-Biography:...
, famed Grand Olde Opry announcer Grant Turner, and Wiley Barkdull (a singer who sounded a lot like Lefty Frizzell
Lefty Frizzell
Lefty Frizzell , born William Orville Frizzell, was an American country music singer and songwriter of the 1950s, and a proponent of honky tonk music. His relaxed style of singing was an influence on later stars Merle Haggard, Willie Nelson, Roy Orbison, George Jones and John Fogerty...
). 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. While many of Carter's solo recordings were favorites with loyal fans and always welcomed by concert goers, they did not have a great deal of commercial success. One likely reason for Helen's limited success as a solo artist may have been competition for radio air play with other members of her famous clan.
Throughout the recording career of the Carter Sisters & Mother Maybelle, much of the time, all four group members had individual recording contracts as well. 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
Kitty Wells
Ellen Muriel Deason , known professionally as Kitty Wells, is an American country music singer. Her 1952 hit recording, "It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels", made her the first female country singer to top the U.S. country charts, and turned her into the first female country star...
. 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
Acuff-Rose Music
Acuff-Rose Music was an American music publishing firm formed by Roy Acuff and Fred Rose in Nashville, Tennessee. Acuff-Rose's honest behavior towards their writers set them apart from other music publishing firms at the time and lead them to fame throughout the 50's, 60's, 70's.-History:Acuff-Rose...
and Pamper Music, among other companies. Some of the better known titles she wrote or co-wrote include "The Kneeling Drunkard's Plea", "Wall to Wall Love", "Rosanna's Going Wild", "Poor Old Heartsick Me", "Is This My Destiny?" and "What am I Supposed to Do?" Music acts as diverse as Red Foley, the Byrds
The Byrds
The Byrds were an American rock band, formed in Los Angeles, California in 1964. The band underwent multiple line-up changes throughout its existence, with frontman Roger McGuinn remaining the sole consistent member until the group disbanded in 1973...
, Jan Howard
Jan Howard
Lula Grace Johnson , known professionally as Jan Howard, is an American country music singer and Grand Ole Opry star. She attained moderate success as a country female vocalist during the 1960s and early 1970s...
, Wanda Jackson
Wanda Jackson
Wanda Lavonne Jackson is an American singer, songwriter, pianist and guitarist who had success in the mid-1950s and 60s as one of the first popular female rockabilly singers and a pioneering rock and roll artist...
, Johnny Cash
Johnny Cash
John R. "Johnny" Cash was an American singer-songwriter, actor, and author, who has been called one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century...
, Billy Grammer
Billy Grammer
Billy Wayne Grammer was an American country music singer and noted guitar player. He was known for the million-selling "Gotta Travel On", which made it onto both the country and pop music charts in 1959.-Biography:...
, Ray Price
Ray Price (musician)
Ray Price is an American country music singer, songwriter and guitarist. His wide-ranging baritone has often been praised as among the best male voices of country music...
, Willie Nelson
Willie Nelson
Willie Hugh Nelson is an American country music singer-songwriter, as well as an author, poet, actor, and activist. The critical success of the album Shotgun Willie , combined with the critical and commercial success of Red Headed Stranger and Stardust , made Nelson one of the most recognized...
, Jean Shepard
Jean Shepard
Ollie Imogene Shepard , better known as Jean Shepard, is an American honky tonk singer-songwriter who was a pioneer for women in country music. Shepard released a total of 73 singles to the Hot Country Songs chart, one of which reached the #1 spot...
, the Louvin Brothers
Louvin Brothers
The Louvin Brothers were an American country music duo composed of brothers Ira Lonnie Loudermilk and Charlie Elzer Loudermilk , better known as Ira and Charlie Louvin. They helped popularize close harmony, a genre of country music.-History:The brothers adopted the name Louvin Brothers in the...
, Ann-Margret
Ann-Margret
Ann-Margret Olsson is a Swedish-American actress, singer and dancer whose professional name is Ann-Margret. She became famous for her starring roles in Bye Bye Birdie, Viva Las Vegas, The Cincinnati Kid, Carnal Knowledge, and Tommy...
, Waylon Jennings
Waylon Jennings
Waylon Arnold Jennings was an American country music singer, songwriter, and musician. Jennings began playing at eight. He began performing at twelve, on KVOW radio. Jennings formed a band The Texas Longhorns. Jennings worked as a D.J on KVOW, KDAV and KLLL...
and Mark Dinning
Mark Dinning
Max Edward Dinning was an American pop music singer. In February 1960, the song "Teen Angel", written by his sister Jean and her husband Red Surrey, reached No. 1 on the Billboard Charts...
are among the more than sixty who have recorded her songs.
Helen Carter recorded two solo albums for Old Homestead Records and did guest spots on recordings by her niece Carlene Carter
Carlene Carter
Carlene Carter is an American country singer and songwriter. She is the daughter of June Carter and her first husband, Carl Smith....
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 two of her sons: David & Kevin; another son, Danny, performed with an earlier version of the group in the 1970s) 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.
More about Helen's career with the Carter Family
With the Carter Sisters and Maybelle, Helen did experience chart success. During the 1960s and 1970s, the group charted a few albums (such as Country's First Family, 1976) and singles including "Traveling Minstrel Band", "The World Needs a Melody", and "A Song for Mama". Many were duet recordings with brother-in-law Johnny CashJohnny Cash
John R. "Johnny" Cash was an American singer-songwriter, actor, and author, who has been called one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century...
. 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
Johnny Horton
John Gale "Johnny" Horton was an American country music and rockabilly singer most famous for his semi-folk, so-called "saga songs" which began the "historical ballad" craze of the late 1950s and early 1960s...
, Dolly Parton
Dolly Parton
Dolly Rebecca Parton is an American singer-songwriter, author, multi-instrumentalist, actress and philanthropist, best known for her work in country music. Dolly Parton has appeared in movies like 9 to 5, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, Steel Magnolias and Straight Talk...
, the Wilburn Brothers, Grandpa Jones
Grandpa Jones
Louis Marshall Jones , known professionally as Grandpa Jones, was an American banjo player and "old time" country and gospel music singer...
, Flatt & Scruggs, Carl Smith, Merle Haggard
Merle Haggard
Merle Ronald Haggard is an American country music singer, guitarist, fiddler, instrumentalist, and songwriter. Along with Buck Owens, Haggard and his band The Strangers helped create the Bakersfield sound, which is characterized by the unique twang of Fender Telecaster guitars, vocal harmonies,...
, Darrell Glenn and many others. They were sought after for both their vocal and instrumental contributions in the studio.
Helen Carter was a regular on Johnny Cash's network television program and on his TV specials. Along with other members of the Carter Family, Helen received a gold record for her participation in the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band is an American country-folk-rock band that has existed in various forms since its founding in Long Beach, California in 1966. The group's membership has had at least a dozen changes over the years, including a period from 1976 to 1981 when the band performed and recorded...
's Will the Circle Be Unbroken, Vol. II. The group sang backup on two tracks from the album.
Marriage and children
In 1950 Helen married Glenn Jones of Dickson, Tennessee. They had four sons (Kenneth JonesKenneth Jones
Kenneth Jones , was the son of Helen Myrl Carter and of Glenn Jones. He is best remembered for a song he wrote called "Sing A Traveling Song" which appeared on Johnny Cash's albums Hello, I'm Johnny Cash and Johnny Cash at Madison Square Garden. Kenneth was Cash's nephew-in-law...
, Glenn Daniel, David Lawrence, and Kevin Carter Jones) and six grandchildren.
Death
Helen Carter suffered from gastrointestinal problems which led to heart problems that took her life in 1998 at age 70.Her interment was next to her son, Kenneth
Kenneth Jones
Kenneth Jones , was the son of Helen Myrl Carter and of Glenn Jones. He is best remembered for a song he wrote called "Sing A Traveling Song" which appeared on Johnny Cash's albums Hello, I'm Johnny Cash and Johnny Cash at Madison Square Garden. Kenneth was Cash's nephew-in-law...
, in Hendersonville Memory Gardens
Hendersonville Memory Gardens
Hendersonville Memory Gardens located at 353 East Main Street in Hendersonville, Tennessee, USA was formerly known as Woodlawn Memorial Park East...
in Hendersonville, Tennessee
Hendersonville, Tennessee
Hendersonville is a city in Sumner County, Tennessee, United States, on Old Hickory Lake. The population was 51,372 at the 2010 census. Hendersonville is part of the Nashville Metropolitan Statistical Area and is located 18 miles northeast of downtown Nashville. The city was settled around 1784 by...
. Buried nearby in the same cemetery are her parents, Ezra and Maybelle Carter
Maybelle Carter
"Mother" Maybelle Carter 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.-Biography:...
, and her sisters, June
June Carter Cash
Valerie June Carter Cash was an American singer, dancer, songwriter, actress, comedienne and author who was a member of the Carter Family and the second wife of singer Johnny Cash...
and Anita
Anita Carter
Ina Anita Carter , the youngest daughter of Ezra and Mother Maybelle Carter, was a versatile American singer who experimented with several different types of music and played stand-up bass with her sisters Helen Carter and June Carter Cash as The Carter Sisters...
.
Legacy
Helen's song "Heart Full of Shame" was used in the 2003 movie NorthforkNorthfork
Northfork is a 2003 film directed by Michael Polish and written by Michael and Mark Polish. It premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on January 21, 2003 and later received a limited release in the United States on July 11, 2003. The film stars James Woods, Nick Nolte, Daryl Hannah, Anthony...
. "Juke Box Blues", co-written with Maybelle, was used in the 2005 movie Walk the Line
Walk the Line
Walk the Line is a 2005 American biographical drama film directed by James Mangold and based on the early life and career of country music artist Johnny Cash...
.
In 2006, a forgotten set of recordings that Helen made with her sisters and a niece in 1991 was discovered and released to the public on Sphere Records. Unlike the majority of recordings made with her family, most tracks from the collection prominently featured Helen on lead vocal.
In 2009 Rosanne Cash
Rosanne Cash
Rosanne Cash is an American singer-songwriter and author. She is the eldest daughter of the late country music singer Johnny Cash and his first wife, Vivian Liberto Cash Distin....
released her acclaimed album The List
The List (album)
-Personnel:*Rosanne Cash – vocals*Bruce Springsteen – vocals*Jeff Tweedy – vocals*Rufus Wainwright – vocals*Elvis Costello – vocals*Joe Bonadio – drums*Zev Katz – bass...
. 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.