Mother Maybell Carter And Her Autoharp

This LP is the start of a small series of LP`s I`ll be posting, all my Mother Maybell Carter related LP`s. I`ll not be posting Original Carter Family items though, as they have all been released on cd. What we`ll have here is post-Original Carter Family stuff, except for some radio transcription shows I have that were re-issued on LP. Also included will be Mother Maybell and the Carter Sisters items.
Now this LP we have here is an all instrumental autoharp LP. After the early 78 era of the 1920`s & 1930`s, the autoharp all but disappeared from county music. If it wasn`t for about four people, Mother Maybell Carter, Sara Carter, Ernest "Pop" Stoneman, and later Kilby Snow in the late 1950`s & 1960`s, the autoharp may have very well became extinct.
If I understand right (and I know nothing about playing autoharp), it was invented to be a chording accompaniment instrument. Sara & Maybell Carter, as well as Ernest Stoneman, developed a way, in different styles, of playing lead, or the melody, of a song. The autoharp was intended to be played laying on a table or your lap, as Ernest Stoneman did. Sara & Maybell Carter pretty much invented the fashion of holding the autoharp against your chest, as in the picture on the LP cover. This gives a different sound and tone to the instrument, a warmer tone I think. It would also project sound better to other people. Apparantly Ernest Stoneman tried to make his autoharp easier to ear by building a case for it that acted as a resonator when opened and played. If you want to compare Ernest Stonemans sound to the Carter sound, just search Ernest Stoneman in the search box at the upper left of the blog page and you can find some other items to download. Enjoy!

Click here to download Mother Maybell Carter And Her Autoharp