Will You Miss Me When I'm Gone?: The Carter Family and Their Legacy in American Music

Book Description

Will You Miss Me When I'm Gone? is the first major biography of the Carter Family, the musical pioneers who almost single-handedly established the sounds and traditions that grew into modern folk, country, and bluegrass music -- a style celebrated in O Brother, Where Art Thou?

A.P. Carter was a restless man, seemingly in a constant state of motion. On one of his travels across the sparsely settled mountains and valleys that surrounded his home in southern Virginia, he met and married a young girl named Sara Dougherty. Orphaned as a child, Sara was remote by nature but seemed to find release in singing the typically melancholy ballads that were a part of her home tradition.

For fun, A.P., Sara, and her cousin Maybelle (who married A.P.'s brother "Eck" Carter) would play and sing the hymns and ballads known in their Poor Valley community, occasionally adding songs A.P. had collected during his travels. Then, in 1927, they traveled to Bristol, Tennessee, to audition for a New York record executive who was hunting "hillbilly" talent and offering an amazing fifty dollars per song for any he recorded. These Bristol recording sessions would become generally accepted as the "Big Bang" of country music, producing two of its first stars: Jimmie Rodgers and the Carter Family.

By the early 1930s, the Carter Family was the most bankable country music group in America, with total sales of more than a million records. By the late '30s, they were appearing regularly on high-power radio station XERA, which broadcast from coast to coast. A whole generation of country people could gather around the radio and hear the sound of music that came straight from their world. Johnny Cash in Arkansas, Waylon Jennings in Texas, Chet Atkins in Georgia, and Tom T. Hall in Kentucky all listened to the Carter Family. It was their formal schooling, Country Music 101.

Inside the Carter Family, however, things were hardly perfect. Though nobody outside the family knew it, Sara had left her difficult and quixotic husband in 1933. In 1936 she won a divorce. Even throughout the long and painful breakup, the Carters kept performing together, singing an ever-widening range of new songs they wrote or old songs they remade: songs of love, of betrayal, and of the death of fondest hopes. And they kept at it even after Sara married A.P.'s cousin Coy Bays in 1939. After fulfilling a final radio contract in 1943, Sara and Coy moved to California to settle near his family. The original Carter Family never performed or recorded together again.

With Sara gone, A.P. retreated home, opened a general store, and lived out the next two decades in obscurity, the odd man out in a new and reconfigured Carter musical clan. Meanwhile, Maybelle and her daughters (Helen, June, and Anita) went out and got themselves new radio contracts, working in Richmond, Virginia; Knoxville, Tennessee; and Springfield, Missouri, before ascending to country music's ultimate stage, Nashville's Grand Ole Opry. Nearly fifty years in the business won Maybelle the title "Mother of Country Music" and the adoration of generations of guitar players and just plain listeners.

The story of the Carter Family is a bittersweet saga of love and fulfillment, sadness and loss. Will You Miss Me When I'm Gone? is more than just a biography of a family; it is also a journey into another time, almost another world. But their story resonates today and lives on in the timeless music they created.

Customer Reviews:

A Decent Biography Of The Great Carter Family But Not Enough Infomation About the Songs.......2007-08-25

The Carter Family are one of the greatest and most influential acts in the history of American music. Having my own family's roots dating back over 200 years in the Southern mountains, listening to the Carter's songs evoke powerful feelings in me. I feel transported back into another time that I never lived through but somehow know.

The writers do a credible job of telling the extradorinary Carter Family story. For example,the 1927 recordings in Bristol, Tennessee where Ralph Peer signs both the Carters and Jimmie Rodgers to recordings deals. This began the popular era of what would later become known as country music. Also covered are the broadcasts from the Mexican border town megawatt radio stations which brought the Carter's comforting voices to a nation suffering through the Great Depression. The circumstances surrounding the divorce of A.P. and Sara is discussed, as well as numerous other stories about life, love and family in Maces Springs, Virginia.

But what I found to be missing is a serious analysis of the Carter Family's music. Part of the Carter's greatness is based on A.P.'s "songcatching trips" where he travelled the Southern mountains in search of old hymns and folk ballads for the Carters to sing. I would have liked to learn more about the history and meaning of these incredible songs. Instead a larger percentage of the book is taken up with old family stories and anecdotes, often based on the lives of cousins, uncles, nieces and neighbors rather than the primary Carter Family members. I would have preferred more concise and music focused writing, perhaps dropping some of the corn pone humor and scaling the book back from it's nearly 400 pages. Also I would have appreciated a more scholarly look at the Carter's place in American music as well as more attention to compelling subjects such as the influence of African American music on the Carter Family.

For Carter Family fans and interested newcomers this is a book still worth reading. But I do hope a more song focused and analytic biography of the Carter Family will eventually be written.

A brand new look.......2006-12-26

So, you think you know everything about the Carter Family? Well, you don't until you read this book. Every single word tells about a signifant history in the Carter Family's life. From the Originals to the Carter Sisters, to Mother Maybelle, this is any Carter Fan's treasure! I absolutely loved it, and the pictures make me smile every time I look at them with even just a glance. This book will bring you lots of happiness for the rest of your life. Be sure to read my other reviews for June Carter Cash's Keep on the Sunny Side: Her lfie in Music, Wildwood Flower, Press On, The Best of the Carter Family, From my Heart, A proper introduction to the Carter Family, and Louisiana Hayride: Live Performances. Honestly, after you read this book, you'll have a brand New look at the Carter Family and their music!

Keep on the Sunny Side,
June

Keep on the Sunny Side

Not a word wasted.......2006-07-09

This book, along with Jimmy McDonough's biography of Neil Young "Shakey," is one of the best written books about popular music that I've ever read. The breadth of the research is staggering, and the prose is a curious mix of cussing and twenty-dollar words that relays the events surrounding the ascention of the Carter Family with the immediacy their massive cultural and artistic impact deserves. Zwonitzer not only provides succinct yet detailed descriptions of the Carters' everyday lives, he also lays out a vivid portrait of the full context into which the Carter Family fits. It's a fairly quick read, with tremendous amounts of information crammed into every sentence. As with the best Carter Family recordings, not a breath here is wasted, and every note hits the stomach like a punch.

If You're Reading These Reviews, Then You Probably Care Enough About the Carter Family to LOVE This Book!.......2006-07-06

If you are a fan of the Carter Family, then you will find this book interesting to the same extent that you enjoy their music, I would say!

WILL YOU MISS ME WHEN I'M GONE is a great biography that goes pretty in-depth, and explains the joys and sorrows of the lives and musical careers of the Carter Family!

It is really fascinating to read about who the original Carter Family trio were -- (A.P. CARTER, who was the songwriter, researcher, arranger, bass backup vocalist and leader of the group; and SARA CARTER, his wife, the lead vocalist and harpsichord player; and MAYBELLE CARTER, their younger cousin/in-law, backing vocalist, and the most underrated and forgotten guitar playing pioneer in musical history!), -- and how they got into the music business, and how they influenced the early music industry and country music.

All the Carter Family members sang, and their harmonies and vocal interplays are among the most sincere, skilled, and enjoyable of all country music, of any time period, though they did it first and best on record. That's a fact, in my opinion!

The second version of the Carter Family, (mother Maybelle and her three daughters, Helen, June, and Anita), is also covered in-depth in the second half of the book! This is where many characters overlap characters seen in the 2005 Johnny Cash biography movie, WALK THE LINE, (also highly recommended by me, to you).

There are plenty of interesting, informative, and entertaining photos (both family and professional promotionals) sprinkled throughout the book, too!

If I had to criticize anything, I would say that sometimes the author wanders too long explaining the peripheral things going on in America and/or the music industry. These things are fascinating, but you start to wonder why it's all included. Thankfully, most of it pays off later when these obscure, forgotten people and events cross paths with our heroes of the story, the Carter Family! Stick with it, it's worth it!

I actually started reading this book a few years back, but I got bogged down trying to picture who was who, so I ended up putting it on the shelf for years. After I saw the recent Johnny Cash biography film, WALK THE LINE, which featured some of the Carter Family members, I was better able to put names with faces and characters, and that film also rekindled my dormant interest in the Carter Family.

There is a pretty decent DVD from PBS called THE CARTER FAMILY: WILL THE CIRCLE BE UNBROKEN, which shows the author of this book, and is a terrific companion piece for this book. In fact, I'm not sure if you should read the book first, or watch the DVD biography? You decide whichever format you prefer first, and you will likely get both eventually.

The DVD sort of shows, accidentally, that there are two kinds of Carter Family fans: actual people from the South who love and live the music, and folk music loving intellectuals who love the music and its place in Americana! I am of the latter, but I grew up around plenty of Southern people, though the youngsters preferred Skynyrd, while only the older folks liked the really rootsy classics.

You should also get the two 5-disk CD sets from JSP Records, 1927-1934, and 1935-1943. These two CD sets are affordable from amazon.com, and they are the best and most economical way to have a virtually complete library of the original Carter Family's studio recording history, and there is no better collection currently available to my knowledge!

I would recommend the 1927-1934 set first, which has the most historic stuff, the most energy, and the best vibe. The 1943 set is after they had stopped living together, but is more professional sounding, yet less energetic (more melancholy); but you will likely get both after hearing the 1927 set, I trust.

A Masterful story of a Great American Music Family.......2006-03-13

A truly great book! The Carter Family left a tremendous legacy in American Music, and the author tells the complete story of it all. Wonderfully written, and very difficult to put book down once I started reading.

Book Description

Liverpool Football Club, in stark contrast to its competitors, remains locally owned, not a conglomerate or media business. Unlike its main rivals, the Liverpool club has been loathe to pursue global markets for merchandizing - though it attracts a huge fandom around the world - and its ambitions remain resolutely fixed on footballing success. No football club has ever had such an extended period of dominance in the English game, nor extended that dominance to Europe so effectively.

Many of the current crop of top young players are locally born and are a central feature of the city's nightlife, as well as national icons in pop/football/youth culture. But there are fears that the Club's great days have now passed. At the height of its powers in the 1980s, Liverpool FC was the site of two catastrophic crowd disasters, which effectively transformed the sport and added to wounding perceptions about the city's alleged sentimentality, fatalism and irreversible decline. The legacy of the Heysel and Hillsborough tragedies continues to shape the self-image of the Club and those who support it. A seething rivalry with nearby corporate giant Manchester United is a constant reminder of football's new order.

Addressing all of these concerns, as well as Liverpool's global reputation as the home of the Beatles and the 'Mersey sound', this book takes an original approach to the study of football by examining its links with other important popular culture forms, especially pop music, but also television and youth styles. In particular, however, it looks at the very special meaning of football in Liverpool.

Customer Reviews:

The only Pac-Man Book you'll need........2006-09-04

I bought Mastering Pac-Man way back in 1982 from Walden Books. This little book by Ken Uston has helped me become a Pac-Man master. One of my friends back in 1983 asked me if he could borrow itand I said yes. He studied the patterns in the bookall the way to the "Key" rounds. Then he went to Magic Mountain with his Father, brother, and another friend whom I all knew. When he got back, he told me he had reached the "Key" rounds of Pac-Man with ease. My friend wanted to keep the book, but told him he could borrow it. Eventually,I got the book back and studied the patterns as well. This book gives you all the patterns needed to beat Pac-Man. It also gives you tips and strategies that help you out. With Pac-Man available on the PS2, Gamecube, and X-Box, this book will be an invaluable guide and will pop upat certain bookstores I'm sure. If you can track a copy down, buy it now.

Classic Book For Being Odd.......2005-01-29

Why someone would write a book about such a thing beats me I care little about trying to improve my pac-man game. That is unless I ended up in a playing for money. I just think the book is funny thats all.

Late Great Ken Uston's Tome of the Yellow One.......2003-10-06

There has not been a more comprehensive work dedicated to the subject of pac-man maze patterns/stratagems ever. Written by the manic and obsessed Uston, Mastering Pac-Man will certainly help you accomplish just that. From the cherry to the infamous 9th key patterns, are all illustrated, in cohesive, precise and straightforward manner; simple to digest and memorize. Wow your friends (or anyone who has the inclination and time to watch you play pac man for over 2 hours) and rack up seven figure sums with veritable ease! Also look for his other fine work Score! Beating the Top 16 Video Games. An interesting addition to the video game enthusiast's library wherever it can be found.

A Classic about a Classic.......2000-05-21

As exact replicas of the original PAC-MAN become increasingly available via gaming consoles, I think this book will resurface. This book is great for people like me-I loved PAC-MAN but was never really that good. Now, with this book, I'm becoming a winner.

This 128-page book was published in 1981, only a year after the release PAC-MAN. Part of the draw for this game is how Uston described the game of PAC-MAN:

"PAC-MAN, a little yellow fellow who looks like he has a smile on his face"

"The player grabs the red control knob (or `joystick')"

"The ever present monsters soon catch up with and `eat' PAC-MAN"

Besides being a classic, this book gives a great discussion of the game. The game of PAC-MAN is broken down into five patterns that are presented in a very easy-to-understand manner. These five patterns are all you really need to know to master PAC-MAN. The illustrations, though simple, are excellent.

Average customer rating:
Mastering Pac-Man
Ken Uston
Manufacturer: New American Library (Signet)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: B000K7IYUQ

Average customer rating:
Mastering Pac-Man
Ken Uston
Manufacturer: New American Library
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: B000K7M5GK

Book Description

Thoroughly classroom-tested and proven to be a valuable self-study companion, Linear Control System Analysis and Design: Fifth Edition uses in-depth explanations, diagrams, calculations, and tables, to provide an intensive overview of modern control theory and conventional control system design. The authors keep the mathematics to a minimum while stressing real-world engineering challenges. Completely updated and packed with student-friendly features, the Fifth Edition presents a wide range of examples using MATLAB® and TOTAL-PC, as well as an appendix listing MATLAB functions for optimizing control system analysis and design. Eighty percent of the problems presented in the previous edition have been revised to further reinforce concepts necessary for current electrical, aeronautical, astronautical, and mechanical applications.

Systems Analysis and Design, Fifth Edition (Shelly Cashman)

Average customer rating:

Not very good for a new comer
Great delivery response time.
I have not received the product yet
Good overview of SAD but not good for serious SAD study
Comprehensive Introduction

Systems Analysis and Design, Fifth Edition (Shelly Cashman)
Gary B. Shelly , Thomas J. Cashman , and Harry J. Rosenblatt
Manufacturer: Course Technology
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0789566494

Book Description

This title presents students with real-world system analysis skills and techniques within the framework of the systems development life cycle (SDLC). Examples and cases are drawn from actual systems projects that enable students to learn in the context of solving problems, much like the ones they will encounter on the job. Students will find concepts easy to understand through the clear writing style combined with figures that illustrate current technology and concepts.

Customer Reviews:

Not very good for a new comer.......2006-09-08

This book does contain some good information. The problem, however, is that it is not easy to read or follow. This book contains too many non useful graphics and not enough detailed examples. In other words it's real pretty. At the end of each chapter there are Case Studies for the students. In many cases the book did not give enough information on how to complete them properly. I often found myself searching the internet to find answers. This book might be good for someone that has worked as an IT professional. As a new comer, however, I wouldn't recommend it. I'm going to search for a better book.

Great delivery response time........2006-03-23

The item was shipped promptly and arrived in great condition. Thanks so much for the timely shipping, as the text was used for spring semester at school.

I have not received the product yet.......2005-10-02

I think the process is too slow. I have not received the product since I paid it a month ago. Since there's some statement says it would take 6 weeks, I will wait until that day.

Good overview of SAD but not good for serious SAD study.......2004-07-05

For beginners to Systems Analysis & Design I would recommend this textbook, however do not rely on this for a serious study of Systems Analysis & Design. This book is easy to read, but the "This technique is so great, note - there are some disadvantages" can get annoying at times. Maybe this book could be used as an overview of SAD for managers. Also, the Student Study Guide provided on CD-ROM with the text is not useful for quick review of the text for an exam as each chapter takes up 80 slides and each review of each chapter takes a while to read.

Comprehensive Introduction.......2004-06-20

Ok, firstly this book has excellent presentation and pedagogy. Somebody took some serious care to ensure this book is visually pleasing and well organized. It contains a CD-rom with summaries of each chapter as well as well as weblinks, glossaries of each chapter and chapter outlines. There are no design tools CASE tools however.

Content: This book is a very good introduction to systems analysis and design: the operative word being INTRODUCTION. It paints a very broad picture in reasonable detail. There are enough examples and explanation to be able to extrapolate how to do very basic structured systems analysis. Object oriented analysis on the other hand while covered, is done so in a fairly rudimentary manner (in a toolkit- ie. appendix- rather than in the body of the book). This book is less about the mechanics of how and more about the why and why not and what you're likely to need before you do do some systems analysis. Personally I think the book by WHitten (isbn 0072552360) provides more bang for your buck in that it covers functional decomposition, functional primitives, decision tables, databases, ERDs, prototyping, OO analysis and design in greater depth and with more reality and for significantly less money. WHitten is far less accessible though, the price of being far more technical than this one- and it is fairly old now. This book is very accessible, but that comes at the cost of content. If you want deeper how-to, try Whitten...if you want a easier overview then try this. However the price is quite significant for this book.

Pedagogy wise, this book is very good. Lots of pratical examples and expositions of real life situations, review questions (no answers) directions to a web site to chase down further understanding and knowledge. A case study permeates the book which makes it very accessible because the case study I found was interesting and quite 'likely'. The toolkits (ie. appendices) are quite interesting, if somewhat 'lite'. To me, they seemed more of a checklist and point of reference than a substantive learning source.

So, in all, a nice, neat book, if rather expensive though. Look at it if you're looking for a broad overview and/or a jumping off point for systems analysis and design. ELsewhere may provide you with work of a more concrete, down to brass-tacks (leveling) nature. It can also serve as a reasonable adjunct to a more technical text, to clarify concepts and provide a philosophical overview of systems analysis and design as well as clarifying some concepts in a clear, concise way. It probably won't teach you 'deep thought' systems analysis and design however.

Average customer rating:

I would only buy this if I had to.

Eh....

Not a Teach Yourself Book

Really good teaching book

Programming Intro, Then a C++ intro

An Introduction to Programming With C++, Fifth Edition
Diane Zak
Manufacturer: Course Technology
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Introductory & Beginning | Programming | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books
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C++ Programming for the Absolute Beginner (For the Absolute Beginner)

Guide To Operating Systems, Enhanced Edition

Visual Basic 2005 How to Program (3rd Edition) (How to Program (Deitel))

A Guide to MySQL

Beginning C ++ Through Game Programming, Second Edition

ASIN: 1418836184

Book Description

An Introduction to Programming with C++, Fifth Edition is the latest C++ offering from Diane Zak. This book is distinct from other textbooks because of its unique approach, which motivates users by demonstrating why they need to learn the concepts and skills presented. Each chapter contains a Concept Lesson introducing one or more programming concepts and an Application Lesson containing five labs that help students master the concepts taught in the Concept Lesson. Also new in this edition of the book is a third lesson on .NET where students learn how to use .NET C++ commands. The new edition uses How To boxes to summarize important concepts and provide a quick reference for students. A Key Terms section has been added to the end of each Concept Lesson. The text also includes extensive end-of-chapter exercises, including Discovery and Debugging Exercises.

Customer Reviews:

I would only buy this if I had to........2007-09-20

I bought this book for an online C++ programming class. It does have some info at the end of each chapter on programming in .NET which is cool but otherwise this book is hard to read. The author repeats herself again and again. The topics covered are very basic and introduced very slowly. This may not be a fair review since I have programmed in C++ before. But if you don't have to buy this book, there are many others out there that can teach you much more concisely. This is a text book and has lots of questions and problems at the end of each chapter.

Eh...........2006-11-05

Its ok, I suppose. I was not very impressed. Rather sloppy, alot of the examples did not compile properly. If you want to get away from Programming for Window, avoid this book, because it teaches using MS VisualC++

Not a Teach Yourself Book.......2006-10-02

Okay, I'm baffled about the reviews that rave about how clearly this book explains things, because I'm a straight A student and the author has completely lost me. If you are trying to attempt to teach yourself a programmng language, this isn't the book. How do I know? Because even though I'm taking a college level class, that's practically what I'm doing - the professor isn't going over anything. I guess we're supposed to absorb it from osmosis, but it won't happen with this book. I'm reading chapters twice, and still not getting it. So, here I am, looking for something that will help me learn this stuff because this is a required class and I need to pass it...

Really good teaching book.......2005-09-09

A very good teaching book for students having the first contact with programming.

Programming Intro, Then a C++ intro.......2004-06-25

This book starts by explaing the history of Programming languages and then abstract programming theory. The first three chapters should be skipped by anyone with previous programming experience. The rest of the book moves at a snails pace introducing concepts at extremely slow pace, and at the end you can write a program that can factor pie and return it to the command prompt! Yeah! There are better books on the Learning C++, However if you have no concept of how to program, and need a very "hold your hand" approach this book would do well for you. Just don't expect to write any useful programs after reading it!

Solutions Manual for Linear Control System Analysis and Design with MATLAB, Fifth Edition

Average customer rating:

Solutions Manual for Linear Control System Analysis and Design with MATLAB, Fifth Edition
Ddazzo
Manufacturer: CRC Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Ring-bound
ASIN: 1574443844

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