Carter Family – Self-Titled

The cover art is woefully generic, the liner notes are less than useless, the album was recorded in 1991, copyrighted in 2004, and just released. And yet this is, apparently, the last Carter Family recording, meaning Helen and Anita with June and John Carter Cash and Anita’s daughter, Lori Davis Bennette. It looks and feels like the worst kind of hustle, right up until you hear those voices. Not that I’ve a clue who’s singing lead on which song, but they’re all clear and limber and not yet singing around the edges of what youth once made possible. Majestic, even. “Lonesome Valley” is, despite its words, beautifully buoyant and uptempo, “I Will Never Marry” is regal in its bearing, and the opening “Foggy Mountain Top” is simply bursting with joy. All sorts of questions follow, including: How did this record come to be, and why didn’t some smart person put those three sisters together in the studio more often? One reads that none of the sisters proved out commercially, for various reasons. Maybe not, but they sure could sing.