Carter Family – Sunshine in the Shadows

By the middle of the Depression, record sales were, not surprisingly, plummeting. “Lonesome For You”, a quirky tune similar to Alfred G. Karnes’ “I Am Bound For The Promised Land” that A.P. and Sara Carter duet on here, sold only 7,000 copies upon its release in November 1931 — a mere one-tenth of the average sales of a pre-Depression Carter Family release.

In an attempt to boost sales, RCA Victor A&R man Ralph Peer suggested combining his two most successful discoveries — the Carters and Jimmie Rodgers — for a session in Louisville, Kentucky. This disc features the four cuts laid down: two duets between Jimmie and Sara (with Maybelle playing guitar in Rodgers’ style — the Blue Yodeler was too sick to provide his own accompaniment), and two charmingly bizarre skits that have proven to be some of the most interesting recordings in either acts’ discographies.

Peer’s idea worked. When Victor released Jimmie Rodgers Visits the Carter Family that October, it sold 24,000 copies — roughly ten times the sales of the average record that fall. Six decades later, the stilted dialogue and Rodgers’ tendency to punctuate every sentence with his trademark yodel make for recordings that are at once ridiculous and endearing, not to mention historically invaluable.

The rest of this volume consists of an Atlanta session from February 1932. Opting this time out to stick to gospel songs and soothing sentimental material, the Carters (resorting back to the full-trio vocalizing that characterizes the majority of their Depression-era work) still manage to lay down several numbers that would become closely associated with the group. These recordings, heard mainly in parlors and storefronts at the time, served to comfort the shivering and hungry masses through the latter part of the Depression. The light at the end of the tunnel was still a long way off, but the Carter Family was there to provide some sunshine in the shadows.