The Carter Family Project

“Jimmie Rodgers Visits the Carter Family”

Recorded sometime in August, 2011.

Well, we recorded this one last summer and have kept it “in the can” since then. Once you listen you’ll understand why we’ve kept it under wraps for so long.

This was a novelty record that paired RCA Victor’s two star country acts in one recording. The 1931 recording session yielded two painfully cornpone skits interspersed with songs in which Jimmie Rodgers “visits” the Carter Family and then, on the B side, the Carter Family “visits” Jimmie Rodgers (and his “Mother.”)

Since we are committed to recording EVERYTHING the Carter Family released, in chronicological order, we felt we had to record this right alongside masterpieces like “Thinking Tonight of My Blue Eyes” and “Amber Tresses.”

It seems incredible, but the original 1931 record actually sold 24,000 copies!

The original recording featured awkward pauses, wooden line readings, and Maybelle Carter whispering her one line (“It has a Texas license…”) from what sounds like the underside of a blanket in a corner of the studio. We encountered many of the same difficulties. We were reading from scripts, as no doubt Jimmie and the Carters were when they recorded this in 1931. We tried to just do it straight, but it was surprisingly hard to do it without sounding like we were mocking the original recording, and the whole thing seemed so ridiculous once we got into it that we couldn’t help getting a serious case of the giggles.

Among my many screw-ups here, I forgot to get Jen to sing harmony on the intro snippet of “My Clinch Mountain Home,” so right off the bat it doesn’t make sense when Charles (as A.P. Carter) cuts me off and says “Hey, girls! Stop that noise!”

Hey, what do you want?? An overdubbed, orchestrated 1970s multi-track recording?? (As you can see, I’m preemptively defensive.)

The intended flip side of the 1931 record was “The Carter Family and Jimmie Rodgers in Texas” but that one wasn’t released until after Jimmie Rodgers had kicked the bucket and suddenly RCA Victor was releasing everything he had ever recorded, regardless of the quality. (Victor would have released a recording of Rodgers sleeping if they could have). Rest assured, we also recorded that one — oh, yes! — and we’ll get it out to you as soon as we can.

The Cast:

Fran as Jimmie Rodgers

Jen as Sara Carter

Charles as A.P. Carter

Leigh as Maybelle Carter