In Search of A. P., Sara and Maybelle (Part 1)

I like to fancy myself somewhat of a connoisseur of music history when it comes to modern rock and roll. I am by no means the encyclopedia of the Rock and Rock Hall of Fame, nor do I claim to be, but being a radio DJ in the late 70's and early 80's, I developed a hankering to learn music history to go along with my already love of history in general. So as my better half will attest, the History Channel, and the many flavors of Discovery Channels as well as many PBS programs fill our home to help fill the bottomless pit I seem to have about various and mostly unrelated historical subjects ranging from World War II history to The Civil War (not Revolutionary War, no interest in it, so far) to the Roman times, all 500 years of it and the Wright Brothers, to name a few.

As far as music history goes, I have had an on again, off again affair with Rock and Roll history of the 50's, 60's (specializing in Beatles history) tapering off in the 70's and because of working in Country Radio in the mid to late 80's some country history, including one piece of personal history in the late 70's while I was just a part time radio DJ with an unknown group called "Alabama" and an equally unknown part-time high school DJ who you now see on CNN Sports, Mark McKay. (and no, McKay ISN'T his real last name, but Mark is his real first name.) But that is fodder for another blog post.

So a few weeks ago, after sweeps when nothing, and I mean NOTHING was on TV, I spied American Experience on PBS. It was about "hillbilly music" and the wife, being raised in the middle mountains of North Carolina, she was groomed on "mountain music," "blue grass" and "country music," I thought, well I can put up with this. It is only an hour show. I tuned over to the HD PBS channel for the widescreen version and American Experience began. It was an episode entitled "The Carter Family: Will the Circle Be Unbroken." I thought "Carter Family. HHMM. They are somehow related to June Carter Cash, wife of Johnny Cash. This might not be so bad." I am not a huge fan of Johnny Cash, but because I had seen the movie "Walk the Line" a few months back and I had come to appreciate him as an artist and performer, so all I really knew about the "Carter Family" was what I had seen in the movie (not much). And only other thing I know about them was they played "hillbilly music," Sadly, I really had no clue who these people were. At this point, I had no idea that A. P. and Sara even existed. The Carter Family to me was "Mother" Maybelle and the Carter Sisters, that June belong to. In reality, the "Carter Family" was actually a trio that performed and recorded from 1927 to 1943 and consisted of A. P. Carter on backing vocals and arrangement, his wife Sara lead signer and Autoharp and A. P.'s brother's wife Maybelle on guitar and vocals. They recorded the traditional music of the Appalachian Mountains that developed into Country Music and Blue Grass Music that then developed into the Rock and Rock of the 1950's. The Carters were the first to record it to vinyl and copywrited much of the traditional music that we know today. The arrangements of A. P. Carter are still heard in the music even when performed by today's artists such as Bob Dylan. But I am jumping ahead of myself.

The Carter Family (l-r Maybelle, A. P., Sara)

Within the first 5 minutes of the program, I was hooked. They had original recordings (did those still exist from the 1920's? They sounded pretty damn good considering they were more than likely acetates), how I don't know and even though it was indeed "hillbilly music," I heard country sounds like I had heard in the mid to late 80's in country radio and more of a shocker, rock and roll of the 50's and 60's with strains in some current rock and roll music. I was dumbfounded. How could this be and more importantly, how had I missed all this?

All of a sudden, it hit me why in the early 20th Century, it wasn't just called "Country Music" like it is now, but "Country AND Western Music." They were talking two different genre's of music that had a common element, the plight of the common man. Western music being the "original" common man's music out on the plains of the west like Gene Autry, Roy Rogers, Tom Mix, etc. Country music being hillbilly music or more correctly traditional folk music that came over to this country by word of mouth and was basically hidden in the hills of Appalachia for a couple of hundred years. Songs that I had learned as a child and incorrectly considered "children's music" was being performed by the Carters and others of the period.

After the show, I started to do some research on the Carter Family. American Experience had done a wonderful job of telling their story, but I had this drive to learn more. They had been indirectly involved in one of my favorite pieces of broadcasting history, the Mexican Borderblaster Wars (Part 1 of the 1930's and 1940's and Part 2 in the 1960's with Wolfman Jack) on Mexican stations XERA and XET. XERA was a 500,000 watt AM blowtorch located in Villa Acuna (now Cuidad Acuna) Coahuila, Mexico just across the border from Del Rio, Texas with a daytime signal heard in all 48 continental states and southern Canada. XERA had started life as XER in 1932 as a 50kW directional to the north station and was closed down by the Mexican government in 1933 after Dr John R. Brinkley, formally of Medford, Kansas, had started the station to sell his impotence cure of "goat glad" grafting. He had done this when the US government did the same thing with his station in Medford, KFKB in 1931. The doctor packed up and moved to Del Rio, Texas where he started another broadcast company, and obtain a Mexican license and built XER just across the border and began again until the Mexicans closed him down in about 18 months.

Sara (l) and Maybelle (r) in front of XERA, Villa Acuna, Mexico

In 1935, XER was reborn as XERA by Dr Brinkley where Doc set up a Mexican holding company that owned the license, but it was run from Del Rio, Texas by the quack doctor. This time, a 500,000 watt transmitter was installed to get the message of "goat glands" to the masses. After the US and Mexico signed radio treaties to stop foreign nationals from owning and controlling stations, the Mexican Federales pulled the plug on Doc Brinkley and XERA was silenced again. But not for long. In 1947 the old XERA facilities including transmitter and antenna were powered up again as XERF with Mexican nationals owning the license this time and Del Rio, Texas lawyer Arturo Gonzalez selling the air time, getting around the radio treaties and through this arrangement this is how Wolfman Jack became a household word with the rock and rollers of the early 1960's. This is also the radio station ZZ Top refers to in their song, "Heard It On the X." (Borderblaster, Part 2) The Carter Family was heard on XERA from 1937 to 1939 when the Federales shut it down. XERF still exists with a Construction Permit for 250,000 watts but only runs at 50,000 watts these days with only Mexican programming. The days of the Borderblasters long gone.


Antenna system of XER/XERA Villa Acuna, Mexico in the 1930's

After Doc Brinkley and XERA were shut down, the Carters moved on to XET Radio, another border blaster, until 1941. XET is located in Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico and also ran 500,000 watts of power aimed at the US not far from Laredo and Brownsville, Texas. XET's history isn't as storied as XERA but unlike XERA where the Carters performed live twice a day from the Mexican studios, on XET, acetates of their performances were created and then shipped to the station for playback. Many of those recordings still exist and some are available on CD in a 3 disk set called "The Carter Family on Border Radio." Many more acetates are lost forever being used by the locals as roofing material. Today XET programs Spanish langauge to Mexican citizens with only a modest 50,000 watts these days.

The Carter's radio show acetates were also played on borderblaster stations XELO, XEG, XERB, and XEPN. In 1941, the Carter's moved to WBT Radio in Charlotte for the summer season.

continued in Part 2

Local Boy Returns

"We want Chris!"

It was a day the Triad has been waiting for several weeks. McLeansville's American Idol contestant Chris Daughtry officially returns to the Triad and the area wanted to pull out all of the stops for him. Of course this isn't the first time the Triad has played host to a name made from that little singing contest that FOX runs every year.

In 2004, High Point's Fantasia (Barino) was crowned American Idol 2004 to much local acclaim just to have her turn around and dis her hometown in a "tell all" book where she admits that the Guilford County Schools left her academically illiterate. Even though Mr Daughtry didn't take the AI 2006 crown (that was Birmingham, Alabama's Taylor "Soul Patrol" Hicks) the future looks brighter for him.

His hometown of McLeansville spent this first Saturday morning of June honoring him and later in the afternoon, he and his band, Absent Element, gave a free concert at Grimsley High School in Greensboro to all who wanted to attend. At the concert, in true fashion, every entity that could hang on to his coat tails did from local businesses, local and federal elected officials and the governor's office itself. The poor woman from Governor Easley's office must have had too much Hollywood in her eyes because as she was giving Mr Daughtry one of many accolades, she misspoke. What she INTENDED to say was, "The first time you opened your mouth to sing, a wonder sound came forth." What she DID say was "The first time you opened MY mouth..." I just hope she wasn't wearing stiletto heels when she stuck her foot down her throat. Mr Daughtry wanted this concert to help the Children's Home Society of North Carolina and donations were taken for that organization.

Absent Element

Mr Daughtry, his family, band and close friends arrived in 2 very stretch limos with a police escort where they were taken around the running track of the stadium where the fans cheered and waved at the convoy and then to the schools field house. After a few minutes down in the field house preparing for the show, they emerged and walked over to the stage in front of one of the football goal posts. After an introduction that lasted too long and another 15 minutes while everything from certificates and keys to the city were bestow upon him, Mr Daughtry asked a simple question to the audience. "Wass up guys?! You ready to rock?!" The crowd goes wild and Absent Element, who has had a lead singer absent for the last 5 months begins to play. First song? Bon Jovi's "Wanted. Dead or Alive." Performed just like he did it on American Idol 3 months ago. This time, you could tell the improvement in his performance. As they played and he sang, you saw the same kind of style live that was on television. The IT factor that is needed to succeed in the record business was there on display in that high school stadium. He didn't seem to be a bar band singer, but someone you could see doing stadium concerts with people going crazy. The intensity that he showed on American Idol was there in front of his first "professional" fans. He also made a conscience effort to make contact with everyone one there. It was a beauty to behold. What he can become was there for all to see. He had graduated from local musician to up and coming star.

Wanted: Very much alive

Absent Element is not a bad sounding band. I was surprised how much the couple of cover songs they did sounded just like he had song them on the show. Most of the songs though were originals from the band's only release, an indie EP called "Uprooted."

As the show went on, you could feel that Mr Daughtry wanted this show to be just right. As important as every performance on AI with 30 million plus people watching were, this crowd of 3500 were his core, his base, his family and friends and in his short professional career, THIS was the big time, proving to the home crowd he was worth their time and support. The crowd was equally worried that they didn't disappoint him either. Several times he asked the crowd if they could hear OK or if they were bored. Each time the crowd responded enthusiastically in support for him and the band. I think neither had anything to worry about.

This audience did had a nice cross section of people. You saw the hard rockers in their tee shirts and barefoot, rednecks, older people in the 50's and 60's, and the "wine and cheese crowd" of men in their Izod shirts, khaki pants and women in their chic tops and pants and high heels along with teenage girl groupies that always hang on any celeb of any fame more than pageant queen.

As the show went on, you could tell that Mr Daughtry is tired. He had that drained look in this face that after 5 months of stress and being away from home can create. His wife and children sat on stage at the back looking on in satisfaction. On Deanna's face, his wife, you could see that all of those nights rehearsing, being gone to gigs not much more than orchestrated reasons for getting drunk and raising hell were paying off. People had come to hear him along with his band and not just for beer. And that was why many had come. To see and hear Chris Daughtry. Even though Mr Daughtry tried to play the whole "Chris Daughtry Show" circus atmosphere down, it permeated the air like a dead skunk in the middle of the road. The band has said all long that they have supported and continue to support Mr Daughtry.

One thing that came out of the Welcome Home Show was that he is on a different level than his band mates now. Even though Absent Element is a good solid band, they are, a local band. Mr Daughtry, on the other hand, is a "national name." He has doors opening for him that the others in the band do not have and may never have. Most fans of Mr Daughtry know he was in a band, but I would wager most of those people have no idea what that bands name is.

It was announced at the show that he has officially turned down Fuel's offer to be their lead singer. In my opinion, that was a smart move. After researching it, it appears that Fuel needs Mr Daughtry's celebrity more than he needs them. But on the other hand, in my opinion, if he sticks with Absent Element and tries to bring them along with him, you will never hear from him again. The public knows and wants Chris Daughtry, not Absent Element, even if Chris Daughtry is in the band.

And that is a hard thing. No one has anything against Absent Element, they are a good sounding band, I personally like them, but the record business is a hard business. It is built on a fickle lady called "fame" and she doesn't care if you live or die. People think Simon Cowell is too mean. Just the opposite. He has to tone himself down for American Idol. If he was allowed to be as nasty as record people are, he wouldn't be the person we love to hate. He would seem to be just plain mean. To quote funny woman Tracey Ullman who had a record contract in the 80's with Stiff Records in the UK, "Those bleeding record companies are nothing but thieves!"

Of course the problem is as simple as what was faced by three guys in a local band about to break national in 1962. Do they keep the drummer and stay a local band or go with a better drummer and "break nationally?" We all know that answer. Pete Best is a middle class man now in his 60's in Liverpool, England. His three band mates and a new drummer named Ringo Starr went on to be the best band in the world, The Beatles.

His final song was sung with nothing but his gutar. It was a song he had written right before AI called, "Home" and he said he was glad to be back among us.

But for a while on a sunny June Saturday, the local community welcomed home a man who is a husband, a father, a singer, an idol and a good man. I wish him all the luck in the world as he starts this wild ride of fame.

Thanks for the great afternoon Mr Daughtry. I look forward to doing it again soon.