Helen Myrl Carter (Jones) (September 19, 1927 – June 2, 1998) was an American country music singer. The eldest daughter of Maybelle Carter, she performed with her mother and her younger sisters, June Carter and Anita Carter, as a member of Mother Maybelle and the Carter Sisters, a pioneering all female country/folk music group. After the death of A.P. Carter in 1960, the group became known as The Carter Family.
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The Carter Family (clockwise), A.P. Carter, (Sara and A.P.’s daughter) Janette Carter, Ezra Carter, Sara Dougherty Carter, Maybelle Addington Carter, (Ezra and Maybelle’s children) June, Anita and Helen Carter. |
The original Carter Family band, which helped kick-start the country-music record industry in 1927, was begun by A. P. Carter, a railroad worker and farmer from Maces Springs, Va.; his wife, Sara, and Sara's cousin, Maybelle. The band grew with the occasional addition of Maybelle's children, including Helen.
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L-R: June, Maybelle, Anita, Helen (sitting). |
In 1943 Sara quit singing for good, and Maybelle started a new band, Mother Maybelle and the Carter Sisters, with her daughters as permanent members. Helen was 12 when she was introduced to the world over the airwaves of XET in Monterrey, Mexico, and in her teen-age years became the most dependable musician of her mother's band, playing accordion, guitar and autoharp.
In 1950 Helen married Glenn Jones of Baxley, Georgia. After the family's move to the Nashville area, they lived in Madison, Hendersonville and Dickson, Tennessee. They had four sons (Kenneth Burton, Glenn Daniel, David Lawrence, and Kevin Carter Jones) and six grandchildren. They tragically lost their son, Kenny, as the result of an auto accident, at 16 years old. At the time, Kenny had recently been signed as a recording artist for Monument Records.
Helen pursued a solo career apart from the family. She recorded for a number of historically important independent labels such as Tennessee, Republic, Starday and Hickory. She had releases on major labels such as Columbia and Okeh as well. She recorded
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duets with such acts as The Willis Brothers, Johnny Bond, famed Grand Olde Opry announcer Grant Turner, and Wiley Barkdull. In the 1960s, Helen teamed with Dolores "Tootsie" Dinning (of the
Dinning Sisters) to form a short-lived group called the Blondettes that recorded for MGM. While many of Carter's solo recordings were favourites with loyal fans and always welcomed by concert goers, they did not have a great deal of commercial success. One likely reason for Helen's limited success as a solo artist may have been competition for radio air play with other members of her famous clan.
duets with such acts as The Willis Brothers, Johnny Bond, famed Grand Olde Opry announcer Grant Turner, and Wiley Barkdull. In the 1960s, Helen teamed with Dolores "Tootsie" Dinning (of the Dinning Sisters) to form a short-lived group called the Blondettes that recorded for MGM. While many of Carter's solo recordings were favourites with loyal fans and always welcomed by concert goers, they did not have a great deal of commercial success. One likely reason for Helen's limited success as a solo artist may have been competition for radio air play with other members of her famous clan.
She died on June 2, 1998 at the Vanderbilt University Medical Centre in Nashville, Tenn. She was 70 and lived in Dickson, Tenn. She had been hospitalized for gastrointestinal problems that began over a year ago.
(Edited from Wikipedia &New York Times)