by Anastasia on November 22, 2008
Mother Maybelle and The Carter Sisters
COUNTRY MUSIC’S first family, and the most influential sister-act in Americana history, would have to be The Carter Family. The first generation of The Carter Family, which consisted of A.P. Carter, his wife, Sara Carter, and his sister-in-law Maybelle Carter (married to A.P.’s brother, Ezra), made their first recording in 1927. In that recording, the trio performed many of the songs that would become their signatures for a decade to come—songs like Can the Circle be Unbroken and Wildwood Flower. By the early 1930s, The Carter Family was nationally known, and had sold more than 300,000 records. [click to continue…]
by margaret on November 21, 2008
The Watson Twins
A recent TV Week blog entry asks, “Whatever happened to sister acts?” in a despondent sort of tone, remarking that sister acts—at least in their true form—no longer exist. As if the 1940s and 50s was the sole era with fertile enough ground to grow proper sister acts. Sure, the 50s saw wonderful singing and dancing sisters like the Andrews Sisters, the McGuire Sisters, the King Sisters, and the Lennon Sisters. And we often think of Vera Ellen and Rosemary Clooney’s portrayal of the Haynes Sisters in White Christmas (1954) as the quintessential sister act.
The Andrews Sisters
Certainly sister acts have existed as long as there were sisters and songs—long before the variety show era on television (although it is not nearly as well documented). Even today, sister acts are thriving, but with a very different face (and sound) than that of Clooney and Ellen. While the sisters of the 50s were marked by syrupy sweet smiles, and beautiful harmonies, they were also on the road to spinsterdom if they didn’t get married quick. And in the past 50 odd years, America has seen the evolution of the Sister Act within the evolving roles of women. [click to continue…]
by margaret on November 2, 2008
TODAY CLASSICAL MUSIC is blessed with the talents of many musical sisters—sisters with backgrounds as diverse as their instruments. But long before ensembles like the Ahn Trio (above) or the Kavafian Sisters took center stage (long before their members were even born), French sisters Nadia and Lili Boulanger changed the Parisian music scene. [click to continue…]
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