Carter Family
"Diamonds in the Rough"

The Carter Family was the First Family of country/bluegrass/old time music for years. All the original members are dead now, however, and much of their historic work is out of print. Enter the internet to the rescue. All the songs from their 1941 album, Diamonds in the Rough, have been turned into MP3s and are available by download on the internet - only through efolkmusic.com. Recorded from a Border Radio performance, the album mixes old time and gospel songs. "Diamonds in the Rough" is a classic old time gospel song,testifying to a religious conversion experience. The song includes the spoken intro, cueing you to the live nature of the performance, and you can hear the crackles and pops from the original LP. Get real and let this folk classic take you back to the days of analog and vinyl.

All the rest of the songs are pay-per-song downloads, but you can hear and download the title track for free.

Go here to find the Carter Family page at efolkmusic.com:
http://www.efolkmusic.com/ViewArtist.asp?Artist=Carter+Family

Then click on downloads. "Diamonds in the Rough" is the third track down.

Dylan was a great admirer of the Carter Family and was highly influenced by their sound. A great page lists Dylan's covers of Carter Family material. Unfortunately, some of the links to sound clips and downloads seem to be gone.
http://members.nbci.com/elstongunn/carter.html

By the way, it's part of a larger site exploring Dylan's musical roots and influences. The starting page is:
http://members.nbci.com/elstongunn/index.html

For biographical information on the historic Carter Family and how their legacy is being carried on, try the Carter Family Memorial Music Center in Hiltons, Virginia: http://www.fmp.com/orthey/carter.html

Hugh Blumenfeld, Editor
hugh@balladtree.com