Deliverance Will Come

Personnel: Joe Lee Carter (vocals, guitar); Ruth Hartman, Hal McGaha (guitar); Jerry Moore (fiddle).
Liner Note Author: Colin Escott.
Recording information: Blue Jay Recording Studio, Salisbury, NC (07/20/1968-03/25/1972); Folk Festival Of The Smokies (07/20/1968-03/25/1972); Tri-State Recording Studios, Kingsport, TN (07/20/1968-03/25/1972).
Illustrator: Zana Ellis.
Photographer: Zana Ellis.
Bear Family, the respected reissue label from Germany, continues its deep mine of the Carter Family archives with this issue by A.P. and Sara Carter's youngest daughter, Janette. Along with older brother Joe, she runs the Carter Family Fold in Hiltons, VA, in the shadow of Clinch Mountain. Janette and her brother are the caretakers of the family legacy. The 31 cuts on this set contain two complete albums, Storms Are on the Ocean, originally recorded in 1972 for the tiny Birch Records label from Willamette, IL, and 1973's Howdayadoo, released on the Crosby, TN, Traditional imprint. The rest include A.P.'s "Storms Are on the Ocean," recorded for Blue Jay in 1968, a pair of live cuts issued on a Traditional collection, and two tracks from 2001, including the original "Johnny Doesn't Live Here Anymore." The remastering is excellent and the material is simply fantastic. It's a mix of Carter songs and traditional folk tunes that the Carters either did record or would have been comfortable doing so. Janette accompanies herself on autoharp on all these tracks, and has a minimal host of players -- mostly uncredited -- on others. The running time is 73 minutes and change, and the entire thing is deeply moving, plaintive, and full of emotion as well as history. Highly recommended. ~ Thom Jurek