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The Carter Family: Don't Forget This Song [Hardcover]

Frank M. Young , David Lasky
4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)

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Book Description

October 1, 2012
The Carter Family: Don’t Forget This Song is a rich and compelling original graphic novel that tells the story of the Carter Family—the first superstar group of country music—who made hundreds of recordings and sold millions of records. Many of their hit songs, such as “Wildwood Flower” and “Will the Circle Be Unbroken,” have influenced countless musicians and remain timeless country standards.
The Carter Family: Don’t Forget This Song is not only a unique illustrated biography, but a moving account that reveals the family’s rise to success, their struggles along the way, and their impact on contemporary music. Illustrated with exacting detail and written in the Southern dialect of the time, its dynamic narrative is pure Americana. It is also a story of success and failure, of poverty and wealth, of racism and tolerance, of creativity and business, and of the power of music and love.

Includes bonus CD with original Carter Family music.

Praise for The Carter Family:

"What a fine marriage of form and content! Humble and moving—straightforward with occasional breathtaking bravura passages—this book echoes the Carter Family's rough-hewn sounds. It tells of the lives, sorrows, and values of a lost America in short episodes like a giant stack of old 78s. Using the vocabulary of comic strips like Little Orphan Annie and Gasoline Alley, it's as obsessive in its dedication to vernacular craft and hard work as A.P. Carter himself. Frank Young and David Lasky have spun a work of visual music that will replay in your head and heart well after you've finished reading it."—Art Spiegelman, Pulitzer Prize-winning writer/artist of Maus

“Charming, faithful, and resonant . . . will charm the pants off you.” —The Comics Journal

“Lasky’s gorgeous artwork animates the story and evokes a mood that mirrors the era and the music.” —NPR.org

“Pure pleasure for anyone interested in music history.” —The Seattle Times

 

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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Frank M. Young is a writer and editor who has contributed to newspapers and magazines across the country. Born in the Deep South, he now lives in Seattle. David Lasky has written and illustrated a number of highly acclaimed comic books. Originally from Virginia, David now makes his home in Seattle.


Product Details

  • Hardcover: 192 pages
  • Publisher: Abrams ComicArts; Includes a music CD with Carter Family songs edition (October 1, 2012)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0810988364
  • ISBN-13: 978-0810988361
  • Product Dimensions: 6.5 x 0.9 x 9.5 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #290,232 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Authors

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Customer Reviews

I read the book in one sitting and keep thinking about it. M. Williams  |  5 reviewers made a similar statement
I would recommend this to any music fan, country or otherwise. functionoverform  |  3 reviewers made a similar statement
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
14 of 15 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
A masterfully told story of a group of amazing people that saved and shaped a huge part of our musical heritage. As ambitious and densely layered as a mainstream literary novel, Young and Lasky's bio-graphic-novel (we need a "biopic" term for a book like this) of the First Family of country music, the legendary Carter Family, strikes me as destined to become a classic.

I've long followed Lasky's comics. The first Lasky comic I bought (from The Million Year Picnic in Harvard Square) was a mini-comic version of James Joyce's monumental book, Ulysses! I've been a fan of Young's comics for decades as he is an old pal of mine. His modern South classic, Junior Foods, remains one of my all-time favorite comics.

I'm really glad to see this book come out -- I've been waiting for a major work from these guys for years -- and this rich book more than satisfies. The book is a solid read, dense with layers of interesting information, characterization, period detail. It's all written, drawn, and designed in a subtly changing style that mimics the newspaper comics of the era in which the story takes place -- mostly a sort of amalgam of Harold Gray and Frank King. As the years roll on, the art and coloring shifts, just as American newspaper comics did. there's even some black and white "dailies" cleverly woven into the storyline. No attention is called to this. In fact, the black-and-white sequence happens during a time when A.P. Carter is feeling emotional despair -- and, like all of the creative innovations in this book, the device works in service of the story.

Of course, you can't tell the story of The Carter Family without embracing some of the major touchstones of 20th century American culture - the rural folkways, racial issues, the changing role of women, the rise of the American city, and the early days of the recording industry and radio -- it's all a part of this multi-layered work. Lest this sound like a dry academic non-fiction book - it's anything but -- the "true" story is told as if it were a novel and with a great sense of stoic drama true to the spirit of its subject. Like the Carter Family's music, this book seems stiff and formal on the surface, but it is filled with emotional highs and lows -- all reflective of actual events, and events that will resonate with anyone who has lived and loved. Plus, you get an amazing CD of rare Carter recordings that helps deepen the reading experience. Listening to A.P. Carter sing "One Word" after reading the book was very moving for me.

Young daringly writes the dialogue in dialect -- something that Mark Twain did in "Huckleberry Finn," a book that many folks consider to be one of the greatest novels. I think the dialect works extremely well in this book. It added a lot to the reading experience by helping me to remember these folks are from another time and place, and one that is rooted in what Greil Marcus called "the old, weird America." In spite of the "otherness" of the character's speech, I never had any trouble at all understanding what I was reading -- a great job by Young.

Lasky's art is perfect for the subject matter - calm on the surface with deep passion underneath. Lasky has the ability to capture subtle body language and facial expressions that communicate worlds of emotion under the reserved surface of the Carter's world. His line is thin but strong -- humble while having great presence. I love his drawings of Sara -- you can see why A.P. fell in love with her. Despite the "fine arts" aspect of the visuals, Lasky never forgets he is working with the traditional language of comics, and so you see things like surprise lines and sweat drops flying from the character's faces. Perhaps Lasky's greatest innovation in the book is his invention of a new, powerful way to portray music graphically. I've read on their blog that Lasky and Young obsessively sought out period details for the book, and -- because of this -- it "feels" right -- a hardfought sense of authenticity prevails.

Frank Young colored the book, in addition to writing it, and his autumnal palette evokes the overall sweet melancholy of the story. Young emphasizes emotional moments with yellows, reds, and even no color at all, and it all works to help draw you into the world of the Carters.

Lastly, I knew almost nothing of the Carter Family before I read this book - and now I feel as if I know them all personally. As I read, my heart went out to both A.P. and Sara for all that they went through -- and for the family and community that bore it all with them. There is the idea that each generation naturally passes on accumulated emotional pain to the next, and this idea may -- perhaps unconsciously -- be at the heart of this book. Somehow, the Carter's music has a magic to transcend this tragic cycle, even if just for the two minutes it takes to make a 78 record. This graphic novel, in both the subject matter and the art of its presentation is a reading experience that I hope will someday not be as singular as it is now -- I wish there were lots more books like this out there.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars A.P. would be proud, I believe! October 9, 2012
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
Got my copy of "Don't Forget This Song" in the mail today. My heart is filled with music and my head filled with imagination. Better than what I would have expected, even with high hopes the first time I'd heard of it back in 2009 from their blog. Structured so imaginatively and cinematically...the mood comes at you from every page. kudos.

A combination of words, pictures and music that is very satisfying and inspirational.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Great Read February 11, 2013
By mrslate
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
I'm a big fan of the Carter Family, but not much into graphic novels. This book could change that. It tells the Carter story in a very accessible way, and covers virtually all of the important details. And there is just something sweet about being able to attach a picture to the words. Sure you can quibble that some of the characters can be hard to tell apart, but if that is the only complaint about this book, it is worth every penny, and more.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
2.0 out of 5 stars Great Band, Great Story, Why a Graphic Novel?
The Carter Family is one of the great groups of American music and their story needs to be shared. However, there are some stories well-suited to the use of an illustrated medium... Read more
Published 13 days ago by David Linz
5.0 out of 5 stars Unique Graphic Novel
Never seen a graphic novel like this one, and it comes with a CD. Very interesting and entertaining. Great bit of Americana history.
Published 28 days ago by Gameon
5.0 out of 5 stars Don't Forget this Song
I really enjoyed thought this graphic novel was both illuminating on this famous family of folk music but also tremendously creative. Read more
Published 29 days ago by Carl Jones
5.0 out of 5 stars Don't Forget to Buy This Book!
A masterwork in the sea of amateurish graphic novels, THE CARTER FAMILY: DON'T FORGET THIS SONG is highly recommended to anyone who loves compelling storytelling. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Thad Komorowski
5.0 out of 5 stars Knowing and learning more
It is perfect for my goals, read English (I'm studying English, I speak Portuguese) and learn more about the Carter Family.
Published 1 month ago by Carla
5.0 out of 5 stars I loved this book
I absolutely loved this book. The story was wonderful and the illustrations were even more wonderful. I would recommend this to any music fan, country or otherwise. Read more
Published 4 months ago by functionoverform
5.0 out of 5 stars Informative, interesting and a great gift
I ordered five copies - one for myself and 4 for Christmas gifts. I have never had a gift go over so well. Read more
Published 4 months ago by kirstie
2.0 out of 5 stars Print too small
This is an interesting treatment of a good story, but the print is so small as to be almost illegible. It is difficult to read, even with a magnifying glass.
Published 4 months ago by HM
3.0 out of 5 stars Captivating but loosely written and graphically bland
Check this one out from the library. I certainly wouldn't pay for it. A fairly large proportion of the Carter Family story is covered and I read it all in two days. Read more
Published 5 months ago by Tom Parmenter
5.0 out of 5 stars First graphic novel I've read
In short, wonderful! This was recommended to me by a colleague who likes a very different kind of music, so I was a little suspicious but also very intrigued. Read more
Published 5 months ago by M. Williams
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