Ed Kahn collection, 1930-1999.

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Ed Kahn collection, 1930-1999.

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/64388146

Papers, photographs, and audiovisual materials relating to Kahn's research documenting American folk songs, Mexican border radio, and early country music and recording history. The bulk of the materials focus on Merle Travis and the Carter Family. Carter Family research materials include personal and professional correspondence; research files related to Kahn's dissertation on the Carter Family; transcripts from interviews with members of the Carter Family and people associated with them; letters to and from members of the Carter Family and their friends, family, and business associates; and handwritten songs found in a cabin where Sara Carter stayed after divorcing A.P. Carter. Merle Travis research materials include personal and professional correspondence; research files relating to Kahn's planned biography of Travis, including interview transcripts, discographies, sheet music, and song titles; chapter layouts and drafts for the biography; and articles and liner notes on Travis and American folk songs. Photographs chiefly represent the Carter Family, including publicity shots of the Carter children; the Carter Family performing with other artists, such as Mainer's Mountaineers, James Carson, Jimmie Rodgers, and Chet Atkins; individual images of Sara Carter, Maybelle Carter, and A.P. Carter; snapshots of the Carter Family at various points during their career; and images of friends and family. Other photographs include a publicity shot of Merle Travis and an image of Ray DeAutremont, who was involved in a 1923 train robbery. Audiovisual materials include Kahn's collection of commercially recorded transcription discs, non-commercial field recordings on open reel tape, and commercial and non-commercial audiocassettes and videocassettes. Transcription discs include recordings of Mexican border radio programs featuring the Carter Family, Patsy Montana, Cowboy Slim, the Pickard Family, and others. Open reel tapes chiefly include field recordings of early country and folk musicians, including Charlie Bowman, Mose Rager, Doc Hopkins, Ernest V. Stoneman, Clayton McMichen, the Blue Sky Boys, the Stanley Brothers, and others. Audiocassettes and videotapes chiefly record the Carter Family and Merle Travis.

ca. 900 items (11.0 linear feet)

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Information

SNAC Resource ID: 7914104

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Related Entities

There are 21 Entities related to this resource.

Carter, Maybelle, 1909-1978

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6hq3x1g (person)

Legendary country music performer. Born May 10, 1909. Died October 23, 1978. Guitarist renowned for her playing style and her crafting of the "Carter Lick." Member of the original Carter Family musical group, and mother of June, Helen, and Anita Carter. Member, Country Music Hall of Fame. From the description of Oral history interview with Maybelle Carter and Ernest V. "Pop" Stoneman; 1968 February 1; interview conducted by Bill Williams. 1968 Feb. 1. (Country Music Foundation, Libra...

Stoneman, Ernest V.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6fn1519 (person)

Carson, James M. (James Milton), 1887-1950

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6gq7p3p (person)

McMichen, Clayton, 1900-1970

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6z90r9r (person)

Clayton McMichen, who was born on January 26, 1900 in Allatoona, Georgia, began to play the fiddle when he was 11 years old. He began to gain notoriety on his instrument at fiddlers' conventions in the 1920s and on WSB radio. Soon after WSB went on the air in Atlanta in 1922 and for the following four years, McMichen was heard as the leader of a string band called the Home Town Boys. He went on to make several popular recordings with the Skillet Lickers between 1926 and 1930; in abo...

Carter, A. P. (Alvin Pleasant), 1891-1960

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6db9mv2 (person)

DeAutremont, Ray.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6ff5cn9 (person)

Travis, Merle

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6c24tnw (person)

Guitarist, songwriter, and performer. Born November 29, 1917. Died October 20, 1983. Full name: Merle Robert Travis. As a leading exponent of the thumb-style guitar technique, his innovative style influenced generations of guitar players. Songwriting credits include the classics "Sixteen Tons," "Dark as a Dungeon," and "Smoke, Smoke, Smoke (That Cigarette)." Member, Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame. Member, Country Music Hall of Fame. From the description of Oral history interview ...

Pickard Family (Musical group)

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6qg4444 (corporateBody)

Rager, Mose

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w68c9tf8 (person)

Influential guitarist. Born April 2, 1911. Died May 14, 1986. Full name: Moses Rager. Fingerstyle guitarist who influenced the distinctive styles of Merle Travis and Chet Atkins. From the description of Oral history interview with Mose Rager; 1979 May 3; interview conducted by John Lomax III; 1979 May 3. (Country Music Foundation, Library & Media Center). WorldCat record id: 58841109 ...

Rodgers, Jimmie, 1897-1933

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6fj2f5r (person)

J.E. Mainer's Mountaineers (Musical group)

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6t77tp7 (corporateBody)

Carter Family (Musical group)

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6b607rr (corporateBody)

Hopkins, Doc, b. 1899.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6s19nb2 (person)

Rinehart, Cowboy Slim, 1911-1948

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w60w008c (person)

Stanley Brothers

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6nd173g (corporateBody)

Montana, Patsy

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6hm56df (person)

Country performer. Born October 30, 1908. Died May 3, 1996. Real name: Rubye Blevins. Popular performer and recording artist, recognized for her cowgirl image and western style performances, including yodeling. Best known for her 1935 hit "I Want To Be A Cowboy's Sweetheart," which became the first million-seller for a female country & western performer. From the description of Oral history interview with Patsy Montana; 1984 June 9; interview conducted by John W. Rumble. 1984 Jun...

Carter, Sara, 1898-1979

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w60c6g4g (person)

Atkins, Chet, 1924-2001

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6833qhw (person)

Chester Burton Atkins (June 20, 1924 – June 30, 2001), also known as "Mr. Guitar" and "The Country Gentleman", was an American musician who, along with Owen Bradley and Bob Ferguson, helped create the Nashville sound, the country music style which expanded its appeal to adult pop music fans. He was primarily a guitarist, but he also played the mandolin, fiddle, banjo, and ukulele, and occasionally sang. Atkins's signature picking style was inspired by Merle Travis. Other major guitar influenc...

Blue Sky Boys.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6jt51w1 (corporateBody)

Bowman, Charlie

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w60p2jqh (person)

Kahn, Edythe T. (Edythe Thompson), 1921-

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6ns2f17 (person)

Scholar and folklorist, Ed Kahn (1938-2004) spent much of his life devoted to the study of American folk songs and early country music, conducting extensive field research and writing at length about both Merle Travis and the Carter Family. Kahn was was involved in the creation of the John Edwards Memorial Foundation (JEMF), along with Archie Green, D.K. Wilgus, Fred Hoeptner, and Eugene Earle. He was initially appointed Executive Secretary of the JEMF and was instrumental in starting the "JEMF ...