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Sara Carter

Sara Elizabeth Carter (née Dougherty, later Bayes; July 21, 1898 – January 8, 1979) was an American country music musician, singer, and songwriter. Remembered mostly for her deep, distinctive, mature singing voice, she was the lead singer on most of the recordings of the historic Carter Family act in the 1920s and 1930s. In her earliest recordings her voice was pitched very high.[1]

For the African-American model, see Sara Lou Harris Carter. For the Canadian actress, see Sarah Carter. For the American author and editor, see Sarah Carter Edgarton Mayo.

Sara Carter

Sara Elizabeth Dougherty

(1898-07-21)July 21, 1898
Copper Creek, Virginia, U.S.

January 8, 1979(1979-01-08) (aged 80)
Lodi, California, U.S.

Singer-songwriter, musician

Vocals, autoharp, guitar, guitaro

1927–1971

Legacy[edit]

Carter was inducted as part of the Original Carter Family in the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1970, along with Bill Monroe. [4] In 1993, her image appeared on a U.S. postage stamp honoring the Carter Family.[5] In 2001 she was inducted into the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Honor.[6]


On her 2008 album All I Intended to Be, Emmylou Harris includes the song "How She Could Sing the Wildwood Flower", co-written with Kate and Anna McGarrigle about the relationship between Sara and A.P., inspired by a documentary that the three of them saw on television.

Carter Family

Wolfe, Charles (1998). "The Carter Family". In The Encyclopedia of Country Music. Paul Kingsbury, Editor. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 84–5, 617.

at the Discography of American Historical Recordings.

Sara Carter recordings