1928

The Carter Family - Wildwood Flower

While this song was written in 1860, the Carter Family were the first to record it almost 70 years later.

And it is a beautiful recording— the song became one of the Carter Family’s most popular tunes.  This song endures on its own and through various covers (by Joan Baez and Merle Travis, to name a few), though the original lineup of the Carters broke up in 1943 when two of its three members divorced.  A later reincarnation of the band included granddaughter June Carter Cash.

Years later, in the film version of A Prairie Home Companion, Meryl Streep’s character would sardonically remark upon her character’s place on a dying talk radio show, saying, “We’re like the Carter Family…  Only, not famous.”