Pop: Back to the old country; It was the day America found its musical heritage. The songs The Carter Family recorded in 1927 created the American roots sound we can still hear today, says FIONA STURGES.(Features) From: The Independent (London, England) | Date: November 22, 2002| Author: Sturges, Fiona | COPYRIGHT 2002 Independent Newspapers (UK) Ltd. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan.  All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group.Copyright information

It was a hot July day in 1927 when AP Carter, a 36-year-old fruit farmer, bundled his wife Sara, their two children - eight-year-old Gladys and seven-month-old Joe - and Sara's cousin Maybelle into a borrowed car and made the 26-mile journey from Poor Valley to Bristol, an Appalachian town straddling the border of Tennessee and Virginia.

Lured by an advert in the Bristol Herald Courier calling for local singers and musicians, and the promise of $100, the Carters went to a...