Stories Behind the Songs: “Family Values”
When it came to writing the song that became “Family Values”, I wanted to reflect something of the flavor of the culture of the area in which I grew up. The Carter Family sprang to mind almost immediately; Sarah, Maybelle, and A.P. hailed from Maces Springs, VA, only a stone’s throw away, and their first recordings were done in nearby Bristol, TN. The original recording was two guitars, three voices, with one guitar playing the melody line, just like the Carters, but I later decided that a bass was needed to fill out the sound.
My original idea was to emulate the church music I was most familiar with, Primitive Baptist singing, which is a capella. However, that idiom didn’t lend itself well to a verse/chorus structure, and besides that, I didn’t think I could do it justice. For an example of that type of singing, listen to Ralph Stanley (favorite son of Dickenson County, VA, where I grew up) performing “O Death” on the Oh, Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack.