Diamonds in the Rough

Diamonds in the Rough was issued by Copper Creek Records on LP in 1989 (CCLP-0107), with a CD following in 1990. The recordings come from the Carter Family’s time on border radio: the label credits them as made on border radio in Mexico in 1941. From 1938 to 1941 the group had a twice-daily program on XERA, a station in Villa Acuña across the border from Del Rio, Texas, and in the 1939–40 season the broadcasts were prerecorded in San Antonio and distributed to several border stations.

The sixteen tracks are hymns and older songs, a number of them titles the Carters had already issued on Victor. “The Storms Are on the Ocean” and “Little Log Cabin by the Sea” came out in 1927; “Engine 143,” “Little Moses” and the title song, “Diamonds in the Rough,” in 1929; and “The Homestead on the Farm” in 1930. The program also includes “Room in Heaven for Me,” “Where Shall I Be?,” “Leaning on the Everlasting Arms” and “My Heavenly Home Is Bright and Fair.”