Ken Burns’ Country Music on PBS

Going by that logic, shouldn't AP Carter be referred to as "Father" AP, and AP's wife Sara (lead singer of the group) should be referred to as "Mother" Sara, shouldn't she? They were just as much 'founders' as Maybelle, though Maybelle's lead guitar picking is of note, but that doesn't make her any more important as a founder of Country music than AP or Sara...

 

The logic does not apply. Sara Carter was not personally revered in the wider community. AP Carter himself had such a remote and isolated personality, that the same reverence did not apply to him.

It is surprising to me that many people do not accept that Maybelle was called Mother Maybelle in the wider community as a term of reverence and not merely because she was the biological mother of children. The reverence is more about the person's emotional and spiritual connection with others in that community than the person's particular role in a specific historical event or activity.

 

From Wikipedia on Maybelle Carter. Maybelle was deeply loved by everyone who met her. Remember, Sara went off with another man to California.

From Wiki:

She was widely respected in the Grand Ole Opry community of the early 1950s, a matriarchal figure in country music circles who was popularly known as "Mother Maybelle"

 

Maybelle definitely was a “mother” type to other people besides her own children. She gave support, love, and hot food to people that were hurtin’ like Hank Williams, Johnny Cash, and George Jones

 

I'm pretty sure when she started performing as Mother Maybelle and the Carter Sisters is the beginning of her being called "Mother Maybelle." I seriously doubt some committee sat in a room and made a decree stating that "since she was part of the beginning of country music, we bestow the title "Mother" to her name. I heard she liked to gamble as well, so maybe "Madcap" Maybelle Carter was also considered.

 

Agreed 100%... She was the matriarch ("Mother") of that group, that's where the moniker came from.

 

So did Sue Brewer and Hattie Louise “Tootsie” Bess but nobody called them "Mother" Sue or "Mother" Hattie...

Yes, but all three were part of the legendary Carter family, the group often revered to as being the founders of Country music. You yourself said "It was always about her key role as a mother of country music." Whether Sara went off with another man, or whether AP was stand-offish or whatever you'd like to call it, they were all a part of the original group that is often sited as being the founders of Country music, so they all had/have a 'role' as 'parents'...

But whatever, I'm dropping it-I know we'll never convince each other otherwise.