Except that the OP’s question specifically said “the first sucessful [group] (that is, had a chart hit) to feature a woman playing an instrument as opposed to just being a vocalist.”
There have been plenty of female vocalists in country music, including Kitty Wells. Some of them played guitar while performing, but generally the guitar served as more of a prop than anything. You can bet that few, if any, played guitar on recording sessions.
The one exception is the one you mentioned, The Carter Family. While Maybelle Carter did sing, she was not the group’s principal vocalist, and her guitar work was in fact more important to the Carter Family’s distinctive sound than her vocals.
So as long as the question is broadened beyond rock ‘n’ roll, this may be the best answer yet.
[sarcastic] …And she was certainly no musician [/sarcastic].
No, No, No flames here please because she died a terribly slow painful death. It’s pretty clear it was a HUGE love that they shared, I mean no disrespect at all in that regard. But, c’mon. A keyboard player? What, did they lose her tamburine???
Ok, so this is a little ambiguous, but my memory sucks.
There was a female drummer (congas, etc.) who had a brief popularity during the disco thing. She did sing, but she also played in her dad’s latin rhythm band since she was a little kid. Her dad was a popular latin bandleader out of Oakland, CA. He owned a club there.
Can’t remember his name or her’s.
Peace,
mangeorge
[/sarcastic].