Anita Carter
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Anita Carter | |
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![]() Anita Carter | |
Background information | |
Birth name | Ina Anita Carter |
Born | [1] Maces Spring, Virginia, US | March 31, 1933
Died | July 29, 1999[1] Hendersonville, Tennessee, U.S. | (aged 66)
Genres | Country, folk |
Occupation(s) | Singer-songwriter |
Instruments | Bass, 12-string guitar, vocals |
Labels | RCA Victor, Cadence, Columbia, Audiograph, United Artists, Liberty, Capitol |
Associated acts | Carter Family, The Carter Sisters, Nita, Rita & Ruby, Johnny Cash, Hank Snow, Waylon Jennings |
Ina Anita Carter (March 31, 1933 – July 29, 1999) was an American singer who played upright bass, guitar, and autoharp. She performed with her sisters, Helen and June, and her mother, Maybelle, initially under the name Mother Maybelle and the Carter Sisters. Carter had three top ten hits and was the first to record the song "Ring of Fire".
Carter recorded for a number of labels, both as a solo artist and with her family, including RCA Victor, Cadence, Columbia, Audiograph, United Artists, Liberty and Capitol.
Biography[]
Born in Maces Spring, Virginia, she scored two top ten hits in 1951 with "Down The Trail of Achin' Hearts" and "Blue Bird Island," both duets with Hank Snow. She reached the top ten again in 1968 with "I Got You," a duet with Waylon Jennings.[1] In 1962, she recorded "Love's Ring of Fire," written by her sister June and Merle Kilgore.
After the song failed to make the charts, Johnny Cash recorded it as "Ring of Fire" in March 1963 with the horns and the Carter Sisters (along with Mother Maybelle). This version became a hit for Cash.
She appeared on The Kate Smith Evening Hour with her family and in a duet with Hank Williams, on his song "I Can't Help It (If I'm Still in Love with You)".
Marriages[]
Carter married fiddler Dale Potter in 1950 (they later divorced), session musician Don Davis in 1953 (divorced and then remarried), and Bob Wootton (lead guitarist for Johnny Cash's band The Tennessee Three) in 1974 (divorced). She had two children, Lorrie Frances and John Christopher (Jay) Davis.
Death[]
Carter suffered from rheumatoid arthritis for many years, and the drugs used to treat it severely damaged her pancreas, kidneys, and liver. She died on July 29, 1999, at the age of 66,[2] a year after eldest sister Helen and four years before middle sister June. She was under hospice care at the home of Johnny and June Carter Cash in Hendersonville, Tennessee. Her interment was in Hendersonville Memory Gardens in Hendersonville, Tennessee.
Album discography apart from Carter Family[]
Albums | Label | Date |
---|---|---|
Blue Doll (Single) | Cadence Records – 1333 | 1957 |
Together Again (with Hank Snow) | RCA Victor LSPLSP – 2580 | Nov. 1962 |
Folk Songs Old and New | Mercury SR – 60770 | Dec. 1962 |
Anita Carter of the Carter Family | Mercury SR – 60847 | Feb. 1964 |
So Much Love | Capitol ST – 11075 | 1972 |
Yesterday | House Of Cash HOC – 1000 | 1995 |
Appalachian Angel: Her Recordings 1950–1972 & 1996 | Bear Family | June 22, 2004 |
Singles chart activity apart from Carter Family[]
Year | Title | Label | Peak Chart Position | Comments |
---|---|---|---|---|
1950 | Somebody's Cryin' | RCA Victor | N/A | |
1951 | Down the Trail of Aching Hearts/
Bluebird Island |
2 | duet with Hank Snow | |
4 | ||||
1953 | There'll Be No Teardrops Tonight | Columbia | N/A | |
1955 | Pledging my Love | RCA Victor | N/A | as part of 'Nita, Rita & Ruby |
That's What Makes the Jukebox Play | N/A | |||
Making Believe | N/A | |||
False Hearted | N/A | |||
1956 | Keep Your Promise, Willie Thomas | N/A | duet with Hank Snow | |
A Tear Fell | N/A | |||
Believe It Or Not | N/A | |||
1957 | Blue Doll | Cadence | N/A | |
He's a Real Gone Guy | RCA Victor | N/A | ||
1960 | Mama (Don't Cry at My Wedding) | Jamie | N/A | |
Tryin' to Forget About You | N/A | |||
1963 | Ring of Fire | Mercury | N/A | |
1964 | Little Things Mean a Lot | N/A | ||
1965 | Twelve O'Clock High | RCA Victor | N/A | |
1966 | You Couldn't Get My Love Back (If You Tried)/
I'm Gonna Leave You |
N/A | ||
44 | ||||
I've Heard The Wind Blow Before | N/A | |||
1967 | Love Me Now (While I Am Living) | 61 | ||
You Weren't Ashamed to Kiss Me (Last Night) | N/A | |||
1968 | I Got You | 4 | duet with Waylon Jennings | |
Cry Softly | United Artists | N/A | ||
To Be a Child Again | 65 | |||
1969 | Coming of the Roads | 50 | duet with Johnny Darrell | |
1970 | Tulsa County | Capitol | 41 | |
1971 | Loving Him Was Easier/
A Whole Lotta Lovin' |
N/A | ||
61 |
Selected Studio & Guest Artist Appearances[]
Year | Artist & Title (album unless otherwise noted) | Peak Chart Position | Comments |
---|---|---|---|
1960 | Connie Smith: Cute 'n' Country | 1 | backing vocals |
1963 | Johnny Cash with the Carter Family: Blood, Seat & Tears | 80 | duet on "Another Man Done Gone" |
1966 | Connie Smith: Great Sacred Songs | 19 | backing vocals |
1967 | Porter Wagoner: Soul of a Convict & Other Great Prison Songs | 7 | backing vocals |
1967 | Porter Wagoner: Cold Hard Facts of Life | 4 | backing vocals |
1968 | Porter Wagoner: Bottom of the Bottle | 19 | backing vocals |
1968 | Porter Wagoner & Dolly Parton: Just Between You & Me | 8 | backing vocals; lead vocal on chorus of 1967 single "The Last Thing on My Mind" |
1968 | Porter Wagoner & Dolly Parton: Just the Two of Us | 5 | backing vocals |
1968 | Dolly Parton: Just Because I'm a Woman | 22 | backing vocals |
1969 | Porter Wagoner & Dolly Parton: Always, Always | 5 | backing vocals |
1969 | Waylon Jennings: Just to Satisfy You | 7 | two duet vocals |
1970 | Porter Wagoner & Dolly Parton: Porter Wayne & Dolly Rebecca | 4 | backing vocals |
1980 | Porter Wagoner & Dolly Parton: single "Making Plans" | 2 | backing vocals on original recording, 1968 |
1987 | Johnny Cash: Johnny Cash is Coming to Town | 36 | backing vocals with the Carter Family |
1991 | Johnny Cash: Mystery of Life | 70 | backing vocals |
- ^ Jump up to: a b c Bush, John. "Anita Carter Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved January 5, 2020.
- ^ Polatnick, Gordon. "Anita Carter". Fuller Up The Dead Musician Directory. Retrieved January 20, 2016.
- 1933 births
- 1999 deaths
- People from Scott County, Virginia
- American female country singers
- American country singer-songwriters
- American folk singers
- Apex Records artists
- RCA Victor artists
- Cash–Carter family
- Country musicians from Virginia
- Folk musicians from Virginia
- Cadence Records artists
- 20th-century American singers
- The Carter Family members
- 20th-century American women singers