Anita Carter

Ina Anita Carter (March 31, 1933 – July 29, 1999), the youngest daughter of Ezra and Mother Maybelle Carter, was an American singer who experimented with several different types of music and played upright bass and guitar with her sisters Helen Carter and June Carter Cash and mother Maybelle Carter as The Carter Sisters and Mother Maybelle. Maybelle and her three daughters joined WSM and the Grand Ole Opry radio show in 1950 (Anita was 17 years old at the time), The Carter Sisters and Mother Maybelle were bringing in more money to WSM from their "personals" or "shows" in the early to mid 50's filling every venue that they played with droves of people outside just to hear their show or hear June make everyone laugh. WSM radio received 15% of the door and they brought in more money than any other artists for a period in the early to mid 50's. An upcoming young singer, Elvis Presley, was an added attraction when he was added to the Opry shows in 1954 after bombing at the Grand Ole Opry on October 2, 1954. Presley was billed below the Carter Sisters and Mother Maybelle for over a year and even opened some shows for the Carters when Hank Snow or Faron Young were not on the Opry tour. Anita and the Carters would stay on the tour and would be an opening act for Presley after he became a star in 1956, after his hit song "Heartbreak Hotel".

Anita Carter
Anita Carter
Background information
Birth nameIna Anita Carter
Born(1933-03-31)March 31, 1933[1]
Maces Spring, Virginia, US
DiedJuly 29, 1999(1999-07-29) (aged 66)[1]
Hendersonville, Tennessee, U.S.
GenresCountry, folk
Occupation(s)Singer-songwriter
InstrumentsBass, 12-string guitar, vocals
LabelsRCA Victor, Cadence, Columbia, Audiograph, United Artists, Liberty, Capitol
Associated actsCarter Family, The Carter Sisters, Nita, Rita & Ruby, Johnny Cash, Hank Snow, Waylon Jennings

The Carters changed their performing and recording name to the Carter Family in 1960 and joined Johnny Cash’s tour in 1961, and would later become a staple of Cash’s network TV show, filmed at the Ryman Auditorium from 1969 to 1971. Anita was said to get "thundering applause" after she would sing solo numbers like "I'll Be All Smiles Tonight" from her early teenage years until her death in 1999.

As a solo artist, and with her family, Carter recorded for a number of labels including RCA Victor, Cadence, Columbia, Audiograph, United Artists, Liberty and Capitol. Chet Atkins praised her talent on the upright bass and used her on many of his record productions. She played 12-string guitar and autoharp with the family after giving up the bass in later years.

Biography

Born in Maces Spring, Virginia, she scored two Top Ten hits in 1951 with "Down The Trail of Achin' Hearts" with Hank Snow at No. 2 and "Blue Bird Island" at No. 4. She reached the Top Ten again in 1968 with "I Got You" with Waylon Jennings at No. 4.[1] Other solo releases charted as well. Carter recorded two folk albums in the 1960s. In 1962, she recorded a song co-written by her sister June and Merle Kilgore called "Love's Ring of Fire".

After hearing her record, "Love's Ring of Fire", her future brother-in-law, Johnny Cash, reportedly dreamed of hearing Mexican horns on the record and told Anita that if her song did not hit in five or six months he would record it "the way I feel it". After the song failed to make the charts, Cash recorded it as "Ring of Fire" in March 1963 with the horns and the Carter Sisters (along with Mother Maybelle). The revised song went on to gain wide international popularity and became one of the biggest hits of his career. 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
AlbumsLabelDate
Blue Doll (Single)Cadence Records – 13331957
Together Again (with Hank Snow)RCA Victor LSPLSP – 2580Nov. 1962
Folk Songs Old and NewMercury SR – 60770Dec. 1962
Anita Carter of the Carter FamilyMercury SR – 60847Feb. 1964
So Much LoveCapitol ST – 110751972
YesterdayHouse Of Cash HOC – 10001995
Appalachian Angel: Her Recordings 1950–1972 & 1996Bear FamilyJune 22, 2004

Singles chart activity apart from Carter Family
YearTitleLabelPeak Chart PositionComments
1950 Somebody's Cryin' RCA Victor N/A
1951Down the Trail of Aching Hearts/

Bluebird Island

 2duet with Hank Snow
4
1953 There'll Be No Teardrops Tonight Columbia N/A
1955Pledging my LoveRCA Victor N/Aas 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
1967Love Me Now (While I Am Living)61
You Weren't Ashamed to Kiss Me (Last Night) N/A
1968I Got You4duet with Waylon Jennings
Cry Softly United Artists N/A
To Be a Child Again65
1969Coming of the Roads50duet with Johnny Darrell
1970Tulsa CountyCapitol41
1971 Loving Him Was Easier/

A Whole Lotta Lovin'

 N/A
61

References
  1. Bush, John. "Anita Carter Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved January 5, 2020.
  2. Polatnick, Gordon. "Anita Carter". Fuller Up The Dead Musician Directory. Retrieved January 20, 2016.
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