Carlene Carter
Carlene Carter (* 26. September 1955 as Rebecca Carlene Smith in Nashville , Tennessee ) is an American country singer.
Beginnings
Carlene Carter, the daughter of June Carter and Carl Smith , continued the tradition of The Carter Family in the third generation . After her mother's marriage to Johnny Cash, she took part in performances by the Carter Family as a backing singer. In 1976 her voice was first heard on a recording made by her stepfather.
At the age of 16 she married Joe Simpkins, the marriage divorced two years later shortly after the birth of daughter Tiffany Anastasia. Carter studied music for a few semesters, worked briefly as a model and married John Routh at the age of 19. This marriage also ended in divorce soon after the birth of their son Jackson Routh.
Career
In 1978 she spent a short time in Los Angeles before moving to London, where her first record, the rock-oriented album Carlene Carter , was recorded. A year later she married the musician Nick Lowe , who produced her following albums Musical Shape and Blue Nun . With her idiosyncratic mix of rock and country, she was ahead of her time, and sales were correspondingly poor. She then temporarily withdrew from music and took part in a play.
The marriage with Lowe lasted until 1985. Then Carter returned to the United States, where she initially rejoined the Carter Family.
In 1987, Carter joined the Norwegian band CCCP , which the musician Casino Steel had founded after his old band Horton Steel had disintegrated. CCCP mixed different styles, other members were the later Asia singer John Payne and the Norwegian singer Claudia Scott . Together they recorded an album with cover versions called Let's spend the night together .
In the late 1980s, Carlene Carter teamed up with Howie Epstein , bassist for Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers , personally and professionally .
In 1990, after a long break from music, the album I Fell In Love was released, with which she made her breakthrough in the country scene. Responsible producer was Howie Epstein, who also contributed some songs. Carter himself wrote some titles. A composition by her great-uncle AP Carter was also used. Two singles made it into the country top 10. The following album Little Love Letters was also able to build on the high quality standard.
Her last regular album for the time being was released in 1995. A year later, Hindsight 20/20, a comprehensive compilation, was released. In 2001, Carlene Carter was arrested in a stolen sports car; it has been investigated several times for heroin possession. In 2003 Carter was sentenced to 18 months suspended sentence.
On February 4, 2006, Carlene Carter married her fiancé, actor Joseph "Joe" Breen, in Cinnamon Hill, Jamaica . From March 2006 she gave concerts again in the USA and on July 1, 2006 she performed at a country festival in Interlaken , Switzerland . At these concerts, fans were able to buy an early version of their new studio album Stronger for the first time , produced by their half-brother, John Carter Cash . In March 2008 the album was released in a new version, now produced by John McFee.
In 2014 she released the album Carter Girl , which is musically based on the earlier music of the Carter family.
She has been working closely with the musician John Mellencamp since 2015 , initially as a guest singer on his Plain Spoken Tour and finally in 2017 with the joint album Sad Clowns and Hillbillies.
Discography
Albums
| year | title |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 US
|
Country
|
|||
| 1980 | Musical shapes |
US139 (6 weeks) US |
- | |
| 1990 | I fell in love | - |
Country19 (46 weeks) Country |
|
| 1993 | Little Love Letters |
US196 (1 week) US |
Country35 (25 weeks) Country |
|
| 1995 | Little Acts Of Treason | - |
Country65 (3 weeks) Country |
|
| 2008 | Stronger | - |
Country69 (1 week) Country |
Producer: John McFee
|
| 2014 | Carter girl | - |
Country40 (1 week) Country |
Producer: Don Was
|
| 2017 | Sad clowns & hillbillies |
US11 (2 weeks) US |
- |
with John Mellencamp
|
More albums
- 1978: Carlene Carter
- 1979: Two Sides Of Every Woman
- 1981: Blue Well
- 1983: C'est C Bon
- 2006: Stronger - Pre-Release (Producer: John Carter Cash)
Live albums
- 1994: Hurricane: Live at the Crazy Horse
Compilations
- 1996: Hindsight 20/20
- 2007: The Platinum Collection
Singles
| year | Title album |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChartsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Country
|
|||
| 1979 | Do It in a Heartbeat Two Sides to Every Woman |
Country42 (8 weeks) Country |
|
| 1980 | Baby Ride Easy Musical Shapes |
Country76 (5 weeks) Country |
with Dave Edmunds
|
| 1990 | I Fell in Love I Fell in Love |
Country3 (21 weeks) Country |
|
| Come On Back I Fell in Love |
Country3 (20 weeks) Country |
||
| 1991 | The Sweetest Thing I Fell in Love |
Country25 (17 weeks) Country |
|
| One Love I Fell in Love |
Country33 (12 weeks) Country |
||
| 1993 | Every Little Thing Little Love Letters |
Country3 (20 weeks) Country |
|
| Unbreakable Heart Little Love Letters |
Country51 (8 weeks) Country |
||
| 1994 | I Love You 'Cause I Want To Little Love Letters |
Country50 (9 weeks) Country |
|
| Something Already Gone Maverick OST |
Country43 (10 weeks) Country |
||
| 1995 | Love Like This Little Acts of Treason |
Country70 (3 weeks) Country |
|
| Hurricane Little Acts of Treason |
Country75 (1 week) Country |
||
| The following songs did not appear as single, but were made available for download and streaming through the album and were thus able to achieve a placement: | |||
| 1995 | Rockin 'Little Christmas A Giant Country Christmas, Vol. 1 |
Country66 (1 week) Country |
|
More singles
- 1978: Never Together (But Close Sometimes)
- 1978: Love Is Gone
- 1979: Old Photographs
- 1980: Ring of Fire
- 1981: Oh How Happy (with Paul Carrack )
- 1981: Do Me Lover (with Paul Carrack)
- 1983: Meant It for a Minute
- 1983: Heart to Heart
- 1994: Sweet Meant to Be
- 1996: He Will Be Mine
- 2008: Bring Love
- 2014: Little Black Train
Guest Posts
| year | Title album |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
US
|
Country
|
|||
| 1983 | I couldn't say no special pain |
US32 (12 weeks) US |
- |
with Robert Ellis Orrall
|
| 1989 | Time's Up County Line |
- |
Country26 (18 weeks) Country |
with Southern Pacific
|
Web links
swell
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Carter, Carlene |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Smith, Rebecca Carlene (maiden name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American country singer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | September 26, 1955 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Nashville |