Ric Cartey
Ric Cartey (born January 18, 1937 in Atlanta , Georgia , as Whaley Thomas Cartey , † August 5, 2009 in Palm Harbor , Florida ) was an American rockabilly musician and songwriter. Among other things, he was the composer of the hit Young Love .
Life
Ric Cartey was born in Atlanta in 1937. In the 1950s he started his career as a musician with the Jiva-Tones , with whom he also made his first recordings for Bill Lowery's label Stars Records . With Oooh-Eee / Young Love in 1956 appeared in late Carteys first single and although Lowery relied on the A side, it was written by Cartey and his then-girlfriend Carole Joyner B-side, which caused a sensation. Ken Nelson of Capitol Records performed the song Sonny James , which Young Love rearranged recorded and made a number one country hit. This was followed by cover versions of Tab Hunter , The Crew Cuts , Lesley Gore , Connie Smith and Nat Stuckey , Donny Osmond and Ray Stevens within the next few decades, which repeatedly hit the charts.
Cartey himself was bought out of the Stars contract by Steve Sholes and signed for RCA Victor . RCA re-released Cartey's version to capitalize on the success as well. However, as with Cartey's subsequent rockabilly releases, it failed to make it into the charts. In 1957, Cartey's second single was released with Heart Throb / I Wancha to Know - without success. The A-side was originally written and recorded by Tommy Spurlin , a rockabilly musician from Miami , while Cartey's third single Born to Love One Woman was originally written by Bob Johnston . When success still refused to come towards the end of 1957, RCA dropped Cartey.
In 1958 Cartey was back in Atlanta and joined Bill Lowery's new label NRC Records , where he recorded Scratching On My Screen / My Heart Belongs to You with Jerry Reed and Joe South on guitars. Loosely based on the old country blues Diggin 'My Potatoes, Scratching On My Screen is widely regarded as Cartey's best work. The song corresponded to the typical rockabilly scheme with echo padding and slapbass . Records for ABC-Paramount and El-Rico Records followed, but Cartey could not establish himself as a singer. In the following years he worked with Lowery and eventually took over his artist agency . Cartey lived in Atlanta until the early 1990s, but then moved to Florida.
Ric Cartey died in Palm Harbor, Florida in August 2009 at the age of 72.
Discography
Discography is not exhaustive.
| year | title | Label # | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1956 | Oooh-Eee / Young Love | Stars 539 | |||
| 1956 | Oooh-Eee / Young Love | RCA Victor 47-6751 | |||
| 1957 | Heart Throb / I Wancha to Know | RCA Victor 47-6828 | |||
| 1957 | Born to Love One Woman / Let Me Tell You About Love | RCA Victor 47-6920 | |||
| 1957 | Mellow Down Easy / My Babe | RCA Victor 47-7011 | |||
| 1958 | Scratching On My Screen / My Heart Belongs to You | NRC 503 | |||
| 1963 | Poor Me / Something In My Eye | ABC Paramount 45-10415 | |||
| Unpublished titles | |||||
| 1957 |
|
RCA Victor | |||
Web links
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Cartey, Ric |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Cartey, Whaley Thomas (real name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American rockabilly musician and songwriter |
| DATE OF BIRTH | January 18, 1937 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Atlanta , Georgia |
| DATE OF DEATH | August 5, 2009 |
| Place of death | Palm Harbor , Florida |