Bill Carter "Ramblin' Fever" (Bear Family Records, 2022) (CD)
Once again, it's Bear Family for the win. Coming at him from his later gospel work, I knew Bill Carter had a background in hillbilly country and early rock'n'roll, but I had no idea how extensive this career was and how aggressively he pursued pop hits and mined so many styles. This fab 2-CD set gathers sixty-seven (!) early recordings from 1953-1961, including wild forays into western swing, hillbilly boogie, honkytonk, rockabilly, rock'n'roll and various attempts at pop novelty songs, as well as a string of gospel recordings which presaged his exclusive devotion to religious recordings from the early 'Sixties onward. Over twenty of the tracks are collaborations with Okie icon Black Jack Wayne, and his band The Rovin' Gamblers. This collection includes almost all the rock-oriented tracks gathered on Bear Family's Cool Tom Cat LP (below) and follows Carter right up to 1961. when he dropped out of the commercial, show-biz world of secular country... I doubt a similar set of his gospel recordings is coming anytime soon... But you never know!
Bill Carter "Cool Tom Cat" (Bear Family Records, 2021) (LP & CD)
Very much tailored to vinyl fans, this rockabilly-oriented collection gathers a dozen of Carter's most uptempo numbers on a 10" LP, accompanied by a booklet crammed with archival info, and an additional CD with more of Carter's work, including rare tracks by several rural rockers who were in his West Coast orbit. Most (though not all) of the tracks are included in the subsequent 2-CD set (above) but for vinyl fetishists, this one might be hard to resist.
The Bill Carter Singers "...Sing For You" (Vision Recording Studio, 19--?) (LP)
(Produced by Jerry Simms)
According to the liner notes, this was Bill Carter's first album, recorded at Vision Recording Studio, a regional gospel label located in microscopic Denair, California, on the outskirts of Turlock. Vision was owned by Leon Harris of The Singing Harris Family band -- the label released dozens of custom albums, including quite a few by Carter's old band, The Christian Troubadours. In addition to Bill Carter on multiple instruments (you name it, he plays it) and his wife Vi on vocals, the backing band includes Harold Bell on lead guitar, J. R. Wheeler (banjo), Roy Honeycutt (steel guitar), Gary Hill (piano), Cal Harris (drums), Bill Lott (rhythm guitar), Jerry Cullipher (rhythm guitar), Bob Mercer (rhythm guitar), and Paul Landrus on piano. The disc also includes extensive liner notes which mention Carter's secular career, and earlier releases on labels such as GM, Republic and Tally Records, and his conversion to Christianity in 1961.
The Bill Carter Singers "Our Best To You" (Vision Recording Company, 19--?) (LP)
(Produced by Jerry Simms)
With a mailing address in Granger, Washington, but his heart left in Modesto, Bill Carter headed back down to California to cut another album with the good, old Vision label. The band includes Bill Carter on vocals and bass, along with Roger Ely (lead guitar), Jerry Simms, Jr. (drums), and various rhythm guitarists: Gary Jordan, Floyd Siegler, and Junior Wheeler.
The Bill Carter Singers "Sing It Like It Is" (Brad Records, 19--?) (LP)
(Produced by Bill Carter)
Nope, not those Carters. This was a country gospel band led by bassist Bill Carter who had helped anchor the Christian Troubadours, a twangy band from Stockton, California that recorded several albums over the years. Carter seems to have moved up to Oregon at some point, and set up shop producing custom-label albums for gospel singers in the Pacific Northwest. He may have split his time between those two gigs, as there are some Troubadours albums of later vintage where he's still in the band. Alas, there's no info on the other musicians playing on this album, though most of the songs were written by Bill Carter and Vi Carter solo or as a team or together; there's also one song each penned by Richard Reneau and Ruby Kitchen. Not sure of the date on this disc, but it looks mid- to late-1970s.
The Carter Singers "A Better Song" (Brad Records, 19--?) (LP)
(Produced by Gene Breeden & Robert Seymour)
The Carters "Sing It Like It Is" (Brad Records, 19--?) (LP)
(Produced by Bill Carter)
Nope, not those Carters. This was a country gospel band led by Bill Carter, after he moved up to Oregon at some point, and set up shop producing custom-label albums for gospel singers in the Pacific Northwest. He may have split his time between those two gigs, as there are some Troubadours albums of later vintage where he's still in the band. Alas, there's no info on the other musicians playing on this album, though most of the songs were written by Bill Carter and Vi Carter solo or as a team or together; there's also one song each penned by Richard Reneau and Ruby Kitchen. Not sure of the date on this disc, but it looks mid- to late-1970s.
The Carters "Take His Love" (Brad Records, 19--?) (LP)
The Carters "Gospel The Way We Like It" (Brad Records, 19--?) (LP)
(Produced by Gene Breeden & Robert Seymour)
The (Bill) Carter Singers "City Of Light" (Vision Recording Studio, 19--?) (LP)
(Produced by Bill Carter)
The Bill Carter Singers "A Bouquet Of Songs" (Vision Records, 19--?) (LP)
(Produced by Bill Carter & Jack Logan)
No date on this disc, though it appears to be one of the later Vision albums, recorded in Nashville and simultaneously released on Carter's own Washington-based Brad Records. There were at least three different editions of this album, each with different cover art... The lineup pictured on the front cover(s) includes Bill and Vi Carter, along with their sons, while the liner notes indicate that they were backed in the studio by Jim Baker (steel guitar), Roger Ely (rhythm guitar), Paul Landrus (piano), Don Richardson (drums) and Bruce Watkins (banjo and guitar). The repertoire is pretty diverse: theres' one original, "As For Me," credited to Vi Carter, as well as one by Roger Ely ("When I Met Him There"), a Hemphills tune ("It Might As Well Be Me") and covers of "Jesus Take A Hold" by Merle Haggard and Dolly Parton's "Old Time Preacher Man." There are also a couple of songs credited to Richard Reneau ("I Cannot Tell It All" and "Spread A Little Sunshine Around") who I'd guess was a personal friend of the Carters. A nice, low-key country set which doesn't skip on the twang, though it's got a fairly laid back tempo; Vi Carter's heartfelt composition is definitely an album highlight.
The Bill Carter Singers "A Welcome Sound" (Praise Records, 19--?) (LP)
The Carters "At Home In The Country" (Peace Arch Recording, 19--?) (LP)
A bit of a mystery disc here -- definitely Bill Carter and his family band, but a late 'Seventies (?) edition featuring a teenage kid who I assume was his son, and who looks maybe thirteen or fourteen years old. This is a pretty good album for the Carters, lively, and with a full sound, and plenty of strong original material. Unfortunately, though, there's no information about the recording sessions -- where they took place, who was in the band, who produced the album -- and also no release date. Any information is welcome.
Bill Carter "The Gospel Troubadour" (Crusade Enterprises, 19--?) (LP)
(Produced by Bill Casiolari, Ray Harris & Bill Carter)
The Countrymen "With Good News" (Psalms Records, 19--?) (LP)
(Produced by Stan Anderson)
A true-twang gospel group from Stockton, California featuring Jerry Short on steel guitar, Jim Myers on lead, with Eldon Hicks playing rhythm and Bill Carter pluckin' bass. (Mr. Carter also played in the equally rough-edged local band, the Christian Troubadours, whose lineup changed over the years; Carter recorded at least one solo album under his own name...) Legendary Fresno, California recording engineer Stan Anderson helmed these sessions, one of countless bazillions of Central Valley gospel albums he produced...
The Countrymen "The Way To Travel" (Psalms Records, 19--?) (LP)
This lineup included lead singer Densel Alvey, along with Alvis Barnett (guitar), Bill Carter (bass) and Jerry Short (steel guitar). Rhythm guitarist Jim Newcomb
The Countrymen "With Good Listening" (Calvary Records, 19--?) (LP)
This edition of the Central Valley's twangiest gospel band centered around the guitar pickin' of Alvis Barnett, who's working in pure Chet Atkins mode on most of these tunes, with Jerry Short on bass and Densel Alvey playing rhythm guitar... They're joined by Bill Daziel plunking piano, Jim Givens on drums, and Jackie Smith adding some sweet pedal steel licks, along with a female vocal trio -- Joy Alvey, Arleigh Barnett and Doris Short -- who coo a few lines on an otherwise all-instrumental album. The music is solid, though essentially this is just a picker's album... nice if you're into that kinda thing. Recorded in Fresno, with Mosrite guitars.
Harvey Yeoman "Mightier Than The Sword" (19--?) (LP)
A super-twangy, absolutely wonderful, real-deal bedrock country gospel set from mandolin picker, singer and songwriter James Harvey Yeoman (1926-2009), longtime member of The Christian Troubadours. This "solo" album features several of his usual bandmates, including Bill Carter, Frank Petty, Philip Price (banjo and guitar) and Wayne Walters (guitar), providing solid, unflashy accompaniment on a set dominated by original material, with all but two tracks credited to Mr. Yeoman. It's great stuff, pure acoustic hillbilly twang, defined by Mr. Yeoman's rough-cut, resolutely rural vocals, which heavily echo the tone of Bakersfield icon Buck Owens, with a bit of Hank Snow's plainspoken monotone in the mix. Born in Hartford, Arkansas, Harvey Yeoman was the son of a Pentecostal preacher, and took up the mantle himself as a Pentecostal minister and evangelical musician; the contours of his career are a little fuzzy, but he seems to have been a member of the Troubadours when it was in Southern California, and moved to Tennessee when bandleader Wayne Walters set up shop in Nashville in the mid-1960s. It's not clear where or when this album was made, though it has a distinctly West Coast vibe, particularly when Yeoman leans into his Buck Owens-style vocals. Probably of 1970s vintage.
Bass player Bill Carter was part of Southern California's secular honkytonk scene before he "got religion" in 1961 and joined an evangelical band called The Christian Troubadours, which played a remarkably twangy style of country gospel. When the Troubadours moved from Southern California to Nashville, Carter came along and remained with the group until the early 'Seventies, when he returned to the West Coast. He then joined a Stockton-area band called The Countrymen, touring and recording with them for several years before heading up to Washington state, where he formed his own family band while also producing an undetermined number of mom'n'pop custom albums, often performing on these album as well as helming the sessions. Carter had a looooong career before he became a gospel artist. Originally from Arkansas, he moved out to California in his teens, and worked with just about every West Coast hillbilly artist you can think of, perhaps most notably with Cal Smith's band, in the SF Bay Area, and later with Del Reeves, whose early career he helped promote. Bill Carter cut several singles on various labels, including the influential Bakersfield indie, Tally Records. But his solo career never totally took off, and by the late 'Fifties he was doing session work for small studios in Central Valley. He found Jesus with a little help from the then-preaching songwriter Tommy Collins and joined the Troubadours not long after. (Thanks to the websites below for info on Carter's honkytonk years...)
