# Anita Carter

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 The Carter Sisters and Mother Maybelle. Carter had three top ten hits as well as other charting singles. She was the first to record the songs "Blue Boy" and "Ring of Fire". Carter was also a songwriter, most notably co-writing the Johnny Cash hit "Rosanna's Going Wild."
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

Anita was the third daughter of Ezra and Maybelle Carter. Born in Maces Spring, Virginia, she scored two top ten hits in 1951 with "Down the Trail of Achin' Hearts" and "Bluebird Island," both duets with Hank Snow. 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 reached the top ten again in 1968 with "I Got You," a duet with Waylon Jennings. Carter also reached the top 50 with hits like "I'm Gonna Leave You" in 1966 and "Tulsa County" in 1971.
On March 26, 1952, she appeared on The Kate Smith Evening Hour with her family band "The Carter Sisters and Mother Maybelle" as the first females to represent hillbilly/country music and Music City Nashville on national television. On April 23, she returned to the program, where she performed a duet with Hank Williams, on his song "I Can't Help It (If I'm Still in Love with You)". Then on May 21, she became the first female star of the Grand Ole Opry to sing a solo on The Kate Smith Evening Hour when she sang "Just When I Needed You".

### Marriages

Carter married fiddler Dale Potter in 1950 (marriage was annulled shortly thereafter), 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.

### 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, 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 Records | June 22, 2004 |

### Singles chart activity apart from Carter Family

| Year | Title | US CW | Comments |
| 1950 | "Somebody's Cryin'" | N/A | |
| 1951 | "Down the Trail of Achin' Hearts"/" Bluebird Island" | 2 | duet with Hank Snow |
| 1951 | "Down the Trail of Achin' Hearts"/" Bluebird Island" | 4 | duet with Hank Snow |
| 1953 | "There'll Be No Teardrops Tonight" | N/A | |
| 1955 | "Pledging my Love" | N/A | as part of 'Nita, Rita & Ruby |
| 1955 | "That's What Makes the Jukebox Play" | N/A | |
| 1955 | "Making Believe" | N/A | |
| 1955 | "False Hearted" | N/A | |
| 1956 | "Keep Your Promise, Willie Thomas" | N/A | duet with Hank Snow |
| 1956 | "A Tear Fell" | N/A | |
| 1956 | "Believe It Or Not" | N/A | |
| 1957 | "Blue Doll" | N/A | |
| 1957 | "He's a Real Gone Guy" | N/A | |
| 1960 | "Mama (Don't Cry at My Wedding)" | N/A | |
| 1960 | "Tryin' to Forget About You" | N/A | |
| 1963 | "Ring of Fire" | N/A | |
| 1963 | "Voice of the Bayou" | N/A | |
| 1963 | "Running Back" | N/A | |
| 1964 | "Little Things Mean a Lot" | N/A | |
| 1965 | "Twelve O'Clock High" | N/A | |
| 1966 | "You Couldn't Get My Love Back (If You Tried)"/" I'm Gonna Leave You" | N/A | |
| 1966 | "You Couldn't Get My Love Back (If You Tried)"/" I'm Gonna Leave You" | 44 | |
| 1966 | "I've Heard The Wind Blow Before" | N/A | |
| 1967 | "Love Me Now (While I Am Living)" | 61 | |
| 1967 | "You Weren't Ashamed to Kiss Me (Last Night)" | N/A | |
| 1968 | "I Got You" | 4 | duet with Waylon Jennings |
| 1968 | "Cry Softly" | N/A | |
| 1968 | "To Be a Child Again" | 65 | |
| 1969 | "Coming of the Roads" | 50 | duet with Johnny Darrell |
| 1970 | "Tulsa County" | 41 | |
| 1971 | "Lovin' Him Was Easier"/" A Whole Lotta Lovin'" | N/A | |
| 1971 | "Lovin' Him Was Easier"/" A Whole Lotta Lovin'" | 61 | |

## Selected studio and guest artist appearances

| Year | Artist & Title (album unless otherwise noted) | Peak Chart Position | Comments |
| 1949 | Chet Atkins: "Main Street Breakdown" (single) | NA | played bass |
| 1951 | Jimmy Murphy singles including "Electricity", "Mother Where is Your Daughter Tonight", others | na | played bass, she and Murphy were the sole musicians on these sessions |
| 1960 | Connie Smith: Cute 'n' Country | 1 | backing vocals |
| 1963 | Johnny Cash with the Carter Family: Blood, Sweat and 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: The Mystery of Life | 70 | backing vocals |