Carlene Carter

Carlene Carter was born into country music royalty, the daughter of June Carter of the esteemed Carter Family and Carl Smith, Country Music Hall of Fame member best known for his hit "Hey Joe."

After an early appearance on stepfather Johnny Cash's The Junkie and The Juicehead Minus Me album [alongside stepsister Rosanne Cash], she signed to Warner Brothers and made some pleasant records-----one backed by members of Graham Parker's Rumour---before coming out with what must stand as one of the finest rockin' country records ever, Musical Shapes. Backed by then-husband Nick Lowe and his group Rockpile [featuring Dave Edmunds and the criminally underrated Billy Bremner], she turned out an album that has tune, grit----and has been reissued here.

The flip-side of the 45 release from the album's "Baby Ride Easy", "Too Bad About Sandy" is somewhat autobiographical--a song about her ex-husband, who went on to marry her little sister. [More about that here, in an interview with Patrick Carr of the late, lamented Country Music magazine.] This song drips with tension, and I'm shocked that its profile hasn't been higher over the years---it is a classic.

Another song on the LP, "Appalachian Eyes", is a mid-tempo acoustic number with definite punch to it, and some great overdubbed harmonies by Ms. Carter. Another stunner, and I'm also shocked that no one has covered this. An overlooked gem. But this album is full of them.

She went on to have some good-sized country hits, such as "I Fell In Love", "Every Little Thing", and other numbers which stood out like a beacon of gold on Country Radio amongst all the late '80s-early 90's dreck. She had some rough times in the 90s and early 00s---all well-documented elsewhere, no need to repeat them---and has things back on track now.

I hope so. This beautiful lady, who's made some great records, needs to make some more. And I hate to sound like an advertisement, but you need Musical Shapes in your collection.

Trust me.

UPDATE: She IS working on a new album----hooray!!---- and you can get it on her fan club website, http://www.carlenecarterfanclub.com . A tip of the hat to Brad from the C.C. Fan Club for the great news!