Background
Carter grew up with the heavy musical influences of jazz, country & western, hymns, and blues.
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Fred F. Carter
Edit Profilecomposer Guitarist musician record producer
Education
After leaving the Air Force, Carter attended Centenary Music College on scholarship as a violist despite the fact he could not read music but instead had to memorize all of his orchestral pieces.
Career
Carter was raised in the delta country in Winnsboro, the seat of Franklin Parish in northeastern Louisiana. His first instrument was the mandolin which he began playing at the age of 3. He later began playing fiddle.
While in the Air Force in his late teens, he was the band leader for the United Service Organizations variety show entertaining troops across Europe.
His bunkmate during the tour was the Military Cross and fellow serviceman Larry Hagman who went on to television fame. He started taking up guitar seriously in his early 20s and became a principle on the Louisiana Hayride.
While on the Hayride, he formed lifelong friendships with many musicians including Slim Whitman, Floyd Cramer, Sonny James, Hank Snow, Faron Young, Johnny Horton, Jim Reeves and many others Carter met Roy Orbison during this time and became part of his band and moving to Hollywood with Royal
Later, he worked with Orbison in Nashville on the Monument Sessions notably heard on Dream Baby as the opening guitar.
In the early 1960s, Carter settled into the Nashville session scene. He quickly earned a place as part of Nashville"s famous A Team. His discography for the next 3 decades is extensive and wide ranging: Carter played guitar and mandolin for two of Joan Baez"s albums in the late 1960s.
He then worked on Simon and Garfunkel"s Bridge Over Troubled Water.
Notably, Carter provide numerous memorable guitar performances including five guitar parts for "The Boxer" by Simon and Garfunkel, "I"m Just An Old Chunk Of Coal" by John Anderson, "I"ve Always Been Crazy" and "Whistlers and Jugglers" by Waylon Jennings. He also played guitar and bass on the Bob Dylan albums "Self Portrait", "Nashville Skyline", "John Wesley Harding" and on the Connie Francis hit single, "The Wedding Cake".
Production credits for Carter include Levon Helm"s American Son album on Master of Computer Applications Records, and Bobby Bridger"s "Heal in the Wisdom". He also helped Dolly Parton and Tanya Tucker land their first record deals.
This band was composed of Levon Helm, Booker T. and the MG"s, Steve Cropper, Donald "Duck" Dunn, Doctor John, Paul Butterfield and the National Broadcasting Company Saturday Night Live horns.
He also had small roles in several films including The Adventures of Huck Finn starring Elijah Wood. Carter"s daughter is singer Deana Carter. In 2008 he was profiled in an extensive article in Fretboard Journal, written by music journalist and historian Rich Kienzle.
Carter died Saturday, July 17, 2010 at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville following a stroke.
Membership
During this time Carter was also a member of the supergroup Levon Helm and the RCO All Stars, composed of Levon Helm, Booker T. Jones, Doctor John, Donald "Duck" Dunn, and the Saturday Night Live horns. Carter was a member of the band Levon Helm and The RCO All-Stars.
