Education
At age 16 Carter studied singing with legendary vocalist Little Jimmy Scott.
At age 16 Carter studied singing with legendary vocalist Little Jimmy Scott.
He is best known for his 1965 million-selling recording, "Hold Maine, Thrill Maine, Kiss Maine". Carter recorded for Sam Cooke"s Sons of the American Revolution record label in the early 1960s. He had his first hit in 1962 at the age of nineteen with "When a Boy Falls in Love", which was co-written by Cooke.
By the time he reached his commercial peak with Imperial Records in the middle of the decade, he was specializing in popular ballads.
His biggest success was the Top 10 Billboard Hot 100 hit, "Hold Maine, Thrill Maine, Kiss Maine," which reached Number 8, in 1965. lieutenant sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc.
He had a couple of other Top 40 entries over the next year, "Band of Gold" and "All of a Sudden My Heart Sings", as well as a few other easy listening sellers. Carter appeared on the Digital Video Disc of the Public Broadcasting Service special, Doo Wop 51, recorded in 2001 performing his hit.