American guitarist, producer and songwriter. Born December 31, 1933 in Winnsboro, Louisiana. Died July 17, 2010. Father Deana Carter.
President of Nugget Records (2) and owner of Nugget Studios.
Carter landed a gig on the Louisiana Hayride during the 1950s, and cut a few rockabilly-oriented singles before joining Roy Orbison’s band. He performed on several records with the rock icon and later toured with roots-rocker Ronnie Hawkins and his band, the Hawks - a group that eventually morphed into The Band. Years later, Carter was recruited to play in drummer Levon Helms’ easygoing jam-band, the RCO All-Stars.
In the early 1960s, Carter moved to Nashville and became one of the town’s most in-demand musicians, playing on sessions such as Bob Dylan’s pioneering country-rock records, and perhaps most famously on Simon & Garfunkel’s mega-hit, The Boxer.
In 1968 he purchased the Nugget record label from the country comedy team of Lonzo & Oscar. Carter owned the label and ran his own Fred Carter Studios in Goodlettsville, Tennessee from 1968-1975, when financial pressure made him fold up shop. Afterwards, he continued working steadily as a session player
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