That girl can sing

A part of the music scene since the 1970s, Gulfport resident Valerie Carter has sung backup for a who's-who list of recording artists. Tonight she begins another tour with James Taylor.

By DAVE SCHEIBER, Times Staff Writer

© St. Petersburg Times, published June 1, 2001

[Photo: Countdown Record] Heralded background vocalist Valerie Carter has a sampler CD of songs from two prior solo efforts coming out in mid-June. She is also working on a new solo album.

Three weeks ago, Valerie Carter spent the day rushing around Gulfport doing the kinds of things people do before taking a long trip -- stocking up on food for the cat, stopping the mail and paper to her house and scouring stores for last-second items to squeeze into the suitcase.

Make that four suitcases. You can never have too much stuff when you're heading off to do another major rock tour.

That's where Carter -- called "possibly one of the best female voices on the planet" by Music Row magazine -- finds herself again until October.

The recent transplant to the Tampa Bay area has been a coveted rock studio vocalist since the '70s and is a longtime backup singer for James Taylor. His first tour since 1998 kicks off tonight in West Palm Beach and arrives Saturday night at the Ice Palace in Tampa. Carter, who recorded and toured with Taylor in the mid-'70s, has performed with him extensively for the past 10 years -- as well as with such pop-rock icons as Jackson Browne and Linda Ronstadt.

Fresh off a miniconcert on the Today show last week, Carter can hardly wait for the Tampa engagement. In the audience will be her parents, James and Dorothy Carter, and older sister Janice Carter of St. Petersburg -- the three main reasons she decided to leave Los Angeles after some 25 years and move here six months ago.

"I really felt a strong pull now to live nearby my parents, especially, and it's just so great to be so close to my family after living so far apart for so long," she says by phone from West Palm Beach, where Taylor and the band have been rehearsing this week.

"Counting all the relatives from Lakeland and other parts of Florida, and some from Atlanta, I'll probably have about 30 people backstage."

That kind of fan support prompted Taylor to quip on his last tour through Tampa, "I want everybody in the audience to turn around and look at the person next to you and just say "Hi,' because that's one of Valerie's relatives."

Carter has long been equally popular among her musical peers. Her resume includes recording or touring work with acts from Christopher Cross to the Eagles to Kenny Loggins to her former mentor, the late Lowell George of Little Feat.

But Carter has also stepped into the spotlight occasionally as a solo artist. Her 1977 debut album, Just a Stone's Throw Away, for Columbia (now Sony) Records, featured such names as Browne, Ronstadt, George and John Sebastian. The album was critically acclaimed (Lyle Lovett once called her up out of the blue to express his admiration for her singing) but was not a commercial success.

In 1996, amid countless stints harmonizing for others, she released another album, The Way It Is, for independent label Pony Canyon. Once again, the guest list of backup vocalists read like a who's who of pop: Taylor, Ronstadt, Browne, Lovett, Phoebe Snow and her fellow backup singers for Taylor -- David Lasley, Arnold McCuller and Kate Markowitz. The album contained one song (Love Needs a Heart) that she co-wrote with Browne and George. The album did well overseas but still didn't make her a household name in the States.

Now the 40-something singer (she demurs at giving her age) is pushing her solo career again. Vanilla Grits, an EP sampler of her previous work, comes out in mid-June. And she is in the midst of a new album project. The impressive guest list has already started to fall into place -- duets with Don Henley of the Eagles, Randy Newman and Inara George (daughter of Lowell) have been confirmed, and Taylor, Browne, Ronstadt, Trisha Yearwood and Emmylou Harris have all asked to sing, according to executive producer Rob Halprin.

Halprin, who has known and worked with Carter since the late '70s, plans to release the album on independent VRP Records but has high hopes of shopping it to a major label for distribution.

"Everybody is pulling together for her," says Halprin. "They're all making themselves accessible for this project, and at a reasonable price. We're getting the deal of a lifetime at a studio in Nashville. Henley and Ronstadt are working for scale. They, and everybody else, are coming in because they want to do something for Val. People have immense respect and affection for her."

Carter, who grew up in Winter Haven, says she was too shy as a little girl to sing in church or with friends. The daughter of a career Air Force father, she moved frequently, and music slowly became a way of expressing herself. Her sister, Janice, introduced her to records by Laura Nyro, Dionne Warwick, Diana Ross, Joni Mitchell and others, and the blend of folk and R&B helped forge her soulful style.

Carter moved to San Francisco and formed a band in 1974 called Howdy Moon, whose debut album was produced by Lowell George. One day in '75, he took Carter to the studio where his pal James Taylor was recording Gorilla. "I remember that James was shooting hoops, and I suppose because Lowell brought me along, James figured, she can't be too terrible," Carter recalls. "Next thing I know, Lowell and I were singing on this song, Angry Blues. That's the way things happened in the old days."

Taylor invited her to sing backup on his next effort in 1976, In the Pocket. She released her debut album in '77 and found herself opening for the Eagles in Europe. But the pressure of trying to make it as a solo act took a toll. She became unhappy with her music and stayed out of the touring spotlight for much of the '80s.

In 1990, eager to revive her career, she put out the word that she was ready to sing backup again. Browne called. Ronstadt called. And so did Taylor, who welcomed her back warmly to his musical family. He hasn't done a tour without Carter, known for her stunning high harmonies, since.

"James is such a wonderful, creative person, and a great boss," she says. "I just love singing with him. The music is so geared to vocals and lots of lush harmony, and you just couldn't sing better songs. It's a privilege to sing backup for him."

At the same time, she adds, "All four of us who sing background also have our own projects going and always have. It's very important to try to keep both identities alive."

Carter's identity is well-entrenched in rock music -- she's the subject of Jackson Browne's song That Girl Could Sing and Steve Winwood's tune Valerie. She is proud that her voice has been part of the mix for so much acclaimed music since the '70s.

"I feel very good about that," she says. "Considering the tiny town I came from, and that I had no formal training, and I was really embraced by that music community to get a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. So I look back and count my blessings."

For news about Valerie Carter on the Web, see www.valeriecarter.com or e-mail publicity@thepressoffice.net to contact Pathfinder/Jim Della Croce Management.

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