Carter Girl

Carter Girl
Studio album by Carlene Carter
Released	April 8, 2014
Recorded	Nashville, Hollywood, West Los Angeles
Genre	Country, Americana
Length	46:09
Label	Rounder Records
Producer	Don Was
Carlene Carter chronology
Stronger (2008) Carter Girl (2014) Sad Clowns & Hillbillies (2017)

Carter Girl is the tenth studio album by American country music singer Carlene Carter. It is her first release since 2008's Stronger , as well as her first album for Rounder Records. All twelve tracks on the album were written or co-written by a member of the Carter Family, with the majority being composed by Carlene's granduncle A.P. Carter.

Reception

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	81/100 [1]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[2]
Blurt	[3]
Exclaim!	7/10 [4]
The Guardian	[5]
Mojo	[6]
PopMatters	8/10 [7]
Q	[8]
Record Collector	[9]
Tom Hull	B+ ( ) [10]
Uncut	8/10 [11]

Carter Girl received positive critical acclaim, with Robin Denselow from UK publication The Guardian giving the album 4 out of 5 stars and saying "[Carter] has done her justice to her history", highlighting how the songs of the Carter Family have been revived with "intensity and emotion", specifically on the track "Long Black Train" which Carter has given "new maturity". Denselow also praises producer Don Was who has "captured the energy [Carter] showed in the late 1970s when she recorded in London". ^[5] Similarly, Rolling Stone Country reported that "the two original tracks on the record alone are worth the price of admission", calling Me And The Wildwood Rose a "sweetly moving tribute to Carter's grandparents, Maybelle and Ezra, told through childhood memories". ^[12] Metacritic also chose Me And The Wildwood Rose as the top track from the album, which was rated 81 based on 10 reviews, indicating universal acclaim. ^[1] Mojo called Carter Girl "unashamedly traditional, committed, personal and really quite perfect". ^[6] The Boston Globe suggesting that "this may be the best album the Carter Girl has ever made". ^[13] Similarly, AllMusic explained that "Carlene Carter has confronted the mightly legacy of the Carter Family songbook and allowed it to strengthen her music rather than buckling under its weight, and this ranks with her finest recorded work to date". ^[2] Regarding the Carter Family, PopMatters state that Carter Girl is responsible for maintaining and extending their legacy "without falsehood or artifice of any kind". ^[7] Blurt Magazine awarded the album 4 out of 5 stars, explaining that Carlene "long ago proved herself worthy of the family legacy", adding that "Carter Girl would be a highlight of her substantial discography regardless of a familial stamp". ^[3]

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Little Black Train"	A.P. Carter	2:49
2.	"Give Me The Roses"	A.P. Carter	3:28
3.	"Me And The Wildwood Rose"	Carlene Carter	4:30
4.	"Blackie's Gunman" (featuring Elizabeth Cook)	A.P. Carter	4:23
5.	"I'll Be All Smiles Tonight"	A.P. Carter	4:47
6.	"Poor Old Heartsick Me"	Helen Carter	2:41
7.	"Troublesome Waters" (featuring Willie Nelson)	Ezra Carter, Maybelle Carter, Dixie Hall	5:18
8.	"Lonesome Valley 2003" (featuring Vince Gill)	Al Anderson, A.P. Carter, Carlene Carter	5:28
9.	"Tall Lover Man"	June Carter Cash	3:55
10.	"Gold Watch And Chain"	A.P. Carter	3:17
11.	"Black Jack David" (featuring Kris Kristofferson)	A.P. Carter	2:49
12.	"I Ain't Gonna Work Tomorrow" (featuring The Carter Family)	A.P. Carter	2:44

Personnel

Credits adapted from AllMusic. ^[14]

• Jim Bessman – liner notes
• Paul Blakemore – mastering
• Joe Breen – background vocals
• Sam Bush – mandolin
• Carlene Carter – lead vocals, background vocals, acoustic guitar, piano, photography
• Marina Chavez – photography
• Bob Clearmountain – mixing
• Jack Clement – acoustic guitar
• Larissa Collins – art direction
• Elizabeth Cook – harmony vocals (track 4), background vocals (tracks 1, 5, 6 and 10)
• Greg Gartenbaum – engineering
• Vince Gill – harmony vocals (track 8)
• Rami Jaffee – keyboard, organ, piano
• Jim Keltner – drums, percussion
• Kris Kristofferson – duet vocals (track 11)
• Greg Leisz – steel guitar, electric guitar, acoustic guitar
• Tiffany Anastasia Lowe – personal assistant
• Val McCallum – electric guitar
• Blake Mills – acoustic guitar, electric guitar
• Willie Nelson – duet vocals, guitar (track 7)
• Mickey Raphael – harmonica
• Matt Rausch – engineering
• Sergio Ruelas Jr – mixing
• Wesley Seidman – engineering
• Ivy Skoff – production co-ordination
• Donna Tracy – photography
• Don Was – production, bass
• Clinton Welander – engineering
• Gerald Wenner – photography
• Chris Wilkinson – engineering
• Howard Willing – engineering

The Carter Family – duet and harmony vocals (track 10)

• Anita Carter
• Helen Carter
• June Carter Cash
• Lorrie Carter Bennett
• Johnny Cash

References

1. "Carter Girl by Carlene Carter".
2. "Carter Girl – Carlene Carter – Songs, Reviews, Credits – AllMusic". AllMusic.
3. MICHAEL TOLAND (June 30, 2014). "CARLENE CARTER – Carter Girl". Blurt Magazine.
4. Henderson, Stuart (April 8, 2014). "Carlene Carter - Carter Girl". Exclaim! . Retrieved August 11, 2025.
5. Denselow, Robin (April 10, 2014). "Carlene Carter: Carter Girl review – Johnny Cash's stepdaughter revisits Carter Family classics" – via www.theguardian.com.
6. This is unashamedly traditional: committed, personal and really quite perfect. [May 2014, p.91]
7. "Carlene Carter: Carter Girl".
8. She sounded better as a bit of a bad girl. [Jun 2014, p.106]
9. Staunton, Terry (April 16, 2014). "Carter Girl - Carlene Carter". Record Collector . Retrieved August 11, 2025.
10. Hull, Tom. "Grade List: Carlene Carter". Tom Hull – on the Web . Retrieved August 11, 2025.
11. She's in fine eloquent fettle, sinking her heart into the ever-resilient material. [May 2014, p.71]
12. "The 26 Country Albums of 2014 You Need to Hear". Rolling Stone.
13. "ALBUM REVIEW: Carlene Carter, 'Carter Girl' - The Boston Globe".
14. "Carter Girl – Carlene Carter – Credits – AllMusic". AllMusic.