Wilfred Arthur Charles Carter (December 18, 1904 – December 5, 1996), professionally known as Wilf Carter in his native Canada and also as Montana Slim in the United States, was a Canadian Country and Western singer, songwriter, guitarist, and yodeller. He wrote over 500 songs. In 1971, Wilf Carter was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame. Widely acknowledged as the father of Canadian country music, Carter was Canada's first country music star, inspiring a generation of young Canadian performers.

Early years

Carter was born in

Port Hilford, Nova Scotia Port Hilford is a small community in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, located in the Municipality of the District of Saint Mary's in Guysborough County. It was the birthplace of country and western singer Wilf Carter. The place, formerly ...

, Canada. One of nine children, he began working odd jobs by the age of eight in Canning, Nova Scotia. He began singing after seeing a traveling Swiss performer named "The Yodelling Fool" in Canning. Carter left home at the age of 15 after a falling out with his father, who was a Baptist minister. In 1923, at age 18, after working as a lumberjack and singing with hobos in boxcars, Carter moved west to

Calgary Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, makin ...

, Alberta, where he became friends with Pete Knight and found work as a

cowboy A cowboy is an animal herder who tends cattle on ranches in North America, traditionally on horseback, and often performs a multitude of other ranch-related tasks. The historic American cowboy of the late 19th century arose from the '' vaquer ...

. (In 1979, Carter served as the grand marshal at the Calgary Stampede.) He made extra money singing and playing his guitar at dances, performing for tourist parties, and traveling throughout the Canadian Rockies. It was during this time that he developed his own yodelling style, sometimes called an "echo yodel" or a "three-in-one".

Radio years (1930–1940)

Carter performed his first radio broadcast on CFCN Alberta in 1930. Soon after, he was heard locally on CFAC and nationally on the CRBC. Two years later, he was entertaining tourists as a trail rider for the

Canadian Pacific Railway The Canadian Pacific Railway (french: Chemin de fer Canadien Pacifique) , also known simply as CPR or Canadian Pacific and formerly as CP Rail (1968–1996), is a Canadian Class I railway incorporated in 1881. The railway is owned by Canadi ...

, who promoted horseback excursions into the

Canadian Rockies The Canadian Rockies (french: Rocheuses canadiennes) or Canadian Rocky Mountains, comprising both the Alberta Rockies and the British Columbian Rockies, is the Canadian segment of the North American Rocky Mountains. It is the easternmost part ...

. Carter soon became very popular in the region. In 1933, he was hired as an entertainer on the maiden voyage of the British ship S.S. ''Empress''. Later that year, he stopped off in Montreal and made his first recording: "My Swiss Moonlight Lullaby" and "The Capture of Albert Johnson". After signing with the Canadian branch of

RCA Victor RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also Aris ...

, "My Swiss Moonlight Lullaby" became the first hit record ever by a Canadian country performer. That same year, Carter also wrote and recorded " Pete Knight, The King of the Cowboys," which also became a hit. For seven years (1934-1940) he hosted his own CBS country music radio program in New York City. His announcer was Bert Parks. CBS changed his the name to "Montana Slim," to appeal to American audiences. In 1935, Carter also performed on WABC radio. In 1937, Carter returned to Alberta, where he purchased a ranch. He continued to appear on CBC, NBC, and CBS until CBS dropped him in 1940. In 1940, Carter seriously injured his back in a car accident in Montana. He was unable to perform for much of the decade, but his popularity was sustained by the periodic release of new recordings.

Recording sessions

He had a recording contract with RCA-Victor for five years (1947-1952) and then moved to Nashville where he recorded with Decca from 1954 to 1957. At Decca, Carter used

Owen Bradley William Owen Bradley (October 21, 1915 – January 7, 1998) was an American musician and record producer who, along with Chet Atkins, Bob Ferguson, Bill Porter, and Don Law, was one of the chief architects of the 1950s and 1960s Nashville sou ...

's studio, featured a backing band that included Chet Atkins and Grady Martin. He sold his ranch in 1949 and moved his family to a farm in New Jersey.

Touring (1949–1985)

In 1949, Carter resumed live performances with tours in Canada and the United States. In 1950, he attracted over 50,000 people during a week at the Canadian National Exhibition bandstand in Toronto, Ontario. In 1953, Wilf Carter started touring with his own show called, 'The Family Show with the Folks You Know.' His daughters, Carol and Sheila, worked with him as dancers and back-up singers. In 1964, Carter performed for the first time at the Calgary Stampede. He also became one of the most requested guests on the TV show hosted by Canadian country singer Tommy Hunter. In the 1960s and 70s he toured with Hank Snow. In 1980, Country Music Queen Kitty Wells and her husband

Johnnie Wright Johnnie Robert Wright Jr. (May 13, 1914 – September 27, 2011) was an American country music singer-songwriter, who spent much of his career working with Jack Anglin as the popular duo Johnnie & Jack, and was also the husband of country musi ...

encouraged Carter to tour with them, which was billed as Carter's 80th Birthday Tour. From 1980 to 1985 he toured different parts of Canada. In 1985, Carter toured with Slim Whitman.

Recordings

Wilf Carter recorded over 40 original and compilation LP records for RCA Victor including ''Nuggets of the Golden West'', ''Christmas in Canada'', ''Songs of the Rail and Range'', ''Songs of Australia'', ''Wilf Carter Sings Jimmie Rogers'', and ''Let's Go Back to the Bible''. In 1983, he re-recorded many of his most popular songs for ''Fifty Golden Years''. In 1988, Carter recorded his last album, ''What Ever Happened to All Those Years''. In 1991, at age 86, he made his last concert tour, appropriately called 'The Last Round-up Tour', with shows throughout Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Ontario, and Manitoba. He retired the following year, due to his loss of hearing. Wilf Carter died in 1996 in Scottsdale, Arizona, 13 days before his 92nd birthday.

Business

In 1952, he moved, this time to

Orlando, Florida Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County, Florida, Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Greater Orlando, Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, acco ...

, where he opened the Wilf Carter Motor Lodge, a venture that lasted only two years.

Honours and awards

In 1971, Wilf Carter was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame. He was inducted into the Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame in 1984, and the following year, he was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame and the Juno Awards Hall of Fame. He was made an Honorary Chief of the Stony Indian tribe. A video documentary was released in 2000, called ''The Last Round-up: The Wilf Carter Story'', which examined Carter's distinguished career.

Legacy

He wrote hundreds of songs covering a wide range of themes, including traditional country western, cowboy, folk, and hobo songs. His recordings of "Blue Canadian Rockies" and " You Are My Sunshine" are among the most popular. Fellow Canadian country artist Ian Tyson considers Carter an influence on his music. Another Canadian artist,

Stu Davis Stu Davis (b. David Alexander Stewart; July 1, 1921 – March 25, 2007) was a Canadian singer, songwriter, storyteller and musician. Davis was inducted into the Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame in 1993. Biography Early life Stu Davis was bor ...

, acknowledged the importance of Carter's mentorship early in his career and credited him with securing Davis's first recording contract with Sonora Records in New York.

Discography

Charted albums

Charted singles

References

External links

Canadian Song Writers Hall of Fame
(Fieldwood Heritage Society)

(Fieldwood Heritage Society)
The Canadians: Wilf Carter
(Historica Canada) * *
Wilf Carter recordings
at the

Discography of American Historical Recordings The Discography of American Historical Recordings (DAHR) is a database of master recordings made by American record companies during the 78rpm era. The DAHR provides some of these original recordings, free of charge, via audio streaming, along with ...

.
Carter - Voice of Alberta

{{DEFAULTSORT:Carter, Wilf 1904 births 1996 deaths Canadian country singer-songwriters Canadian male singer-songwriters Canadian Music Hall of Fame inductees Canadian people of British descent Musicians from Calgary Musicians from Nova Scotia People from Guysborough County, Nova Scotia Yodelers Starday Records artists RCA Victor artists 20th-century Canadian male singers Deaths from stomach cancer Deaths from cancer in Arizona