Alice Carter Biography

Alice Carter certainly risks getting lost in the shuffle of blues performers with this surname; in fact, there are enough people named Carter in the world of blues that one radio progammer created an entire evening’s show entitled “Carter Blues.” Fortunately, the most obvious problem of misidentification with this particular singer was avoided by the decision of a slightly earlier recording artist to use her middle name, Alice Leslie Carter, on a series of recordings done in 1921. Alice Carter, on the other hand, made her recordings in 1923—all four of them.Female blues singers such as this pair were recorded in a grand rush in the early ’20s as record companies began to realize there was a growing audience of prospective buyers for this type of music. At first it could even be said that there was more of a demand then there was a supply, as some of the earliest performers to be recorded came more out of a theatrical background and were not even that comfortable with the blues. This was no longer the case by the time Alice Carter cut her most famous side in 1923, unsurpassed advice on what to do “If You Want to Keep Your Daddy Home”. In 1922 Carter took part in a competition amongst women blues singers held in New York City, but first prize went to Trixie Smith and her “Trixie’s Blues”. What is thought to be the complete recorded output of Alice Carter is available on the third volume of Document’s superb series entitled Female Blues Singers. Alice Leslie Carter’s sides are on the fourth volume in the series, incidentally. Alice Carter’s daughter Ramona Collins is a blues and jazz singer.