Johnny Carter

Johnny Fred Carter (born June 5, 1947) is an American gospel musician and record producer.

Early years

Carter was born in Calhoun, Georgia. His mother's family was involved in gospel music, and young Carter grew up influenced by Southern Gospel quartets. By age six, he was singing on local radio station WCGA, and by age 13 became a disc jockey there. Recording local groups for broadcast on the station led to Carter's first record production in 1964 at age 17. His early heroes were the likes of record men Sam Phillips, Syd Nathan, George Goldner, and Bill Lowery.

Music producer

By 1971, he was into record production full-time, and recorded a wide variety of musical styles. His production of a 1972 album, by a Tennessee garage band called Neutral Spirits on the Regency Records label, has become a much sought-after record worldwide, and was later re-released by Florida reissue label GearFab. Playing a half-dozen instruments, arranging, engineering, and background singing were all a part of his productions.

Rediscovering gospel roots

The oldest name in gospel music recording was Bibletone Records, which had ceased to exist in the late 50's. Carter filed for the trademark registration on the name, which was granted in 1967. In the late 80's, Carter realized the nostalgia value of the Southern Gospel Quartet music he grew up on, and created a syndicated radio program called "Yesterday In Gospel Music", which eventually aired on 100 radio stations, starting the 'oldies' movement in gospel music. In 1988, Carter formed The Classics Quartet, which traveled professionally for three years, and hosted the syndicated TV program "Sing To The Lord" in 87 markets.

Music preservation and restoration

Acquiring the rights to numerous TV program and recording projects of older gospel music groups, Carter attempted to incorporate a company he wanted to call Program Services Corporation. Finding that name too close to an already-existing firm, Carter was required by the State of Georgia to list an alternate name. Since age 11, Carter had collected every record he could find from Atlanta-based NRC - National Recording Corporation, which had been originated by Atlanta music mogul, Bill Lowery. NRC and its affiliate labels were responsible for several Top Forty Hits in the late 50's,including "Rockin Little Angel" by Ray Smith, which reached #22, and "Robbin' The Cradle" by Tony Bellus, which reached # 25. Since NRC had gone out of business about 1970, National Recording Corporation was the name he proposed to the Secretary of State. So, in 1988, it was under the NRC name that Carter set about to preserve music performances from early television programs. Since most of those TV programs were recorded on outdated 2-inch QUAD video, there were few places able to play the old video tapes. Acquiring two old 2-inch AMPEX Quad machines from WAGA-TV in Atlanta, Carter soon was transferring many old TV shows to more modern video formats.

Georgia Music Hall of Fame

It was about this time that the Georgia Music Hall Of Fame was in the early stages of planning, and the GMHF called upon Carter's expertise and video library resources for their "Gospel Chapel" exhibit. One thing Carter noticed was that there was scant mention in the Hall Of Fame of NRC, even though the original label was a major springboard to the careers of Joe South, Ray Stevens, Jerry Reed, and others. Carter made a search of governmental archives to determine what, if anything, could be done to bring the Georgia-based music to light, since it had been out of print for over forty years. At the closing of the original company, NRC was under the ownership of Georgia theatre magnate Frederick G. Storey. Tracking down the Storey heirs, Carter purchased their rights to the old recordings, and began re-releasing the historical performances. The NRC recordings are now available on CD as well as digital downloads. NRC operates one of the largest automated digital recording studios in the state.