
OSV116
A. Kenny Carter - What's That On Your Finger
B. Kenny Carter - I've Got To Find Her
KENNY CARTER is somewhat of an enigma. We assume he was a New Yorker, or at least lived in the Big Apple during his sporadic recording career. He first appeared on wax in 1961 with the pop/rocker “Hey Lover” on United Artists 308. After a 3 year gap he returned on the tiny Jola imprint with the popcorn tinged “Nothin Goin On But The Rent” before landing a contract with RCA in late 1965. The first RCA coupling emerged in ’66 and found Carter in fine form on the foot-taper “I’ve Gotta Get Myself Together” coupled with the dynamite deep soul ballad “Showdown”. Two more RCA 45s followed, of equal quality, including our chosen “B” side “I’ve Got To Find Her”. However, our “A” side, although recorded in ’66, was not released at the time. According to Ace Records, in the liner notes to Larry Bank’s Soul Family Album, it was possibly intended as an album track but the project was shelved, partly due to Carter’s difficult temperament. Whatever his personal problems Carter delivers a faultless, impassioned, vocal on “What’s That On Your Finger”, a superior version of the Willie Kendrick’s disc that appeared a year later in ’67.