Little Love Letters

Carlene Carter

Released June 22, 1993 Giant Records

"These songs form a marvelous, eclectic quilt of colors and patterns. Overall, it's exhilarating--almost like what The Beatles did with the famous 'Sgt. Pepper's' album, only more homespun and less cryptic." NEIL POND, COUNTRY AMERICA

  1. Little Love Letter #1 (Carlene Carter / Howie Epstein / Benmont Tench)
  2. Every

Released June 22, 1993 Giant Records

"These songs form a marvelous, eclectic quilt of colors and patterns. Overall, it's exhilarating--almost like what The Beatles did with the famous 'Sgt. Pepper's' album, only more homespun and less cryptic." NEIL POND, COUNTRY AMERICA

  1. Little Love Letter #1 (Carlene Carter / Howie Epstein / Benmont Tench)
  2. Every Little Thing (Carlene Carter / Al Anderson)
  3. Wastin' Time With You (Carlene Carter / Howie Epstein / Benmont Tench)
  4. Unbreakable Heart (Benmont Tench)
  5. Sweet Meant To Be (Carlene Carter / Howie Epstein)
  6. Nowhere Train (Carlene Carter / Anni O'Brien)
  7. Long Hard Fall (Carlene Carter / Howie Epstein)
  8. Little Love Letter #2 (Carlene Carter / Howie Epstein / Benmont Tench)
  9. I Love You 'Cause I Want To (Carlene Carter / Radney Foster)
  10. World Of Miracles (Carlene Carter / Howie Epstein)
  11. First Kiss (Carlene Carter / John Jorgenson)
  12. Hallelujah In My Heart (Carlene Carter / Howie Epstein)
  13. The Rain (Carlene Carter / Bernie Taupin)
  14. Heart Is Right (Carlene Carter / Howie Epstein)

Produced by Howie Epstein. Carlene Carter - vocals, acoustic and electric guitars, mandolin, autoharp, percussion. Howie Epstein - acoustic and electric guitars, bass, banjo percussion, background vocals. Joe Romersa, Eddie Bayers - drums, percussion. John Jorgenson - acoustic and electric lead guitar, bass, mandocello, mandolin, slide guitar, clarinet, bassoon, saxophone. Benmont Tench - piano, organ, various other keyboard-related instruments. Phil Parlapiano - accordion, piano. Willie Weeks - bass. Albert Lee - acoustic guitar, mandolin. David Lindley - acoustic guitar, banjo, fiddle, mandolin. Buddy Emmons, Jay Dee Maness - pedal steel. Roy Husky Jr. - upright bass. Chorus on "I Love You 'Cause I Want To" - NRBQ, Jim Lauderdale, Andy Paley, Kathy Valentine, Dave Edmunds, Susan Cowsill, Phil Parlapiano, Joe Romersa. Photography - O'Brien and Schridde.

Carlene has inherited a beautiful, clear voice from the deep end of the gene pool. When Carlene brings that voice to a gospel song like "Hallelujah In My Heart," she's come full circle back to the "days of Grandma and her girls," as she sang on "I Fell In Love." And when she applies it to a ballad, the song doesn't turn into mush, but something delicate and soulful like "The Sweetest Thing" (from "I Fell In Love," or an acoustic lullaby such as the new record's "Unbreakable Heart"). In a Nashville full of adult-contemporary divas, her good taste is a blessing. MARK SCHONE, L.A. WEEKLY (July 16, 1993)

The love affair here is between Carter's high, lonesome voice and great songs that range from bluegrass gospel to rockabilly updates. KEITH MOERER, REQUEST

Carter, bottom line, is a skilled pop-rock singer (who cowrites most of her songs) and her latest record is Top 40 fine. CRAIG TOMASHOFF, PEOPLE

No female country singer has ever seemed as comfortable with an emphatic backbeat as Carter, and as she bomps her way through the catchy country-rock numbers on her new album, "Little Love Letters," her delight proves contagious. Carter's octave-climbing optimism is persuasive when she declares that anything is possible in this "World Of Miracles." Even better is Benmont Tench's simple wish for an "Unbreakable Heart": the tune boasts the same kind of jazzy chords that Willie Nelson wrote into "Crazy" and Patsy Cline picked up on, and Carter sings it just that classily. All in all, "Little Love Letters" marks a major step forward for Carter into the first rank of country singers. GEOFFREY HIMES, COUNTRY MUSIC

Performance * * * * Sound Quality * * * * Carlene Carter doesn't concern herself much with how things are done in Nashville. She records in California with a rock'n'roll bass player (Howie Epstein of The Heartbreakers). She does it on her schedule (it's been three years since her last album, an eternity in Music City). Daring to be different, "Little Love Letters" delivers a big payoff to country and pop music fans alike. PAUL KINGSBURY, CD REVIEW (September 1993)

These songs form a marvelous, eclectic quilt of colors and patterns. Overall, it's exhilarating--almost like what The Beatles did with the famous "Sgt. Pepper's" album, only more homespun and less cryptic. NEIL POND, COUNTRY AMERICA (January 1994)

Carlene Carter started the new wave of country music. Her album, "Little Love Letters," still continues to astound us. EXPRESSION (Sweden's Largest Daily Newspaper)

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