Valerie Carter

Valerie Carter possessed vocal abilities spanning soul, rock, pop, and folk, which supported a thriving path both as a standalone performer and as a highly sought session vocalist. Her entry into music came through teenage appearances at coffeehouse venues, after which she joined as one member of the short-lived country-folk trio Howdy Moon. The ensemble made its first public appearance at the famed Troubadour in Los Angeles during 1974, yet the single album it released slipped into relative obscurity. That record retains interest, however, because it contained Carter’s original composition “Cook with Honey,” later a modest success for Judy Collins, and because it brought her into contact with Lowell George, the project’s producer. George served as her mentor until his death in 1979 and, during that time, connected her with Jackson Browne, James Taylor, and numerous other artists who would figure in her ongoing work. Her debut solo album, Just a Stone’s Throw Away, assembled an extensive roster of contributors drawn from the 1970s Southern California music community, drew favorable critical notice, and led to an opening slot for the Eagles on their European dates. Although she issued a second solo album, Wild Child, two years afterward, she had largely stepped away from the industry by the early 1980s. A return late in the decade centered chiefly on backup vocal contributions to an array of projects by other performers. For most of the 1990s she also traveled as a member of Browne’s and Taylor’s touring ensembles. Renewed visibility allowed her to release The Way It Is in 1996, her first solo album in seventeen years, followed two years later by the strong EP Find a River. Valerie Carter died of a heart attack in March 2017 at the age of 64.