Ric Cartey

Ric Cartey (Whaley Thomas Cartey, Atlanta Georgia, 18 January 1937 - 5 August 2009) was an American rockabilly musician and songwriter. He was among others the composer of the hit "Young Love" a popular song, written by Cartey and Carole Joyner, and published in 1956. The original version was recorded by Ric Cartey With The Jiva-Tones on November 24, 1956. It was released in 1956 by Stars Records as catalog number 539 and one month later by RCA Records as catalog number 47-6751. Cartey's version never charted. The song became a hit several times over the years with well known cover versions released by Sonny James, Tab Hunter (in a version that went to number one in 1957), The Crew-Cuts and Donny Osmond who scored a number one hit on the UK Singles chart in 1973. Atlanta Music man Bill Lowrey had recorded Ric's band the Jiv-A-Tones at a radio studio in Atlanta for his Stars label. The 45 Ooh-eee written by Jerry Reed had scored a 90 in Billboard's November 24 1956 issue. Lowery played the song for Ken Nelson the Capitol A&R man, who passed on the tune and the singer but literally flipped over the B side, Young Love . Ric had written this teen lament for his current girlfriend Carole Joyner. Nelson gave the song to new Capitol artist Sonny James and the rest is history, becoming a multi million seller for both Sonny and actor Tab Hunter whose Dot 45 reached number 1, for 6 weeks. Ironically then, Ric was the recognized as a songwriter but not as an artist. Lowery approached Steve Sholes the RCA A&R man who promptly bought Lowery's 4 masters - Young Love, Ooh-Eee, Heart Throb and I Wancha To Know and signed Ric to a contract, the 4 sides were promptly issued on RCA but made not a ripple. Ric then recorded in Nashville in March '57 for RCA with Chet Atkins producing, despite songs from Jerry Reed and Joe South, with Reed playing guitar, there were no hits. In July, Ric returned with Reed, Ray Stevens on piano and Lightnin' Chance on bass but still no hit despite 5 45s for RCA, despite 2 worthy Willie Dixon R&B covers Ric and the Jiva-Tones cut the seminal Scratching On My Screen (based on folk blues classic Digging My Potatoes) on NRC 503 with Reed and South on guitars (The Jiva-Tones also cut the stone classic Flirty Gertie on Fox, then Felsted). Cartey's career never took off like Lowery s other artists. He recorded for NRC, ABC and El-Rico, maintaining his links with Lowery before eventully assuming ownership of Lowery's talent agency. Ric lives in Atlanta having wisely invested the income from Young Love. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.