Carlene Carter's "Something Already Gone" reminds country music fans of a couple of things: there's been a lot of talents over the years in the Cash-Carter clan, and the 1994 film version of Maverick had a stacked soundtrack.
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Family Tradition
Carter was born Rebecca Carlene Smith on Sept. 26, 1955. She's the daughter of June Carter and her first husband, fellow country legend Carl Smith. She began a solo career in the '70s. Like step-sister Rosanne Cash, Carter's music started out as a rock-country hybrid before she shifted in a more traditional direction. For examples of Carter's rocking material, see "Baby Ride Easy," a 1980 single featuring then-husband Nick Lowe's Rockpile bandmate Dave Edmunds, "Cry" or "Appalachian Eyes."
After divorcing Lowe in 1990, Carter began a professional relationship with Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers bassist Howie Epstein. He produced breakout album I Fell in Love. That release separated Carter from the pack with "Me and The Wildwood Rose," a tribute to Mother Maybelle Carter. Her success in the coming years made her a likely choice when the Maverick soundtrack needed a representative from country music's first family.
Read More: 90s Country Artists You Forgot You Loved
A Classic '90s Country Sountrack
Carter's contribution to one of '90s country's great movie soundtracks was a song co-written with NRBQ guitarist turned country songwriter Al Anderson. Its video captures Carter as an artist who, like many of her contemporaries, combined emotive vocal talents with a high-energy stage show. Notice also that when she smiles, she looks a lot like her mother.
Stylistically and thematically, the song was a harmony part away from being a would-be Judds hit. Of course, Carter didn't need Naomi or Wynonna for her song to stand out on the Atlantic Records soundtrack featuring fantastic songs by Waylon Jennings ("You Don't Mess Around With Me"), Tracy Lawrence ("Renegades, Rebels and Rogues") and Radney Foster and Patty Loveless ("The Rainbow Down the Road").
In all, "Something Already Gone" is an amazing slice of '90s country from a new generation of the storied Carter family. It's one of many noteworthy songs (also see "Nowhere Train," "The Sweetest Thing," "Come On Back," etc.) by an artist with the talent to break from the norm while still honoring the multi-generational legacy of A.P. Carter.
"Something Already Gone" Lyrics
There was a time
When every thing felt right
I was your darlin' girl
You saw me in a perfect light
But baby what's goin' on
Everything's feelin' wrong
Don't want to be holding on
To something already gone
Oh whoa whoa
Something already goneWe used to laugh a lot
And hold each other tight
You were my love
And did every little thing just right
What I'm wishin' for
Is we should be kissin' more
Don't want to be missin' no
Something already gone
Something already gone and lost forever
I wish there was something we could do
If we'd just put our hearts together
Just give me something to hold on to
Don't want to be lost without your sweet love
I want you to hold me all night long
But something here inside says "Something already gone"
Something already gone and lost forever
I wish there was something we could do
If we'd just put our hearts together
Just give me something to hold on to
Don't want to be lost without your sweet love
I want you to hold me all night long
But something here inside says "Something already gone"
