In the summer of 1958, Jim Reeves had one of the biggest country hits of the year with “Blue Boy.” It climbed to No. 2, stayed on the chart for 22 weeks, and even crossed over to the pop chart. But Jim Reeves was not the first to record it. A year earlier, Anita Carter had cut the very same song under a different title, “Blue Doll.” Her record came and went almost without a trace.
The Youngest Carter Daughter
Anita Carter was born in 1933 in Maces Spring, Virginia, the youngest daughter of Ezra and Maybelle Carter. Her mother was a member of the original Carter Family, the group that helped launch country music itself. Anita began singing on the radio with her family when she was barely four years old, and she grew up on stage with her mother and her older sisters, Helen and June, as the Carter Sisters and Mother Maybelle.
Her voice was something special. She played upright bass, guitar and autoharp, and she sang with a pure, soaring soprano. As a teenager she sang a duet with Hank Williams on network television. Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings all spoke of her remarkable voice, with some calling her the finest female vocalist in country music.
Yet because so much of her time went to the family act, Anita recorded only now and then. Despite her talent and her famous name, she never became the solo star many expected.
A Song by Boudleaux Bryant
“Blue Doll” was written by Boudleaux Bryant, one of the most successful songwriters in Nashville. Together with his wife, Felice, he wrote smash hits for the Everly Brothers like “Bye Bye Love,” “Wake Up Little Susie” and “All I Have to Do Is Dream,” all released on Cadence Records.
In August 1957, Cadence released Anita Carter’s recording of “Blue Doll,” with “Go Away Johnnie” on the flip side. The song told the story of a girl so lonely after losing her love that everyone called her Blue Doll. Anita’s version did not reach the charts.
From “Blue Doll” to “Blue Boy”
In 1958, the same song landed with Jim Reeves at RCA Victor. Reeves was on a roll. His recording of “Four Walls” had spent eight weeks at No. 1 the year before, and with producer Chet Atkins he was shaping the smooth, gentle style that would earn him the nickname Gentleman Jim.
For Jim Reeves, the song was simply turned around to a man’s point of view. The heartbroken girl became a heartbroken man, and “Blue Doll” became “Blue Boy.”
RCA Victor released “Blue Boy” on June 27, 1958. In July, it peaked at No. 2 on Billboard’s country chart. It spent 22 weeks on the chart and finished the year as the No. 10 country single of 1958. It also made the Billboard Hot 100. Years later, “Blue Boy” was included on The Best of Jim Reeves, which spent eight weeks at No. 1 on the country albums chart in 1964.
It Happened Again
“Blue Boy” was not the only famous song Anita Carter recorded first. In 1963, her sister June co-wrote a song with Merle Kilgore called “Ring of Fire.” Anita was the first to record it. Not long afterward, Johnny Cash cut his own version, with its unforgettable mariachi horns, and it became one of the most famous songs in country music history.
Twice in her career, Anita Carter sang a song first, only to watch someone else turn it into a classic.
One More Boudleaux Bryant Connection
Boudleaux Bryant has a small place in another famous song story, too. In the late 1960s, producer Fred Foster ran Monument Records out of a building Bryant owned. Bryant’s secretary was a young woman named Barbara McKee, who went by Bobbie. Foster, who was a bit smitten with her, called songwriter Kris Kristofferson and suggested a title: “Me and Bobbie McKee.” Kristofferson misheard the name, and the song became “Me and Bobby McGee.”
Remembering Them Both
Jim Reeves died in a plane crash on July 31, 1964, and was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1967. Anita Carter died on July 29, 1999. Today her original “Blue Doll” can be found on collections of her work, a reminder of the voice that sang it first.
Had you ever heard Anita Carter’s “Blue Doll” before Jim Reeves’ “Blue Boy”?