Can't You Hear My Heartbeat: Cherry Red, Grapefruit Anthologize Songwriter John Carter's Career on "My World Fell Down"

My World Fell Down The John Carter Story

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Though John Carter isn't a household name, many of his songs are. "Can't You Hear My Heartbeat," "Beach Baby," and "Little Bit O' Soul" are just a handful of Carter's timeless pop confections. His is also the familiar voice of The New Vaudeville Band's chart-topping "Winchester Cathedral." Sunshine pop aficionados might know him best for "My World Fell Down," the spellbinding song he wrote for The Ivy League which was covered by Sagittarius (featuring Glen Campbell, Bruce Johnston, Gary Usher, and Terry Melcher). It's now lent its title to a 4-CD anthology of the Carter oeuvre out now from Cherry Red's Grapefruit imprint. My World Fell Down: The John Carter Story features a whopping 105 tracks (and more than five hours of music) drawn from the songwriter's various recording affiliations including singles, demos, deep cuts, and more.

While self-contained groups such as The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Who, and The Kinks were changing the U.K. pop landscape, Tin Pan Alley-style songwriters were still thriving on London's Denmark Street. Mitch Murray, Geoff Stephens, Roger Cook and Roger Greenaway, and Tony Macaulay were just a few of the writers regularly placing songs on the pop charts. John Carter, born John Shakespeare, was one of this prolific bunch. Carter's first major partner was Ken Lewis (real name: Kenneth Hawker), and many of their collaborations are featured on the first disc of this set. Signed to Noel Gay Music, the venerable firm set up by the Me and My Girl songwriter, and then Southern Music, the young twosome began recording their own material. Carter, Lewis, and The Southerners recorded for various labels between 1961 and 1964; the session men comprising The Southerners included Clem Cattini, Big Jim Sullivan, and Jimmy Page (who's heard here on "Somebody Told My Girl," the B-side of "Your Momma's Out of Town"). Carter and Lewis kept busy singing backgrounds for the likes of The Who ("I Can't Explain") and Tom Jones ("It's Not Unusual") while placing songs with top artists including Herman's Hermits. Carter and Lewis' demo of "Can't You Hear My Heartbeat," a No. 2 U.S. hit in 1965 for Peter Noone and his bandmates, is among the highlights on CD 1.

Soon, Carter and Lewis formed The Ivy League with Perry Ford. All four of The Ivy League's U.K. hits are here: "Funny How Love Can Be" (No. 8, 1965), "That's Why I'm Crying" (No. 22, 1965), "Tossing and Turning" (No. 3, 1965), and "Willow Tree" (No. 50, 1966) as well as choice other cuts showcasing the group's resplendent three-part harmonies. A 1966 single introduced the original "My World Fell Down" which inspired Sagittarius' even more stunning remake. But the original group only released one LP, and Carter left The Ivy League in early 1966. Lewis followed out the door around a year later, with Tony Burrows and Neil Landon replacing them.

During the period in which Lewis remained in The Ivy League, Carter teamed with songwriter Geoff Stephens to sing the demo of "Winchester Cathedral." So convincing was his nostalgic vaudeville vocal that Stephens retained it for The New Vaudeville Band's hit single version. Carter and Stephens jointly wrote The New Vaudeville Band's follow-up "Peek-a-Boo." The U.K. No. 7 hit is also heard here in demo form. Another studio outfit, The Flower Pot Men, reunited Carter and Lewis. Their "Let's Go to San Francisco" was inspired by the American counterculture even though Carter admitted that he and Lewis had never heard the Bay Area bands the song sought to emulate. The ambitious two-part single became a No. 4 hit in the U.K. and charted internationally despite not making much noise in the United States. "San Francisco" opens the second disc of this collection along with two more Flower Pot Men tracks. Carter and Lewis quickly relinquished the band to fellow songwriter Roger Greenaway, and before long, The Flower Pot Men had morphed into "My Baby Loves Lovin'" hitmakers White Plains.

Carter and Lewis continued toiling in their songwriting offices, with the majority of the second disc filled with demos of tunes that incorporated growing strains of psychedelia into their pure pop sound. Carter and Lewis also extended their circle to writers including Russ Alquist and Peter Barnfather and began an association with the U.S.-based Kasenetz-Katz production company. Kasenetz-Katz was perhaps the country's biggest purveyor of bubblegum pop; their Music Explosion covered Carter and Lewis' "Little Bit O' Soul" to huge success (No. 2 in the U.S., but sadly not included here) and they also helmed The Ohio Express, The 1910 Fruitgum Company, and Crazy Elephant (among others). Carter and Lewis were now placing songs on both sides of the Atlantic. They continued to use various aliases including The Carlew Choir, The Haystack, Stamford Bridge, and The Running Jumping Standing Still Band; rare singles by all of the above can be heard on CD 3.

The 1970s hardly saw John Carter slow down even as Ken Lewis was retreating due to health problems. Carter began writing with his wife Gillian, yielding hits for the mysterious Kincade ("Dreams Are Ten a Penny") - there's a story in and of itself about the singer who posed as Kincade without appearing on the original records - and The First Class. Carter enlisted his old friend, prolific session vocalist Tony Burrows, for the project. Their "Beach Baby" conjured the classic sound of The Beach Boys and charted both in the U.S. (No. 4) and the U.K. (No. 13); the joyful anthem is still an oldies radio staple today. (The liner notes inform us that Cherry Red will soon be releasing a First Class anthology, shedding further light on their discography.) The music of First Class brings My World Falls Down's fourth and final disc to an ebullient close in 1977.

There have been numerous other John Carter compilations from labels including Westside, RPM, and Rev-Ola, but Grapefruit's set is the most comprehensive. Carter began releasing material from his archives in digital form in 2008; many of those tracks make their physical CD debuts on this collection, too. The four discs are housed in a slipcase, and the enclosed 20-page booklet contains compiler David Wells' liner notes chronicling Carter's career and music. Simon Murphy has remastered the audio.

John Carter's timeless pop songs have endured for the past sixty years and will continue to do so; anyone with an interest in mid-'60s pop will find a lot to like on this deep dive into his vaults.

Various Artists, My World Fell Down: The John Carter Story (Cherry Red/Grapefruit CRSEG108X, 2022) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

CD 1