Article

Wilf Carter

Published Online January 29, 2008

Last Edited December 15, 2013

Wilfred Arthur Charles Carter, Wilf, singer, songwriter (b at Port Hilford, NS 18 Dec 1904; d at Scottsdale, AZ, 5 Dec 1996). He left the Maritimes in the 1920s and reached Alberta, becoming a cowboy and part-time entertainer. In 1930 he made his radio debut in Calgary.

Carter, Wilfred Arthur Charles

Wilfred Arthur Charles Carter, Wilf, singer, songwriter (b at Port Hilford, NS 18 Dec 1904; d at Scottsdale, AZ, 5 Dec 1996). He left the Maritimes in the 1920s and reached Alberta, becoming a cowboy and part-time entertainer. In 1930 he made his radio debut in Calgary. In Montréal, a few years later, he recorded for RCA Victor "My Swiss Moonlight Lullaby" and "The Capture of Albert Johnson," which were hits. His popularity grew with subsequent recordings and radio shows on the CBC and on CBS and NBC in the US, where his stage name was "Montana Slim." In 1940 he was seriously hurt in a car crash, and though still able to record, was unable to perform until 1949.

Throughout the 1950s Carter's touring show was one of Canada's most popular attractions. In 1961 Carter published his autobiography The Yodelling Cowboy, Montana Slim from Nova Scotia by Wilf Carter Himself . In the 1980s he was still performing, writing songs and recording for RCA, which in 1983 released a 2-record 50th-anniversary salute to him, one of the fathers of Canadian COUNTRY AND WESTERN MUSIC. Many of his recordings have been released on CD. In 1985 he was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame, the Canadian Music Hall of Honour in 1984 and the Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame in 1989. In 1991 he did a cross-Canada farewell tour.