| Arlie Neaville | |
| Birth Name: | Arlie Dean Neaville |
| Birth Date: | 11 June 1937 |
| Birth Place: | Fairfield, Illinois, U.S. |
| Death Place: | Urbana, Illinois, U.S. |
| Alias: | Dean Carter |
| Occupation: | Singer, musician |
| Years Active: | 1960s |
| Instrument: | Guitar |
Arlie Dean Neaville (June 11, 1937 – April 24, 2023), also known as Dean Carter, was an American gospel singer and songwriter who was active in music from the early 1960s.[1] For several years during the 1960s he recorded and performed as Dean Carter, specializing in rockabilly and soul influenced garage rock displayed in songs such as "Rebel Woman" and a version of "Jailhouse Rock", but in the early 1970s he switched to gospel.[1] [2]
Neaville was born in Fairfield, Illinois, and began playing rockabilly in the late 1950s.[1] He recorded under his real name on the Ping label between in 1961 and on Fraternity Records in 1962–1963.[1] In 1964, he began to record as Dean Carter on the Limelight label, where he released the single, *"Sixteen Tones" b/w "The Lucky One".[1] [3] [4] That year, he and Arlie Miller, a member of his backing band, the Lucky Ones, started a home studio in Danville, Illinois.[1] They also ran the Milky Way label, which released music by Carter and others.[1] [2] There, Carter recorded a string of singles: "Number One Girl" (1965), "The Rockin Bandit" (1965) and "Run Rabbit Run" (1967), as well as the record for which he is best known, "Jailhouse Rock" b/w "Rebel Woman" in 1967.[1] [3] [5] [4] Carter's version of "Jailhouse Rock", featured the odd sounds of walkie talkie beeps, overdriven guitars, augmented with a ukulele, accordion, dobro, and clarinet.[1] [5]
In the late 1960s, Carter moved to the Washington State on the West Coast and recorded a couple of singles with Gene Vincent and guitarist Jerry Merritt on Merritt's Tell International label.[1] For International, Carter released the single "Mary Sue" b/w "Wandering Soul".[1] [3] [4] He returned to the Midwest at the end of the decade to resume recording with Miller, and went back to billing himself as Arlie Neaville.[1] In the early 1970s, he switched to gospel music, which has been his style ever since.[1] [6] [7] [8] In the early-to-mid 1970s he released the singles, "Brighter Days" b/w "Don't Throw Any Stones" and "Sweet Side of Life".[3] [4]
In the intervening years, Neaville's music has come to the attention of music enthusiasts, particularly his recordings made in the 1960s as Dean Carter.[5] His collected recordings as Dean Carter were issued on the Call of the Wild anthology, released in 2002 by Big Beat Records.[5] [2] The song "Rebel Woman" has appeared on Pebbles, Volume 6, Chicago Part 1 and Best of Pebbles, Volume One.[9] [10]
Arlie Neaville died at his home in Urbana, Illinois, on April 24, 2023, at the age of 85.[11]