December 20, 1996 By JIM PATTERSON --

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- A long time before the smash hit "Strawberry Wine" made Deana Carter a star, her well-connected dad tried to land her a record contract.

Genes weren't enough. The record biz passed on the 17-year-old blond beauty the first time around.

It was a huge disappointment, says the now 30-year-old Carter, who has a successful CD out on Capitol Records. "You're standing there looking at what your future could be like, and you have no idea how to get into your future, you know what I mean?"

As the daughter of renowned guitarist Fred Carter Jr. (that's his lick that kicks off "The Boxer" by Simon & Garfunkel), Deana Carter's Nashville childhood gave her a front-row seat for a large slice of American musical history. A short list of Fred Carter Jr. credits includes records by Roy Orbison, Bob Dylan, Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson.

"I mean Simon & Garfunkel, Roy Orbison, Levon Helm, Gordon Lightfoot, James Taylor -- the best artists -- Bobby Gentry, Joan Baez," Carter said.

"I'm not saying I met all these people and hung out with them, but it was in my house everyday. ... I didn't realize how much that would help me in writing and production ideas."

"Strawberry Wine," which tells the story of a 17-year-old's "first taste of love," was written by Matraca Berg and Gary Harrison, and owes much to the atmospheric records of Gentry ("Ode to Billy Joe").

"I've lived that to the gills," said Carter, who recently married Chris DiCroce, a backup singer on her album. "It's reaching young people because I'm reflecting back on where they're at now. So it's hitting them ... like a brick."

The song also seems to appeal to a nostalgic nerve in older people, Carter said.

"Strawberry Wine" propelled Carter's debut album "Did I Shave My Legs for This?" into selling over a million copies, and it was still selling strong during the Christmas shopping season.

As is often the case, what seems like overnight success was actually a long, winding journey. After being rejected in Nashville in the early 1980s, Carter went to college at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, then began a short stint as a rehabilitation therapist helping stroke and head-injury victims.

At age 23, she decided she was ready for another run at a singing career. This time, dad stayed on the sidelines while his daughter earned her shot the hard way.

Carter waited tables, taught pre-school and even did janitorial work to earn money to meet her school loan payments and make rent. She performed at songwriter showcases and generally tried to get noticed by the music industry.

One of Carter's tapes was passed to Willie Nelson, who knew her as a child. "He heard a tape of mine ... and it's just like, 'Wow, that little girl, this is her.' ... He worked with my dad."

Nelson and Carter met for dinner when he came through Nashville, and he invited her back to his tour bus to play some music.

"So, of course, I'm freaking out and I said, 'Cool.' We go to the bus and he pulls out the beat-up guitar you see on TV, and he handed it to me and we just played back and forth and he played 'Angel Flying Too Close to the Ground' ... just for me."

Nelson told her after the session that she had just passed an audition to play at Farm Aid VII in New Orleans. Despite a good buzz from that event and a contract with Liberty Records (Nelson's home at the time), it took five years to record and get "Did I Shave My Legs for This?" into record stores.

A record company shakeup accounted for part of the delay, as did questions about the album's first single and title.

"Did I Shave My Legs for This?" the uproarious closing number of the album, remained the title song in the end despite concern that the project would be mistaken for a comedy album. The novelty number may now even be a single down the line.

Record company executives and Carter both felt "Strawberry Wine" was the strongest single, but it was decided that another tune, "I've Loved Enough to Know," should be issued first as a introduction. It would then be followed with the knockout punch of "Strawberry Wine."

CD singles of "I've Loved Enough to Know" already had been manufactured and a video made to accompany the release. But the strategy changed at the last minute.

"We did radio showcases around the country and all these program directors were going, 'God, what are you doing? You need to put this 'Strawberry Wine' out first. That's the best, we love that.'

"So we just listened (to them)."