Carr's contralto vocals have a sensual, husky quality quite unusual (or even inappropriate) for gospel singers in her day, which made her eventual switch to R&B and rock & roll seem a logical choice in retrospect.

This penchant for novelty-like songs also shows in Carr's later R&B repertoire, for instance "Ding Dong Daddy", "Nursery Rhyme Rock" and "Boppity Bop (Boogity Boog)".

Carr's gospel recordings are very much influenced by Sister Rosetta Tharpe, incorporating blues and jazz stylings and already touching on R&B with her take on Roy Brown's / Wynonie Harris' "Good Rockin' Tonight", entitled "I Heard The News (Jesus Is Coming Again)".

Her early R&B material (for which she is probably best remembered now) was often uptempo, rock & roll-styled and similar in sound to fellow R&B/rock & roll artists on the Specialty roster like Little Richard, Lloyd Price and Larry Williams, with a strong New Orleans-style backbeat and a rich, warm production.

"The Ball Game" got a renewed hearing on the Prairie Home Companion show when Garrison Keillor and the Hopeful Gospel Quartet played it several times in the 2000's.