Carl Carlton (German musician)
Encyclopedia
Carl Carlton is a German rock musician, guitarist, composer and producer who has played in top international bands and with many well-known musicians. His nearly ten year collaboration with Robert Palmer culminated in the Grammy-nominated album Drive, which was released the year of Palmer's death in 2003. Carlton has also released four albums with his own band, Carl Carlton
and the Songdogs.
Carlton, who grew up on a farm in Northern Germany, took off for the Netherlands at the age of 17. There he began playing in what was at the time one of the liveliest European rock and pop scenes. Starting in Groningen, Carlton played in numerous rock bands, including Herman Brood
& His Wild Romance, Long Tall Ernie & The Shakers (with whom he recorded a gold record in 1976) and Vitesse. In 1979, he traveled across the Atlantic to become a guitarist for the band Mink DeVille
. Also in the '80s, Carlton played with Manfred Mann's Earth Band
. Most notably during this time, Carlton acted as a guitarist, composer and producer for two of Germany's biggest rock stars, Peter Maffay
and Udo Lindenberg
, with whom he recorded thirteen and six albums, respectively. Of these, eleven singles topped the charts. In the meantime, Carlton married and fathered a child, Max Buskohl
, who has since followed in his father's footsteps with his own band, Empty Trash. At the end of the '80s, Carlton began writing film and television scores, while, in addition, he played guitar for Joe Cocker
, Keb Mo, Jimmy Barnes
, Eric Burdon
, Mother's Finest
, Simple Minds
and numerous other bands.
, was also nominated for a Grammy. Its success convinced Palmer and Carlton to co-produce another pure blues album, the Grammy-nominated Drive, in 2003. Drive was also named one of Billboard
s Top Ten Blues albums for that year.
), and Pascal Kravetz. Temporary Songdogs have included Sonny Landreth
, keyboardist Ian McLagan
, Levon Helm
and Garth Hudson
. The band's first album, Revolution Avenue, was recorded at Dockside Studios in Louisiana. A second LP called Love & Respect was released three years later. With more of an international membership than before, the band this time consisted of, in addition to its core members, Robert Palmer, Levon Helm, Sonny Landreth, Jon Smith
, The White Trash Horns, Bobby Keys
and Xavier Naidoo
. Love & Respect was also recorded at Dockside Studios.
Martin Huch, a multi-instrumentalist, was soon hired along with Wayne P. Sheehy for live performances. It was at the end of the Love & Respect tour that Carlton collapsed from exhaustion due to an unrelenting work schedule. The incident was caught live by television cameras. Several weeks later, in the midst of doing PR for the Drive album, Palmer—Carlton's closest friend and mentor—died suddenly. The next Songdogs album, Cahoots & Roots, was released in 2005. This live double CD included a number of songs recorded by Palmer with the Songdogs. Also in 2005, Carlton joined Eric Burdon
and The Animals
and recorded a blues album called Soul of a Man with Ivan Neville
, James "Hutch" Hutchinson, Ricky Fataar
, and Mike Finnegan. It too was nominated for a Grammy. Carlton, who in the meantime had given up his second home in Mallorca and taken up residence on the island of Gozo
near Malta, began making a fourth album called Songs for the Lost and Brave, whose fifteen tracks explored the many bitter blows dealt to Carlton in recent years. This included a divorce from his second wife, as well as, of course, the death of Robert Palmer. By this time, Zack Alford, a drummer who had played for both Bruce Springsteen
and David Bowie
, had been added to the band, which was invited by Levon Helm, one of Carlton's closest friends,to record the new album at Helm's studio in Woodstock (NY). One of the album's tracks, a cover of Stephen Stills
' classic For What Its Worth, included the voices of Carlton's son, Max Buskohl, and Eric Burdon. Carlton and his son also joined together for a track on Klaus Voorman's album called A Sideman's Journey (Voorman is a bassist, graphic designer and former Beatles' sideman).
In 2011, Carl Carlton & The Songdogs are again slated to record their latest album at Levon Helm's studio in Woodstock.
, which in collaboration with the guitarist has developed the C.C. Signature model. Carlton also endorses THC-Amps, Larson Bros. acoustic guitars and T.Rex effects pedals.
Here in alphabetical order is a selection of projects and bands for which Carlton has played guitar:
* Alannah Myles
* Amanda Marshall
Film Scores and Musical Compositions
Albums:
Singles:
IFTA Nomination (Irish Film and Television Awards):
Grimme Television Prize:
Carl Carlton
Carl Carlton is an American R&B, soul, and funk singer and songwriter, best known for his hits "Everlasting Love" and "She's a Bad Mama Jama ".-Career:...
and the Songdogs.
Carlton, who grew up on a farm in Northern Germany, took off for the Netherlands at the age of 17. There he began playing in what was at the time one of the liveliest European rock and pop scenes. Starting in Groningen, Carlton played in numerous rock bands, including Herman Brood
Herman Brood
Hermanus "Herman" Brood was a Dutch musician, painter and media personality. Initially a musician who achieved artistic and commercial success in the 1970s and 1980s, and called "the Netherlands' greatest and only rock 'n' roll star," later in life he became a well-known painter.Known for his...
& His Wild Romance, Long Tall Ernie & The Shakers (with whom he recorded a gold record in 1976) and Vitesse. In 1979, he traveled across the Atlantic to become a guitarist for the band Mink DeVille
Mink DeVille
Mink DeVille was a rock band known for its association with early punk rock bands at New York’s CBGB nightclub and for being a showcase for the music of Willy DeVille. The band recorded six albums in the years 1977 to 1985. Except for frontman Willy DeVille, the original members of the band played...
. Also in the '80s, Carlton played with Manfred Mann's Earth Band
Manfred Mann's Earth Band
Manfred Mann's Earth Band is a British progressive rock group formed in 1971 by Manfred Mann.-Formation:Having started in the 1960s with a British band that had such hits as "Do Wah Diddy Diddy" and "The Mighty Quinn", then moving on to Jazz Fusion with Manfred Mann's Chapter Three, Manfred's third...
. Most notably during this time, Carlton acted as a guitarist, composer and producer for two of Germany's biggest rock stars, Peter Maffay
Peter Maffay
Peter Alexander Makkay better known as Peter Maffay is a German musician.- Biography :Born in Brasov, Romania, the son of a German , he was 14 when his family relocated to his parents' Germany in 1963. In the same year, he started his first band, The Dukes...
and Udo Lindenberg
Udo Lindenberg
Udo Lindenberg is a German rock musician and composer.-Career:Lindenberg started his musical career as a drummer. In 1969 Lindenberg founded his first band Free Orbit and also appeared as a studio and guest musician . In 1970 he collaborated as a drummer with jazz-saxophonist Klaus Doldinger in...
, with whom he recorded thirteen and six albums, respectively. Of these, eleven singles topped the charts. In the meantime, Carlton married and fathered a child, Max Buskohl
Max Buskohl
Max Buskohl was a contestant who finished 4th in season 4 of Deutschland sucht den Superstar. Max stated in an interview with Der Spiegel that he left DSDS voluntarily while RTL claims they threw out Max. Dieter Bohlen claims that Max tried to "extort record company and the station"...
, who has since followed in his father's footsteps with his own band, Empty Trash. At the end of the '80s, Carlton began writing film and television scores, while, in addition, he played guitar for Joe Cocker
Joe Cocker
John Robert "Joe" Cocker, OBE is an English rock and blues musician, composer and actor, who came to popularity in the 1960s, and is most known for his gritty voice, his idiosyncratic arm movements while performing, and his cover versions of popular songs, particularly those of The Beatles...
, Keb Mo, Jimmy Barnes
Jimmy Barnes
James Dixon Swan , better known as Jimmy Barnes, is a Scottish-born Australian rock singer-songwriter. His father Jim Swan was a prizefighter and his older brother John Swan is also a rock singer. It was actually John who had encouraged and taught Jim how to sing as he wasn't really interested at...
, Eric Burdon
Eric Burdon
Eric Victor Burdon is an English singer-songwriter best known as a founding member and vocalist of rock band The Animals, and the funk rock band War and for his aggressive stage performance...
, Mother's Finest
Mother's Finest
Mother's Finest is a funk rock band founded in Atlanta, Georgia by Joyce Kennedy and Glenn Murdock in the early 1970s. The group charted with the singles "Fire" , "Baby Love" , "Don't Wanna Come Back" , "Love Changes" , and "Piece Of The Rock" in the mid to late 1970s.-History:Mother's Finest...
, Simple Minds
Simple Minds
Simple Minds are a Scottish rock band who achieved worldwide popularity from the mid-1980s to the early 1990s. The band produced a handful of critically acclaimed albums in the early 1980s and best known for their #1 US, Canada and Netherlands hit single "Don't You ", from the soundtrack of the...
and numerous other bands.
Personal Projects
In the early '90s, Carlton and longtime musical partner Bertram Engel, a drummer, formed a band called New Legend, which also included keyboardist Pascal Kravetz and the two Dutch blues rockers Harry DeWinter and Peter Bootsmann. Two CDs were released before the band broke up two years later due to personality conflicts. In 1994, Carlton took up residence in Dublin, which at the time was one of the few pulsating metropolises for music in Europe. It was there that Carlton met and began an intense collaboration with Robert Palmer. Palmer also acted as a mentor to Carlton, who not only backed up the singer both live and in the studio, but co-wrote and co-produced three albums with him as well. Coaxed by Palmer in 1999, Carlton again formed a band of his own, Carl Carlton & The Songdogs, which consisted of a multi-national line-up of musicians. In 2001, Carlton convinced Palmer to record a version of Milk Cow's Calf Blues with him as part of a tribute album to Robert Johnson. The resulting compilation, Hellhound On My TrailHellhound on My Trail
"Hellhound on My Trail" is a blues song recorded by Mississippi Delta bluesman Robert Johnson in 1937. It was the first song recorded during Johnson's last recording session in Dallas, Texas on Sunday, June 20, 1937 and the first single released from that session...
, was also nominated for a Grammy. Its success convinced Palmer and Carlton to co-produce another pure blues album, the Grammy-nominated Drive, in 2003. Drive was also named one of Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
s Top Ten Blues albums for that year.
Carl Carlton & The Songdogs
The inner circle of the band consists of Carlton, guitarist Moses Mo, bassist Wyzard (of the Atlanta funk group Mother's FinestMother's Finest
Mother's Finest is a funk rock band founded in Atlanta, Georgia by Joyce Kennedy and Glenn Murdock in the early 1970s. The group charted with the singles "Fire" , "Baby Love" , "Don't Wanna Come Back" , "Love Changes" , and "Piece Of The Rock" in the mid to late 1970s.-History:Mother's Finest...
), and Pascal Kravetz. Temporary Songdogs have included Sonny Landreth
Sonny Landreth
Sonny Landreth is an American blues musician from southwest Louisiana who is especially known as a slide guitar player. He was born in Canton, Mississippi, but soon after, his family moved to Jackson, Mississippi, before settling in Lafayette, Louisiana...
, keyboardist Ian McLagan
Ian McLagan
Ian McLagan is an English keyboard instrumentalist, best known as a member of the English rock bands Small Faces and Faces.-Small Faces and Faces:...
, Levon Helm
Levon Helm
Mark Lavon "Levon" Helm , is an American rock multi-instrumentalist and actor who achieved fame as the drummer and frequent lead and backing vocalist for The Band....
and Garth Hudson
Garth Hudson
Eric Garth Hudson is a Canadian multi-instrumentalist. As the organist, keyboardist and saxophonist for Canadian-American rock group The Band, he was a principal architect of the group's unique sound...
. The band's first album, Revolution Avenue, was recorded at Dockside Studios in Louisiana. A second LP called Love & Respect was released three years later. With more of an international membership than before, the band this time consisted of, in addition to its core members, Robert Palmer, Levon Helm, Sonny Landreth, Jon Smith
Jon Smith
Jon Smith is a British writer of fiction, non-fiction, screenplays and musical theatre.-Biography:Jon Smith was brought up in Merseyside, where he remained until he was eighteen. He studied for a degree in American Studies at the University of Reading which included a semester at the University of...
, The White Trash Horns, Bobby Keys
Bobby Keys
Bobby Keys is an American saxophone player, and has performed with other musicians as a member of one of the notable horn sections of the 1970s. He appears on albums by The Rolling Stones, The Who, Harry Nilsson, Delaney Bramlett, George Harrison's All Things Must Pass, Eric Clapton and Joe...
and Xavier Naidoo
Xavier Naidoo
Xavier Kurt Naidoo is a German singer-songwriter, record producer and occasional actor. Born and raised in Mannheim, Naidoo worked in several jobs in the gastronomy and the musical industry before relocating to the United States in the early 1990s, where he released his first full-length English...
. Love & Respect was also recorded at Dockside Studios.
Martin Huch, a multi-instrumentalist, was soon hired along with Wayne P. Sheehy for live performances. It was at the end of the Love & Respect tour that Carlton collapsed from exhaustion due to an unrelenting work schedule. The incident was caught live by television cameras. Several weeks later, in the midst of doing PR for the Drive album, Palmer—Carlton's closest friend and mentor—died suddenly. The next Songdogs album, Cahoots & Roots, was released in 2005. This live double CD included a number of songs recorded by Palmer with the Songdogs. Also in 2005, Carlton joined Eric Burdon
Eric Burdon
Eric Victor Burdon is an English singer-songwriter best known as a founding member and vocalist of rock band The Animals, and the funk rock band War and for his aggressive stage performance...
and The Animals
The Animals
The Animals were an English music group of the 1960s formed in Newcastle upon Tyne during the early part of the decade, and later relocated to London...
and recorded a blues album called Soul of a Man with Ivan Neville
Ivan Neville
Ivan Neville is a multi-instrumentalist musician, singer, and songwriter. He is the son of Aaron Neville and nephew to members of The Neville Brothers....
, James "Hutch" Hutchinson, Ricky Fataar
Ricky Fataar
Ricky Fataar is a South African multi-instrumentalist of Malay descent, who has performed as both a drummer, and a guitarist. He gained fame as an actor in the comedic television movie, The Rutles: All You Need Is Cash, a spoof on the actual history of The Beatles, and for his performance as a...
, and Mike Finnegan. It too was nominated for a Grammy. Carlton, who in the meantime had given up his second home in Mallorca and taken up residence on the island of Gozo
Gozo
Gozo is a small island of the Maltese archipelago in the Mediterranean Sea. The island is part of the Southern European country of Malta; after the island of Malta itself, it is the second-largest island in the archipelago...
near Malta, began making a fourth album called Songs for the Lost and Brave, whose fifteen tracks explored the many bitter blows dealt to Carlton in recent years. This included a divorce from his second wife, as well as, of course, the death of Robert Palmer. By this time, Zack Alford, a drummer who had played for both Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen , nicknamed "The Boss," is an American singer-songwriter who records and tours with the E Street Band...
and David Bowie
David Bowie
David Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...
, had been added to the band, which was invited by Levon Helm, one of Carlton's closest friends,to record the new album at Helm's studio in Woodstock (NY). One of the album's tracks, a cover of Stephen Stills
Stephen Stills
Stephen Arthur Stills is an American guitarist and singer/songwriter best known for his work with Buffalo Springfield and Crosby, Stills & Nash . He has performed on a professional level in several other bands as well as maintaining a solo career at the same time...
' classic For What Its Worth, included the voices of Carlton's son, Max Buskohl, and Eric Burdon. Carlton and his son also joined together for a track on Klaus Voorman's album called A Sideman's Journey (Voorman is a bassist, graphic designer and former Beatles' sideman).
In 2011, Carl Carlton & The Songdogs are again slated to record their latest album at Levon Helm's studio in Woodstock.
Guitar
Carlton is one of the rare guitarists about whom it is said he does not lose sight of the unique expression and character of a song, despite his virtuosity as a guitarist. His playing tends to support and strengthen the essence of what a song tries to convey. Since the late '90s, Carlton has endorsed the guitars of the German manufacturer Duesenberg GuitarsDuesenberg Guitars
Duesenberg Guitars is a German company producing high-end electric guitars and basses with a distinctive Art Deco design since 1986. The company's name alludes to the legendary car company Duesenberg....
, which in collaboration with the guitarist has developed the C.C. Signature model. Carlton also endorses THC-Amps, Larson Bros. acoustic guitars and T.Rex effects pedals.
Here in alphabetical order is a selection of projects and bands for which Carlton has played guitar:
* Alannah Myles
* Amanda Marshall
- Carl Carlton & the Songdogs
- Damien Dempsey
- Ellen Foley
- Eric Burdon & the Animals
- Fun Lovin’ Criminals
- Herman Brood & His Wild Romance
- Hollander
- Jimmy Barnes
- Joe Cocker
- Keb’ Mo’
- Klaus Voormann
- Long Tall Ernie & the Shakers
- Manfred Mann's Earthband
- Mink DeVille
- Mother’s Finest
- New Legend
- New Raiders of the Lost Corvette
- Nina Hagen
- Paul Young
- Peter Maffay Band
- Robert Palmer
- Simple Minds
- Stephan Remmler & die Steher
- Tony Sarno’s All Americans
- Udo Lindenbergs Panik-Orchester
- Vitesse
- Wolfgang Niedeckens Leopardefell-Band
- Yah Yahs
Production Work
Carlton has been a producer for many artists and projects. These include:- Madness
- Max Buskohl/Empty Trash
- Peter Maffay
- Robert Palmer
- Tabaluga & Lilli (Musical)
- Tabaluga & the Magic Jadestone (Musical)
- The Dead 60s
- Udo Lindenberg
- Yothu Yindi
Film Scores and Musical Compositions
- Damals in der DDR (A Documentary Film Series)
- Der Joker (Director: Peter Patzak)
- Killing Blue (Director: Peter Patzak)
- Napoleon (Documentary TV Series)
- Neues vom Wixxer (Film)
- Swansong - the Story of Occi Burne (Film)
- Tabaluga & Lilli (Musical)
- Tabaluga & the Magic Jadestone (Musical)
Discography
Carl Carlton & the SongdogsAlbums:
- 2001 - Revolution Avenue (also as an LP with 2 Bonus Tracks)
- 2003 - Love & Respect (also as a Digipak with 1 Bonus Track)
- 2004 - CaHoots & Roots - Live from Planet Zod (Live Double CD)
- 2008 - Songs for the Lost and Brave
Singles:
- 2001 - Coming Home
- 2003 - Days Of Magic
- 2004 - Instant Karma
- 2008 - For What It’s Worth (with Max Buskohl & Eric Burdon)
Prizes and Nominations
Grammy Nominations:- Hellhound on my Trail – Songs of Robert Johnson (Sampler, 2001)
- Drive (Robert Palmer, 2003)
- Soul of a Man (Eric Burdon, 2006)
IFTA Nomination (Irish Film and Television Awards):
- Swansong - the Story of Occi Burne (2009)
Grimme Television Prize:
- Damals in der DDR (2005)