Larry Carlton

Larry Carlton

Larry Eugene Carlton (born March 2, 1948) is an American guitarist who built his career as a studio musician in the 1970s and 1980s for acts including Steely Dan and Joni Mitchell. One of the most sought-after guitarists of his era, Carlton has participated in thousands of recording sessions, recorded on hundreds of albums in many genres including more than 100 gold records, in addition to music for television and movies. He has been a member of the jazz fusion group the Crusaders and the smooth jazz band Fourplay maintaining a long solo career.

Music career

Session work

Carlton was born in Torrance, California in the South Bay Area of L.A., and, at the age of six, began guitar lessons. In the early 1960s, while he was still in high school, he debuted his talent playing surf guitar with Eddie and the Showmen, who became the house band at the Retail Clerks Union Hall in Buena Park, California. His interest in jazz came from hearing guitarist Joe Pass on the radio, after which he started to listen to jazz guitarists Barney Kessel and Wes Montgomery, as well as blues guitarist B.B. King. He went to junior college and Long Beach State College while playing professionally at clubs in Los Angeles.

Carlton performing with Yellowjackets at Bailey Hall, Cornell University, September 1987

During the 1970s, he found steady work as a studio musician on electric and acoustic guitar in a variety of genres: pop, jazz pop, rock, rhythm and blues, soul, and country. Carlton appeared in hundreds of recording sessions with Steely Dan, Joni Mitchell, Linda Ronstadt, Michael Jackson, Quincy Jones, Bobby Bland, Sammy Davis Jr., Paulinho Da Costa, Charly García, the Fifth Dimension, Herb Alpert, Christopher Cross, Dolly Parton, Barbra Streisand, Andy Williams, and the Partridge Family. Carlton performed on Mike Post's 1981 "Theme from Hill Street Blues", which won Grammys for 'Best Instrumental Composition' and for 'Best Pop Instrumental Performance'. In 1982, he appeared on The Nightfly by Donald Fagen, lead singer/keyboardist for Steely Dan.

His guitar work on Steely Dan's "Kid Charlemagne" from their 1976 LP The Royal Scam was ranked No. 80 on a list of the best guitar songs by Rolling Stone.

Solo career

Carlton recorded his debut solo album, With a Little Help from My Friends, in 1968. In the mid-1970s he built a home studio and called it Room 335 after the Gibson ES-335, an electric guitar he is known for playing. He has recorded most of his albums at Room 335. In 1988, with his solo career burgeoning, he was shot in the throat by a teenager outside Room 335 and suffered nerve and vocal cord damage, which delayed completion of the album he was recording at the time, On Solid Ground. His left arm was paralyzed and for six months he was unable to play more than a few notes.

Carlton produced six albums from 1978 to 1984. His version of "Sleepwalk" by Santo Farina climbed the pop and adult contemporary charts. From 1985 to 1990, he did various solo projects, including the live album Last Nite. He was commissioned to compose music for the king of Thailand, Bhumibol Adulyadej, in honor of the king's birthday. He recorded The Jazz King (Sony BMG, 2008) with a jazz orchestra including Tom Scott, Nathan East, and Earl Klugh.

Awards and honors

Larry Carlton

• Grammy Award for Best Pop Instrumental Performance, "Theme from Hill Street Blues", 1981 • Grammy Award for Best Pop Instrumental Performance, "Minute by Minute", 1987 • Grammy Award for Best Pop Instrumental Album, No Substitutions: Live in Osaka, 2001 • Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Instrumental Album, Take Your Pick, 2010

Notable instruments

Larry Carlton

Carlton is best known for his 1969 Gibson ES-335, being often referred to as “Mr. 335”. Other guitars he owns and plays include a 1951 Fender Telecaster, a 1964 Fender Stratocaster, and a 1955 Gibson Les Paul Special. He has used a 1958 Fender Deluxe amplifier and his standard setup included a Dumble.

Now he plays Bludotone amplifiers. In 2020, Carlton began endorsing Sire Guitars, with whom he has a signature line of electric guitars.

1988 shooting

Larry Carlton

In 1988, Carlton was shot in the neck at the entrance of his home in the Hollywood Hills in Los Angeles. Speaking to the Los Angeles Times, Carlton identified the shooter as one of two young men whom he remembered jogging right after a dog ran by his carport. According to The Hamilton Spectator, the assailant was passing by on a bicycle. The attacker was never identified and the attack was speculated to have been an attempted robbery or an initiation rite for a gang.

It took Carlton "seven or eight months" before he was able to play the guitar again due to an axonal injury on the left side of his neck. He required extensive rehabilitation to build muscles in his left arm and it was about two years before he could perform again.

Family

Larry Carlton

Carlton married contemporary Christian music artist Michele Pillar in 1987; they divorced in 2013. He is the father of Katie Carlton and Travis Carlton. Travis is a professional bassist.

Discography

Charted singles

<table><thead><tr><th>Year</th><th>Title</th><th>Peak chart positions</th><th>Album</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>Billboard Hot 100</td><td>Adult Cont.</td><td>Smooth Jazz Airplay</td></tr><tr><td>1981</td><td>"Hill Street Blues (theme)" (Mike Post featuring Larry Carlton)</td><td>10</td><td>—</td><td>—N/a</td><td>Television Theme Songs</td></tr><tr><td>1982</td><td>"Sleepwalk"</td><td>74</td><td>13</td><td>—N/a</td><td>Sleepwalk</td></tr><tr><td>1986</td><td>"Smiles and Smiles to Go"</td><td>—</td><td>35</td><td>—N/a</td><td>Alone / But Never Alone</td></tr><tr><td>1987</td><td>"Minute by Minute"</td><td>—</td><td>25</td><td>—N/a</td><td>Discovery</td></tr><tr><td>2008</td><td>"All in Good Time" (re-recording)</td><td>—</td><td>—</td><td>30</td><td>Greatest Hits Re-Recorded – Volume One</td></tr><tr><td>2011</td><td>"I'll Be Around"</td><td>—</td><td>—</td><td>28</td><td>Plays the Sounds of Philadelphia</td></tr><tr><td>"Back Stabbers"</td><td>—</td><td>—</td><td>21</td></tr><tr><td>2012</td><td>"Bad Luck"</td><td>—</td><td>—</td><td>18</td></tr><tr><td>2021</td><td>"Miles and Miles to Go" (Larry Carlton and Paul Brown)</td><td>—</td><td>—</td><td>20</td><td>Soul Searchin'</td></tr><tr><td>"—" denotes a recording that did not chart.</td></tr></tbody></table>

Video

Larry Carlton

• 1987: Larry Carlton Live • 1988: Scrooged • 1989: Star Licks Larry Carlton • 1992: Star Licks Larry Carlton Vol. 2 • 1997: Larry Carlton Live at Montreal International Jazz Festival • 2002: Ohne Filter (inakustik) • 2002: Live at Montreal Jazz Festival (Eagle) • 2004: Larry Carlton Recorded Live in Paris • 2005: Carlton/Lukather Band – The Paris Concert (inakustik) • 2007: Larry Carlton with Robben Ford Live in Osaka (335) - bonus DVD with CD Larry Carlton with Robben Ford Live in Tokyo • 2008: Carlton, Ford + Autour Du Blues – The Paris Concert (inakustik) • 2008: Carlton and the Sapphire Blues Band – The Paris Concert (inakustik) • 2009: Carlton Trio – The Paris Concert (inakustik) • 2004: Eric Clapton's Crossroads Guitar Festival