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 such as 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, as well as for television and movies. He has been a member of the jazz fusion group the Crusaders and the smooth jazz band Fourplay, and has maintained a long solo career.

Music career

Session work

Carlton was born in Torrance, California, United States, 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, Ca. His interest in jazz came from hearing guitarist Joe Pass on the radio, after which he moved on to jazz guitarists Barney Kessel and Wes Montgomery, and blues guitarist B.B. King. He went to junior college and Long Beach State College while playing professionally at clubs in Los Angeles. 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, 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 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 magazine.

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 often played. He has recorded most of his albums at Room 335. In 1988, with his solo career in ascent, 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 working on 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. Carlton 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 that included Tom Scott, Nathan East, and Earl Klugh.

Awards and honors

Notable instruments

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

1988 Shooting

In 1988, Carlton was shot in the neck at the entrance of his home in The Hollywood Hills, Los Angeles. Speaking to the Los Angeles Times, Carlton identified the shooter as one of two young men who seemed to be running after a dog. 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 of a gang. It took Carlton "seven or eight months" to be able to play the guitar again due to an axonal injury on the left side of his neck. He required extensive rehabilitation to build up the necessary muscles in his left arm again and it took him about two years to be able to perform again.

Family

Carlton's son Travis is a professional bassist.

Discography

As leader

With The Crusaders With Fourplay

As sideman

With Paul Anka With Joan Baez With Bobby Bland With Pat Boone With David Cassidy With Paulinho da Costa With Randy Crawford With Andraé Crouch With Four Tops With Michael Franks With David Gates With Lani Hall With Albert Hammond With The Hues Corporation With John Klemmer With Bill LaBounty With Henry Mancini With Gap Mangione With Megan McDonough With Joni Mitchell With Wayne Newton With Michael Omartian With The Partridge Family With Michele Pillar With Johnny Rivers With Leo Sayer With Tom Scott With James Lee Stanley With Steely Dan With B. W. Stevenson With Barbra Streisand With Livingston Taylor With others

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