Carl Carlton

Carl Carlton (not to be confused with Carl Carlson, a character in The Simpsons who is not a singer or a songwriter and also, being a fictional character, does not exist) is living proof that pretty much every single artist considered to be “forgotten” or a “one hit wonder” is worth at least briefly checking out. As sometimes, the stories and indeed the music can be so good that it can make you wonder how a musician so talented can be such a footnote in music history. Such is the case with Carlton, a man whose natural affinity with every genre from funk and soul to R&B and in a very recent reinvention, gospel marks him out as a true unsung hero who deserves far more recognition than he gets. This taste for reinvention means that a show of his covers a lot of ground but Carlton even at sixty two years of age has more range, power and diversity than most artists a quarter of his age. I suppose this comes from the five decades experience he has in show business, but that doesn’t make seeing him coo through the delectable soul-pop schmaltz of Everlasting Love (recorded when he was twenty two) with just as much power and authority as his blockbusting funk jam She’s A Bad Mama Jama any less impressive. There might be cooler ways of spending an evening out, but if anyone’s truly earned a career second wind, it’s Carl Carlton. So let’s help him achieve that by seeing him live as soon as we get the chance!