Larry Eugene Carlton (born March 2, 1948)[2] 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.[3]
Carlton was born in Torrance, California in the South Bay Area of L.A.,[2] 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 west of Orange. 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.[3]
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,[2] which delayed completion of the album he was recording at the time, On Solid Ground.[3][6] His left arm was paralyzed and for six months he was unable to play more than a few notes.[7]
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.[2] He was commissioned to compose music for the king of Thailand, Bhumibol Adulyadej, in honor of the king's birthday.[3] He recorded The Jazz King (Sony BMG, 2008) with a jazz orchestra including Tom Scott, Nathan East, and Earl Klugh.[8]
Now he 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 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.[11] According to The Hamilton Spectator, the assailant was passing by on a bicycle.[12] The attacker was never identified and the attack was speculated to have been an attempted robbery[11] or an initiation rite for a gang.[12]
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.[12]
Family
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.[13]
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