1978 On The Longplay: Larry Carlton’s Self Titled Warner Bros. Debut From Room 335!

Larry Carlton spent the mid 70’s as an active member of The Crusaders. They were, during that time, a significant training group for musicians playing in the jazz/funk/ fusion genre. Musicians such as Wayne Henderson, Joe Sample and Carlton himself were part of the LA scene of session players who helped augment the sound of everyone from Sammy Davis Jr, Linda Ronstadt, Joni Mitchell and of course Steely Dan. So by the time 1978 rolled around, Carlton had access to musicians such as then Toto drummer Jeff Porcaro and percussion icon Paulinho Da Costa. So his solo career was off and running.

Porcaro and keyboardist Greg Mathison shine on the opener “Room 335”-named for the recording studio the album was recorded in. The main theme of the song has a very similar melody to Steely Dan’s hit song “Peg”. This is augmented by string arrangements and serves as a forum for Carlton’s precise yet emotionally stratospheric playing style. “Where Did You Come From” is a soulful samba where Da Costa really shines percussion wise. Carlton sings lead vocal on the song-in a smooth,romantic. voice reminiscent of a higher toned version of how Herb Alpert sounds when he’s singing.

“Night Crawler” is of course a redone song that Carlton contributed to the Crusaders Free As The Wind album a year earlier. This version is very similar, though just a slight bit more polished in execution. “Point It Up” goes for a straight ahead jazz/rock shuffle-with Carlton and bassist Abraham Laboriel really taking off-especially with Laboriel’s slap bass riffing. “Rio Samba” brings Da Costa’s percussion, Mathison’s Rhodes and organ along with Carlton’s guitar for an melodically uptempo Brazilian fusion number. One where Carlton even finds a moment or two to rock out on its refrains.

“I Apologize” is a personal favorite of mine on this album. Its a heavily bluesy jazz/funk number-again with Carlton taking the lead vocal. This time, the vibe on that level is more Michael Franks. Enhanced by Laboriel’s slap bass again and the backing vocals from William “Smitty”Smith. With Carlton even taking off to solo on the bridge before the song changes pitch on the final few bars. “Don’t Give Up” brings in that clean, rocking R&B shuffle that sounds like an instrumental written for a Boz Scaggs. Again, Carlton really takes off on both ultra melodic and bluesy style solos throughout the song.

“(It Was) Only Yesterday” ends the album on its lone ballad-again with the string orchestra coming in behind Carlton. And at the same time as enhancement to the sustained cry of his guitar. One thing the Larry Carlton album clarifies, actually being his third proper solo album, is how much of an amazing vocal tone Carlton’s guitar has. Its actually close in technique to Carlos Santana at times. Yet is based more heavily around arpeggiated runs and pitch bending than consistently sustaining notes. But Carlton’s guitar sings. And on this album, many more times than he actually does with his voice.

Because the sound blends both late 70’s studio polish with heavy duty jazz/funk grooves and soloing, again many of these songs sound as if they were recorded for specific popular singers of that day. That makes this album an excellent album of how much late 70’s jazz/funk session musicians had an impact on the big West Coast pop albums of that era, especially. So Larry Carlton offers a great deal to the listener. Its got the blues, its got the Brazilian jazz, its got the funk and it rocks. Its also hummable and musical at the same time. And all those are excellent qualities for any instrumentally based album.

 

Anatomy of THE Groove: “I Apologize” by Larry Carlton

Larry Carlton has already shown up on this blog a year ago. In that case,it was talking about his 2001 solo remake of the Crusaders classic “Put It Where You Want It”,the original of course on which he played on as well. With eight years of recording with such vital instrumental luminaries behind him,Carlton signed with Warner Bros. records in 1977 and began recording his third solo album in his Room 335 studio. There he recorded with fellow session greats such as Paulinho Da Costa and Abraham Laboriel. The this self titled  Warner Bros debut finally came out in 1978. It wouldn’t be for another seventeen years that I would pick up a copy on CD and get a chance to hear it.

The album began with a song named after Carlton’s studio. The song had the same basic rhythm and a faster tempo as Steely Dan’s “Peg”. Considering Carlton played on their Aja album the year before,it wasn’t surprising. Much of the album focused on replicating the sounds of many of the people he’d done session work for already. So the album had a very familiar approach to it all. In addition to a stripped down version of the Crusaders classic “Night Crawler”,one song on this album stood out to me for it’s own funky distinction. It was one of those songs I’d go back to over and over upon first picking up this album. It’s called “I Apologize”.

A deep piano chord opens up with the slow paced percussion grooving along. Laboriel’s slap bass plays on those percussive accents. Carlton sings the songs main melody while playing an amp’d up 12 bar blues solo right behind it. On the chorus of the song,the tempo slows into a peddle based,slow swinging jazzy melody featuring the backing harmony vocals of the Canadian rock band Motherlode’s William “Smitty” Smith. On the second verse,an electric piano adds it’s own accents. On the third there’s a full on guitar solo from Carlton before the song cycles up in pitch for the following chorus. The backing vocals of Smith plus Carlton’s guitar soloing close the song out until fade out.

In a similar manner to George Harrison’s “Woman Don’t You Cry For Me”,this song takes a full on 12 bar blues number and gives it a heavy contemporary funk treatment. Considering that funk is every bit as blues based as rock ‘n’ roll, this song has the effect of grooving and rocking hard with a sleek instrumental prescription. Carlton’s singing style presents an easy going smoothness that,while not overtly soulful in attitude certainly allows the rhythmic thickness of this funk to stand out on it’s more instrumental terms. Larry Carlton has certainly recorded some amazing funk over the years-whether it be as a session man,on his own or as a Crusader. And this is one of his strongest grooves for me.