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Carl Dean Radle was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma on
June 18, 1942. Although clarinet and piano
lessons in his childhood failed to fascinate
him, sometime during his years at Edison High
School (Tulsa) he fell in love with rock and
roll. By the time he graduated in 1960 he had
bought an old used guitar and basically began to
teach himself how to play. As he became more
accomplished, he began playing in local clubs
with fellow friends and musicians David Gates,
Russell Bridges (Leon Russell), Johnny (J. J.)
Cale, Jim Markham, Tommy Crook, Jim Karstein,
Chuck Blackwell, Larry Bell, and a host of
others, even though most of them were under the
legal age limit for being granted entrance into
the nightspots.
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After graduating
from high school this group of
musicians, who would have to be
considered the vanguard of what was to
eventually be dubbed “The Tulsa Sound”,
began migrating to California to try to
break into the music business. Leon
Russell was one of the earliest to make
this move and his home/studio on Skyhill
Drive in Hollywood became a haven for
these young Tulsa musicians and assorted
friends who needed a place to stay.
They often played as back-up musicians
in clubs, with new upcoming singers,
like Bobby Rydell, fronting the act.
During this time he recorded with a
group called Skip & Flip, releasing a
single,
Tossin' and Turnin' / Everyday I Have to
Cry.
After about a year of finding it
difficult to make a living in the music
world, in 1964 Carl decided to return to
Tulsa and joined the Air National Guard,
being stationed in Texas for about a
year. After Carl’s discharge in 1965
and when he had once again returned to
Tulsa, Leon Russell called him from
California offering a “huge
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opportunity”, a position as new bass
player for the Gary Lewis & the Playboys.
Carl decided to
give the music business one more try and he made
the move back to California. He recorded and
toured with Gary Lewis & the Playboys for about
one year, making appearances on The Ed Sullivan
Show, Shindig, Hullabaloo, and The Tonight
Show. Fellow Tulsans Jimmy Karstein and Tommy
Crook were also members of this group, and
during this time they spun out many “top ten”
singles, including “Everybody Loves a Clown” and
“Count Me In.” To date, Carl’s contributions
are included on fourteen of Gary’s albums. This
trip came to an end, however, when in January of
1967 Gary was called into military service and
the band dissolved.
Carl remained
in California doing studio work and pick-up gigs
including working behind Dobie Gray in club
engagements. He did some recording with John
Lee Hooker and appeared on two albums (“The
Colours” and “Atmosphere”) in 1968 with a group
called The Colours, which also included Tulsan
Chuck Blackwell. In 1969, Leon Russell once
again influenced Carl’s destiny, by introducing
him to Delaney and Bonnie Bramlett to help form
the group “Delaney, Bonnie & Friends.” This
group also included Leon, Rita Coolidge, and
Dave Mason. On tour the group performed as the
opening act for “Blind Faith,” a group which
included Eric Clapton. Upon Blind Faith’s
demise, Eric Clapton joined up with the
Bramletts for a tour and album titled Delaney &
Bonnie & Friends on Tour. Carl collaborated on
writing and arranging two of their hit songs,
“Get Ourselves Together” and “Never Ending Song
of Love.”
This group
disbanded after about a year and in early 1970
several of the members, including Carl, joined
Leon Russell who was forming the “Joe Cocker,
Mad Dogs and Englishmen” ensemble. The company
had more than two dozen musicians and
performers, and the tour covered 46 cities in 56
days. From it emerged the biggest rock and
roll tour in history, a major movie and a gold
album.
In the
meantime, Bobby Whitlock had started hanging
with Eric Clapton who wanted to put together a
group to tour and promote his first solo album.
Bobby called in Carl and L.A. born drummer, Jim
Gordon. Sidetracked at first, they took time in
May and July of 1970 to collaborate with George
Harrison on his “All Things Must Pass” album,
which included the hit singles “My Sweet Lord”
and “What is Life”. During a break in June,
Eric, Jim, Bobby and Carl began seriously
rehearsing and they completed their first
single, “Tell the Truth, with “Roll it Over” on
the B side. After the George Harrison sessions
were finished in late summer of that year,
Clapton’s new group resumed sessions at Criteria
Studios in Miami, Florida, with Tom Dowd at the
production helm, resulting in what has become
one of the greatest classic rock albums of all
time, “Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs”.
Duane Allman’s guitar work was also a prominent
contribution to this effort.
The group took time off in August of 1971 to
help George Harrison in his benefit effort, the
Concert for Bangladesh, an ensemble of great
artists including Bob Dylan, Billy Preston,
Ringo Starr, Leon Russell, Jim Keltner, and
others. The two live concerts held on
August 1, 1971, at Madison Square Garden
resulted in another album and movie.
Derek and the Dominos began working on sessions
for another group of songs, but being
dissatisfied with the results and the tensions
that resulted, the band dissolved and a
disillusioned Eric took a three year hiatus.
For the next three years Carl stayed busy with
session work on projects by various artists,
including Art Garfunkel, Duane Allman, John Lee
Hooker, Rita Coolidge, Leon Russell, Bobby
Whitlock, Donovan and Freddie King.
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In
April of 1974, Eric Clapton was coaxed
out of seclusion and resurfaced with a
band consisting of George Terry, Carl
Radle, Jamie Oldaker, Dick Sims and
Yvonne Elliman on vocals. The group
once again began recording in Criteria
Studios, under Dowd’s direction, to
create the popular “461 Ocean Boulevard”
album. Carl again brought his arranging
abilities into play on the “Motherless
Children” track for this album. For the
next five years, Carl, Eric and this
group of musicians including the
addition of vocalist Marcy Levy, worked
closely together on an almost endless
string of highly successful gold and
platinum albums.
In 1979, Eric was ready for a new sound.
That summer he dissolved the band and all
the musicians went separate ways in their
careers. Carl worked for a while with Peter
Frampton, but soon returned to Tulsa where
he enjoyed working with local musicians once
again. He died in May of 1980, at age 37,
from the effects of alcohol and narcotics.
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In the Playboy Jazz and Pop Poll, Carl was
ranked yearly in the top ten bass players,
ultimately reaching the number two spot although
he never played jazz as such. In one of the
most competitive of all fields, Carl Radle, a
kind and gentle soul and a devoted and respected
musician, lived his career at a pinnacle that
very few ever reach. He was known and labeled
as “A Musician’s Musician.”
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