A Tribute To KISS' Longest Serving Drummer

The purpose of this multimedia tribute to Eric Carr is not to debate whether or not he was the "best" drummer KISS had, because everyone will have their own opinion about that, but it is to remember a genuinely nice man who came from "nowhere" and gave his all for the band we all love. On November 24, 1991, Paul Caravello, aged just 41, sadly passed away leaving many fans shocked and appalled at the tragedy of life. Gone, though he may be, Eric lives on forever in the hearts of all his fans and is remembered every time one of his albums is played.

Born in Brooklyn, NY, on July 12, 1950, Paul Charles Caravello grew up in an extended family in Brownsville, NY, which included his parents, two younger sisters, Loretta and Sissy, and his Uncle Paul's family (who lived next door). Early on Eric had a normal life, and wanted to be an astronaut or scientist, though he had definite artistic interest which was "pushed" by one of his teachers in elementary school, but like many when the Beatles hit America in 1963 the music changed his life. Around that time Eric's sister, Loretta, was given a drum set (a 5 piece Gretsch) by their Uncle Peter, something which Eric immediately domineered in hopes of becoming the next Ringo Star! In 1964 Eric started at Manhattan High School of Art and Design where he studied cartooning, and soon afterwards, photography, this interest in cartoons would later be put into use with his idea of a rock cartoon, which became the Rockheads. With his desire to be a drummer Eric soon destroyed his Gretsch drum kit which was quickly replaced with 3-piece Zigmar. Later Eric's father bought him a Ludwig set, and then, after tons of practice bashing out the Beatles (and driving the neighbors up the wall) Eric was ready to take on the World! In 1965 Eric formed his first band, The Cellermen, with a friend from his school and his future brother-in-law. According to Loretta Caravello, "Eric put up a card at a music store that was owned by Neil Diamond's family in Brooklyn... After [a] few auditions The Cellarmen were formed. Today one of the band members remains close with the family, he is a successful Layer in New York, and the other one is my brother-in-Law. They got their name from always playing in the celler.. that's what we Brooklyn people call it instead of a basement" (Asylum Interview w/ LC). In the four years that The Cellermen existed they played numerous shows (mainly Bar Mitzvahs and weddings) performing top-40 material or whatever was popular at the moment. They also managed to get into a studio in 1968 and record two original songs, both written by Eric. Perhaps with Eric's love of the Beatles it is not suprising that both of these songs, I Cry At Night and Your Turn To Cry, have a heavy Beatlesque feel. But they're fun songs which feature Eric both on lead vocals and drums, and they remain some of the earliest material available by any member of KISS. Around this time the band also sang backing-vocals for a female performer, Gale, though nothing ever came of these recordings. While The Cellermen soon broke up the experience of performing and writing music gave Eric the impetus to go on with music. After graduating from high school Eric had to avoid the draft by deliberately failing his medical by failing his intelligence tests - while this damaged his prospects for employment, even though he was intelligent, he worked numerous jobs while continuing to work in bands hoping for the break which he wanted so desperately. Some of these jobs included delivering tobacco for export at Kennedy Airport, repairing gas ranges, a job which Eric remembered with a distinctive lack of amusement, delivering refrigerators for his father, slicing cold cuts in a deli, and working as a paper pusher in the Department Of Criminal Justice.

As Eric entered the 1970's the outlook must have been good. He had teamed up with John and Sarita Henderson (and three others) in a new band called Salt & Pepper (named such due to the ethnic balance of the members). After his experience in The Cellermen, Eric must have thought that there was only one direction to go - up! Eric would stay with Salt & Pepper for the next nine years with the band going through several personnel and name changes. According to Eric, "It was top-40 when we first started. It was six people, half-black, half-white, which is why we were called Salt & Pepper. We were doing top-40, but Top 40 in the early 70's was any kind of music. You would turn on the radio and hear Led Zeppelin, then Joan Baez, then Janis Joplin, then Cream, then Hendrix, then Rare Earth, then Chicago. It was everything" (BD, p114). Undoubtedly, this helped Eric develop a diverse skill base. In February 1973, a photo Eric appears in the centerfold of the New York Daily Herald with the caption, "Is it a boy or a girl?" Sadly, this was not to be the only exposure Eric had. Later in 1973, with the music scene changing from the hippie era of the 1960's and the disco/pop phase starting to emerge in the mainstream, Salt & Pepper changed their name to Creation. This move away from the standard top 40 of a few years before led the band into a more "Funk" oriented sound, a sound which would progress, over the next few years, into a full fledged disco sound. In 1974, the band acquired a new keyboard player, Damon DeFreis who was just 17, however soon afterwards an event occurred which, " ironically gained the band national attention" (BD p114). Playing the third night of gigs at "The Pit" at Gulliver's in Port Chester, New York on June 30th, fire broke out killing 22 people plus the keyboard player, Damon DeFreis, and lead singer, George D. Chase, in the band. In such a sad event Eric proved himself a hero saving the life of the bands other vocalist, Sarita Henderson, when the smoke came pouring into the discotheque. The following day both Eric and guitarist John Henderson were interviewed on CBS' Sunday morning news program, Sunday, and in the New York Times, where the shocking rapidity of the smoke spreading was made apparent. It was "later determined that the fire was started by a man who had broken into the bowling alley's nursery (next door to the club/resturant), that was located in its basement, stolen some of the mother's purses, then set fire to cover his tracks" (BD p115). A very high cost for such a crime. The band, apart from losing two of their members, also lost most of their equipment in the fire, though soon afterwards their management, Creative Talent Associates, held a benefit concert featuring their top acts to help the band replace their equipment. The band continued but soon changed its name to Mother Nature/Father Time, and name Eric never cared for and thought was totally unsuitable for use as a name for a band. Yet Creation had had some success, even with all the tragedy associated with the band. The had toured the Tri-State area opening up for established Rhythm & Blues acts including Nina Simone and Stevie Wonder, though by the time they changed their name success had eluded them.

For the next 5 years the band soldiered on, breaking into the Long Island disco circuit, and making the transition from R&B to pure disco. In fact, by all accounts, the band appeared on Gregg Diamond's 1977 LP, Bionic Boogie, which also featured Gregg Diamond, Lance Quinn, Steve Love, Jim Gregory, Alan Schwartzburg (note the Peter Criss connection), Jimmy Moelin, amongst other studio musicians. The band also appeared live throughout that period as "Bionic Boogie", at Miami Convention Center, Walt Disney World, and at various discotheques. Eric appeared on one song on the album, Risky Changes, singing backing vocals. Though things for Eric in the late 1970's were pretty much down hill. In 1979 Mother Nature/Father Time recorded an album for the Casablanca Record label (Casablanca NBLP-7170), under the stage name, Lightning. This, contrary to popular belief, was not attributed to "Bionic Boogie", no mention of that name was made anywhere on the packaging on the album, nor was the album called "Disco Symphony" or "Lightning Disco Symphony", it was simply called "Lightning: Lightning". Promotional copies (at least) were released around November 1979, as was a promotional 12" single featuring the tracks Disco Symphony and Baby Without Your Love. Circulation of this album is very unclear, with Eric stating in interviews, "that only 5 or 6 copies existed.... When asked if fans might have a chance to find the album somewhere, he shot back, there better not be" (BD p116). The other three songs on the album were: In And Out Of Love, I Love The Way You Love You, and One Step At A Time. All the songs were written by band members, though Eric did not contribute to any while he appeared on all of them on drums and backing-vocals. Incidentally, the album was produced by Lewis Merenstein, who had also produced Peter Criss' Chelsea album in 1970. Around the time of the release of "Lightning", Mother Nature/Father Time finally called it quits, this may have had some effect on the proper release of the album with there being no "unit" left to promote it. After 10 years of trying to break into the music business nothing had come of the attempt and the band was getting caught up performing as Bionic Boogie, rather than doing their own material. The disco craze was also starting to die off. In December 1979 Eric joined a 4 piece power-rock combo, called Flasher, who were doing cover songs around the New York area. Apparently, this was a particularly sad period for Eric, who had become unsure about his musical future. In March 1980, the keyboardist, Paul Turino, in the band quit, though Flasher continued for some time as a trio. Yet it was a chance meeting with the keyboardist at club in Queens, called Poets, where Flasher were going to be performing, in May/June 1980, where Eric was given the idea to audition for KISS who had recently announced the departure of Peter Criss. Eric had, at this time already give notice that he intended to quit Flasher, and the keyboardist suggested that he audition for KISS. While Eric didn't believe the guy at first he went out and bought Unmasked the following day and started to put his "press-kit" together. Finally, on June 18th, one day late, a procrastinating Paul Caravello submits his press kit to Aucoin Management. In order to get his package noticed he housed it in a bright orange folder, a tactic which works when the secretary picks it up first out of a stack of submissions. He is offered an interview with Bill Aucoin at his Madison Avenue offices the following day at noon where he is immediately told that he should shave his mustache if he wants KISS to even consider him. Meeting the prerequisites of playing a double-bass style and having good vocal skills, the following day Eric is offered an audition with KISS on June 23rd at 1:30. He is also told to learn 5 songs for the audition, these include "Black Diamond" and "Detroit Rock City" plus songs from more recent KISS albums. It's a very nervous Eric who shows up for his audition with KISS, though the audition, which is videoed by the band, goes well and a "vibe" is apparent as they perform songs, once the confusion of live versus recorded drumming is sorted out. Eric leaves, content with how the audition has gone, but not before getting the bands autographs! After a few tense days of waiting Eric is informed that as of July 1st he is officially a member of the band. Finally! After 15 years of struggling Paul Caravello has made it, and become the drummer for one of the biggest rock bands in the World, something he would not have anticipated just a couple of months earlier when he was questioning his future in music.

As a member of KISS the first thing Paul had to do was change his name to help mask his background. KISS had wanted an "unknown" to help perpetuate the myth surrounding the members of the band, so Paul chose the name "Eric Carr" as it "spoke well" when saying all of the band members names. Then came the more difficult task of coming up with a character. While Bill Aucoin or possibly Paul Stanley had created the infamous "Hawk" costume, it became rapidly apparent that such an idea was not suitable, indeed that is putting it lightly! Eric then started sketching ideas and came up with "The Fox", and got Gene's approval, using a basic costume to complete the look. While Gene liked the idea, Eric thought that it suited him well, and with only a couple of weeks until his live debut with the band he had to come up with something sharpish. Eric could then get on with the task of learning the material he'd have to perform in New York, and on the upcoming European Tour. Finally on July 22 came the official announcement of Eric's induction into the band, stating "... KISS have finally announced that 27 year-old Eric Carr has been named and the band's new drummer. Known for his cunning, crafty way with rock 'n roll rhythms, Eric will perform in stage in the guise of a fox. A Brooklyn native and veteran of several New York-area bands, Eric was chose from among 30 drummers who auditioned for the coveted role of becoming the fourth member of KISS. Eric, a/k/a the Fox, will debut in concert with KISS at the Palladium in New York on Friday, July 25th" (A&C). And that was that! Eric's age was dropped by two years to further confuse those who might like to "blow" his past, though this did happen very quickly with the passports of the members being found and copied while whey were on tour in Europe later that year, though this seems to have never filtered down to the fans. And the rest is history.... Well, not quite! Soon after the conclusion of the Unmasked Tour in December 1980, the band started to think about work on their new album, at which point they had no idea that it would become a concept album. One of the first tracks Eric recorded as a member of KISS was the superb Deadly Weapons which remains unreleased to this day. What was immediately apparent was that Eric brought a new dimension to the KISS sound, and his skill would make a sound as individual to the sound which KISS had had with Peter.

Eric's time with KISS is more a history of rejection of his material. Very few of his ideas ever made it onto the final releases, and even with his extremely strong vocal abilities he only ever got to record one song for an album singing lead vocals. That is a shame considering his lead vocals in concert on "Black Diamond" and "Young And Wasted". He also considered the redoing of Peter's "Beth" a mistake, though at the time he was so desperate to sing a lead he's have done anything. Yet KISS did allow him a certain amount of experimentation and on his first studio album he contributed part of "Under The Rose" and "Escape From The Island". At the Elder sessions he and Ace worked out the basic structure of "Heaven", a track which later became "Breakout" on Ace Frehley's first post-KISS solo album, and later still, was redone editing out all of Ace's guitar work and replacing it with Bruce, became "Carr Jam 1981" on Revenge. On Creatures Of The Night, apart from making an unsuccessful attempt to perform the solo in the title track, Eric played bass for "I Still Love You", while another track he'd cowritten with Gene and Vinnie, "Ain't None Of Your Business", later turned up on Wendy O. William's album while another song KISS had demoed, "Legends Never Die" appeared with her vocal over-dubbed onto KISS' music, while the same is possibly true for a further track "It's My Life". In 1983 a song he'd cowritten with Bryan Adams and Jim Vallance, "Don't Leave Me Lonely", which was probably done at the same time as other Killers tracks, early in the Creatures sessions, appeared on Adam's album, Cuts Like A Knife. For Lick It Up Eric provided the basic idea for "All Hell's Breakin' Loose" which was developed by Gene, Vinnie, and Paul for inclusion on the album. For the next few years it seemed that Eric was not providing much material for the band (he did co-write on "Under The Gun" on Animalize and "No, No, No" for Crazy Nights), yet he was bringing the band material, they were just rejecting it. While Eric came up with the title "Who Dares Wins" for the album which became Crazy Nights, he also brought a song he'd co-written with Adam Mitchel, "Dial L For Love", which was rejected. For Hot In The Shade Eric brought four songs to the band including "Little Caesar", "Looking Through The Eyes Of Love", and "Somebody's Waiting", yet it was what he thought was the weakest song which was accepted. Though it is interesting to note that Eric recorded the vocals, bass and drums for that song with Bruce providing guitar. Eric also came up with the cover concept for the album after seeing a similar picture in a magazine. In 1988 Eric had also started developing his Rockheads cartoon idea, and he and Bruce cut 5 demos, including a song called "Tiara", for it. There is also mention of another Eric Carr song, "Electric Thunder", from 1989 which he co-wrote for a band of the same name. In 1989 he was also working with Ace Frehley, who he had remained good friends with, on material for Ace's Trouble Walkin' album, recording "Rock Your Mind". One of the final songs which Eric worked on is called "The Elephant Man" which he wrote around the time Revenge was being prepared, though it was never demoed.

Perhaps it is appropriate that the last song Eric recorded with KISS was "God Gave Rock And Roll To You II". For a man who joked about his situation after leaving hospital after having open-heart surgery in 1991 Eric was positive about the future and continued to work on ideas. I'm not going to go into the rumours surrounding his final days with KISS as there is too much conjecture and not enough fact. All I can end with saying is the utter devestation I felt when I heard on the radio that Eric had passed away. I cried. Though it had been well reported that his condition had deteriorated in the months before his death, I and probably many others, thought that he could, and prayed that he would, make a recovery. However, it was not to be. I felt anger at the lack of coverage about his life at the time, though his passing was overshadowed by the death of Freddie Mercury, but I can't help but feel that MTV in particular (and Rolling Stone for that matter) showed little respect for him. Yet that doesn't matter as his memory lives on in the hearts of all his fans. I also like to remember the mischevous grin on his face in the Heaven's On Fire video.

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Eric Carr Discography

Some of the albums Eric appeared on

Eric's early band, The Cellermen, recorded 2 demos in 1968, and provided backing vocals for Gale.
Eric also had songs appear on albums by Bryan Adams and Ace Frehley.
One of Eric's songs also appeared on a W.O.W. fan club release, F**k 'N Roll.
There are numerous compilations which feature KISS tracks which feature Eric on Drums, these include:
Hear N' Aid - One of only 2 chances to hear an official live track featuring Eric.
You Wanted The Best (Japanese & vinyl) - Features Eric live in Australia, 1980.
The Singles - Australian only Greatest Hits package, 1985.
Chikara - Japanese only Greatest Hits package, 1988.
There are also unreleased demos, including the song "Tiara", for Eric's Rockheads project.
Revenge - "Heaven", the drum track from 1981, an early development of Ace's "Breakout" appears.

• Dale Sherman, for material included in his books, Black Diamond & Black Diamond 2, and the Eric Carr interview at KISS Asylum.
  
• Kiss Konfidential, for the links to their Real Audio samples of the Cellermen and "Deadly Weapons" songs.
  
• "Eric Carr Remembered", by Andy Martin Jr.
  
• Photographs used in this article are from Lynn's KISS Dominion and A&C KISS Memorobilia
  

Article © copyright 1997, Julian Gill/KISS Audio Trading, UK