I first met Carl back in ’80 or ’81 when I was still in high school. I was in a band with some guys who knew him. He was already playing the bars and stuff by that time – far beyond the kegger parties we were still performing at, but he would stop by practice from time to time and we developed a friendship.
After I got out of school, a bunch of us moved into this party-house in Sonora, California (our home-town, and the place where Carl currently rests) and formed the band Anthem (pictured here, circa 1983,
from left to right: myself on guitar, Jim Bloodgood on drums, Ed Williams on bass, and Carl also on guitar).

This was when Carl really started coming into his own vocally. I had this old Plymouth Duster, and he and I would cruise all over the place in that old car. Everywhere we went Carl would belt out old rock tunes and originals we were working on at the time at the top of his lungs. He used to say, “man, I love to sing! I know I’m not that good at it, but I love to do it”. He WASN'T that good at it then, if you can believe it, but he worked at it constantly, and everybody knows how it payed off for him. I still consider him to be my favorite singer.

What people probably don’t realize, is what a great guitar player Carl was. He was one of my earliest influences, and was responsible for a good deal of my growth as a musician. We would sit at that house in Sonora, drinking and trading licks all day and into the night. I always found it sad that the world never really got to hear him play. Just before he passed away, we talked about putting together a side project with he and I on guitar, but of course that never came to pass.

Carl was in some great bands – Villain (with me), Ruffians, and of course, the mighty VR – but when I think about him, it’s those early days that I remember most. Those were killer times, man. The best.

I still see Carl’s son, Keven once or twice a week. He’s a great kid. He looks just like his dad, and sometimes it’s hard to look at him without choking up a little.

I think about Carl every day. It still occurs to me once in awhile that “I need to call Carl” before I catch myself. He was a great musician and one of my best friends. April 22nd will never be just a day for me ever again. To me it will always be the day the world lost “the voice”.
Peace.

Greg E Noll

Note: I totally agree, Carl was a pretty good guitar player. It is a shame that he never got to do that in VR. I know that he brought it up from time to time, and I was always in his corner on this issue, but Carl and I were always outvoted on the "triple guitars live" format.
Thanx to Greg Noll for the great memories,stories, and classic picture!

Greg can be reached at: gnoll@attitude.com