B I O G R A P H Y, page two
— by Don Garlock Jr.
The Andersons are a musical family. Here Carl got his first tastes of
the stage... singing his lungs out at church. Pictured here, the Anderson
Family Singers perform on one of countless occasions at Rivermont Baptist
Church in Lynchburg, Virginia. (Young Carl is not pictured here; his Mama
said he was probably running around the church hallways when he should
have been with the group. Photo ca. 1950s.) It was in this dynamic environment
that Carl developed his deep-rooted love for God, country, and family
— and performing. (Mizz Anderson tells this writer that she taught
all 11 of her surviving children to recite The Lord's Prayer and
the 23rd Psalm every day before school. Carl must have been paying
attention, as evidenced by the fact that he sang both at his Lynchburg
concert on 16 May 1999, with his mother in attendance.)
Carl also seized opportunities to sing at Dunbar High School, where,
by his Junior year (1962), he was Student Director of the School Chorus
group and after hours was, as he recalled, "gigging with high school groups...
mainly to keep myself out of trouble." At the end of his junior year, Carl took
a characteristically unpredictable turn when he enlisted in the Air Force, where for two years he served
as a communications technician (he would return to Dunbar to complete high
school and graduate in 1965). But the World Wide Air Force Talent
Contest gave Carl the opportunity to sing at military bases across
America, and he began to sing with some serious purpose. With his
honorable discharge from the USAF, Carl settled (for a time) in Washington, D.C. in
1969. Here, his abundant energy was clearly evident: he was
simultaneously working as an assistant director of the Columbia Heights Boys Club,
studying child psychology at Howard University, and singing in jazz clubs around the city, including with the well-known
Orlando Smith trio.
Carl and some friends formed a group called The Second Eagle (their first gig was on the night "Eagle One" landed on the moon), with Carl handling the vocals. The band got mixed reviews playing in clubs in and around Georgetown's M Street, including at Jackie Lee's Lounge on Kennedy Street, NW. Among the many jazz/rock tunes Second Eagle covered were some from the album Jesus Christ Superstar, which had been released long before there were ever any definitive plans for a stage production.
The date was Palm Sunday 1971 and The Second Eagle was performing some JCS tunes at St. Stephen's Church when a talent agent with the William Morris Agency recognized Carl's potential as a solo performer.
Nothing would ever be the same again.
Would You Like to Try Out for a New Rock Opera? Quickly?
Although Carl didn't know it at the time, one of his most significant
opportunities came in the early 70s, when he first heard there was going
to be a stage production of the rock opera by Andrew Lloyd-Webber.
Jesus Christ Superstar!
Carl already knew the music by heart!
The concert touring company of Jesus Christ Superstar was auditioning
and, on the last day of auditions, 27 June 1971, Carl — who had
been delivered to New York City not knowing why he was there — auditioned
for and landed the role of Judas. Two days later, he was in rehearsal.
Five months later, Carl made his debut on Broadway and, after six successful
months there, headed for Hollywood to do the West Coast version of the
rock opera. While in rehearsal there, Carl was flown to London for a screen
test and then back to L.A. Two weeks later, he left that production to
begin filming in Israel. But the whirlwind had just begun.
That same year Carl also signed with Motown Records, (for which he would later have the opportunity to work with Stevie Wonder on his landmark 1976 double album "Songs in the Key of Life"). Thus, several of the most recognizable albums to be released in the musically-explosive 70s would bear the mark of Carl Anderson.
Yet another milestone in Carl's life during this era was his marriage
to Kathleen "Kay" McGhee, and the birth of their son, Khalil, who has
been an inspiration to Carl since the day he was born in November of 1977:
Carl's production company bears his son's name to this day.
