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The Lounge Lizard King comes in from the cold....

Dedicated to the violent, troubled career of an intemperate, talented man - and his energetic attempts to control a white-hot rage and love of life.


An Introduction to 'The Legend'

When you think of Dusty Carr, what comes to mind?… Perhaps not much, or perhaps way too much. Whatever your memories and opinions, we invite you into a life well lived. 

Much has been written about Dusty - some of it accurate, but mostly garish and ill prepared, reminiscent of its subject. Above all, Dusty is complex: he loves hard, he sings hard, and he plays hard.

So take a few moments now to discover A Man and His Music. Go on, you can take it...

Dusty's Male Bag

The Letters
 
 
My friend Dusty Carr,
Can you compare the old Vegas to the new Vegas?" 
- Peter Griffin. Pittsburgh, PA

 Dear Peter,
"I think God is on the take. That's the only explanation for Disney in the Desert. Let me explain...Imagine God was walking through the desert with a giant vacuum cleaner. And he came upon a wonderful town full of gambling, beautiful women, booze and parties. So he turned on his big vacuum and sucked up all those fun things. What he left were just dead-eye businesses backed by multi-national conglomerates. Then we find out that God is on a retainer with Disney. Do I make myself clear?"

Dear Dusty,
"You seem to have known a lot of famous people. How is it that you yourself have remained relatively obscure?"
- Melissa Cook, Miami, FL


 
Dear Melissa,
"First, I'm not comfortable with that question because it assumes I am not famous, and I am. Second, do you think I would have so many famous friends if I was just some jerk-around pinhead? I believe this is called logic, so use your goddamn brain."

Dear Dusty, Who is your favorite performer?
- Justin DiFranco, San Jose, CA


 
Dear Justin,
Dead, Bobby Darin, because he knew how to entertain people. He could really perspire, especially around the forehead where it counts. Alive, Tom Jones, another heavy sweater. Plus he reminds me of me."


 
Dear Dusty,
"I am an aspiring singer/songwriter. You must have spent thousands of hours on stage. What is the one thing a performer should never do if he or she wants to win over an audience?"
Jackie Jones, Brooklyn, NY


 
Dear Jackie,
"A performer must never - under any circumstances - vomit on the stage or himself, because it can really alienate an audience. If you are going to puke, just race to the wings and it let it shower. Don't worry, if you're any good they'll still be there when you get back."


 
Dear Dusty,
"Why did you stop the child support payments? Don't you realize that you're still responsible for helping me raise Donna? How would you like the new name 'Dead Beat Dusty'?"
Annette Pierce, Las Vegas, NV


 
Dear Annette,
"First, I am not comfortable with that question because it assumes I am a deadbeat father, and I'm probably not. Second, I don't know you, we have never had sex, and I've never heard of a kid named Donna, so stop acting like one of those birds that pick the flies off a cow's ass."




Dear Dusty,
"Most of the books and articles I've read a about you discuss your drug and alcohol problems. Please tell me you are now clean and sober."
Cathy Stepford, Dayton, OH 



 
Dear Cathy,
"My mother used to tell me that drugs are the same as religion; they're both private matters. But for the record, I have never had a problem with drugs or booze. It's the people around me who have had a problem with me taking drugs and booze. There's a hell of a difference."


 
Dear Dusty,
"What is your crowning achievement?"
Daryl Cooper, Ogdensburg, NY
 
Dear Daryl,
"Without a doubt, drinking twelve beers in one sitting and still being able to pass a breathalyzer. There's no way I should have driven home."
 
Dear Dusty,
"Last year, in a Tampa nightclub, I heard you perform 'The Unique Vocal Stylings of Dusty Carr'. It's a great song. I was humming it all night. But it seems to have a degree of introspection and self-awareness that I don't usually associate with you. Was it co-written by somebody else?"
Belinda Howard, Toronto, Ontario


 
Dear Belinda,
"All me. Pure Dusty. I wrote that song alone. It was part of an early-release parole program. We each had to kind of talk about our problems, or something like that. So I decided to write it down in a song, because after all, that's my gig. You can download it from this website."


 
Dear Dusty,
"I understand you once met Richard Nixon. What was he like?"
Trent Hayward, Nashville, TN


 
Dear Trent,
"He was okay. Another real heavy sweater. I really couldn't follow his conversation. He started talking about China and Vietnam and Joe Namath and the New York Jets. And the next moment he grabs my tie and pulls me right up to his face and says, "Do you think I should get a brushcut and wear a T-shirt? Do you hip man? Maybe then people would think 'hey, he's tough', and then maybe, just maybe dear god, they would love me a little"…Bless him. He was a nut, but hey, he was our nut."

Filmography

There's Something in My Sweater! Independent Artists International (API). 1962. With Jayne Mansfield, Tony Randall, Gene Barry, June Wilkinson, Dusty Carr

Synopsis: It isn't long before nightclub entertainer Jayne Mansfield bumps against bountiful competitor June Wilkinson. Sparks fly as the two top-heavy chanteuses cat-fight for the  affections of club owner Dusty Carr. (Ed. Carr performed while suffering severe withdrawal symptoms from an unspecified addiction).

Something Really Wild! United Artists. 1958. With John K. Smith, Stella Stevens, Fats Domino, Little Richard, Eddie Cochran, Gene Vincent, Dusty Carr.

Synopsis: Julie Tankard (Stella Stevens), a twenty-something housewife, is married to boring middle-aged executive John Tankard (John Smith). On a chance visit to a 'really wild' nightclub, Julie discovers rock and roll music and its prime progenitors. In the end, she leaves her husband and hits the road with an ambitious rock band. Features half-hearted performances from the listed artists. (Ed. Dusty won raves for his portrayal of Marcos, the knife-wielding 'monkey boy'). 

 
This Highschool's A Zoo! Warner Pictures. 1959. With John Derrick, Mamie Van Doren, Chuck Berry, Bobby Darin, Alan Freed, Dusty Carr.


Synopsis: Shirley Stevens (Mamie Van Doren), an idealistic, young teacher, is hired to 'keep order' in the 'zoo' - a barely contained classroom of misfits at Royton High. Through the deft use of tight sweaters and pleated skirts, Shirley Stevens manages to cast a spell over the charming delinquents and turn them into 'A-standing' rock and rollers. (Ed. Dusty and Bobby swap verses of 'Splish Splash'). 

 
Moondreams, Sunbeams. Quando Pictura. Italy. 1961. With Antonio Della Fimura, Mary Mucurina, Don Pestione, Dusty Carr.
Synopsis: Pepe (Antonio Della Fimura), a wandering Sicilian minstrel, happens upon the young Durgio (Dusty Carr), a sullen shop boy whose dream is to become a pop singer. The two meet up with Marina (Mary Mucurina), a cheery seaside prostitute, and the three form a popular singing trio. (Ed. Dusty's sensitive characterization was grossly under appreciated and led to his banishment from 'serious' roles). 

 
This Beach is for Swingers! Columbia Pictures. 1964. With Annette Fleming, Richard Pectura, Alphonse Gaglio, Dusty Carr, Darin McGavin, The Sufaris.


Synopsis: Local crime boss Reggie Lomax (Richard Pectura) believes California's Aloha Beach contains buried treasure and wants to buy the property, much to the chagrin of Moondoggie (Alphonse Gaglio) and his wacky gang of hot surfers. The kids need to raise $1,000 to keep the beach from Lomax, and an impromptu rock n' roll show saves the day. (Ed. Dusty really gets huge laughs with his portrayal of the vocally impaired 'Stuttering Stu'). 

 
Smell a Rainbow, Watch a Flower. The Haight Independent Film Cooperative. 1968. With Broderick Crawford, Richard Harris, Sharon Tate, Dennis Hopper, Sal Mineo, Dusty Carr.


Synopsis: Rich kid Reggie Thompson (Sal Mineo) is being forced by his business magnate father (Broderick Crawford) to "get into the family business", which is munitions production. But Reggie wants to hang out with the local flower children, a peaceful, soulful group led by the mysterious shaman 'Blackbird' (Richard Harris). Eventually, Reggie's father recognizes the evilness of his munitions empire, sells the whole store and spends the money on raising fields of flowers. (Ed. Dusty later said, "God truly blessed my performance.").

It Rained that September. Paramount Pictures, Slim Shady Productions. 2012. With John Travolta,  Lindsey Lohan, Paris Hilton, Bruce Dern, Dusty Carr.

Synopsis: Successful, small-town divorced lawyer Conner Steele  (Travolta) sues pleasure-seeking daughter Jasmine (Lohan) for burning his entire collection of toupees. Jasime enlists the help of party buddy April (Hilton) to steal cash from a local strip club, owned by Angelo McKellen (Carr), in order to buy more rugs for her Dad. The notorious Lohan-Hilton strip scene is included in the DVD release. (Ed. U.S. Post critic Cornell Williams said  "Carr domimates a scene the same way a chunk of rancid meat might dominate a dinner party. He's that good!"

Memories of Dusty

Donald Trump
Politician, Business Person
"It was like looking in the mirror"

"No fake news here. What I admire about Dusty Carr is that no matter what people think of him - be he rude, vulgar, violent, petty or mean, he just keeps returning like a bad stink. You've got to love a guy who can't spell quit."



Beyonce
Singer
"He has no respect for my ego"

"I have never met a straight man more uninterested in a beautiful woman. But there he stood before me, screaming something about me being a 'bargain-basement Tina Turner'. We all know that people keep him around because he's the kind of guy you don't want as an enemy. My husband, who is famous, wealthy but somewhat homely, said Carr is about as stable as nitro gylcerin carried by a rabbit." 

Lady GaGa
Singer
"Keith Moon meets Dracula.”


“Not many people know that Dusty is the subject of ‘Bad Romance’. He told me not to get involved with a night-clubbing wild man like him, but I did, and I paid the price. What a terrible, exciting man. I cried for a month and got my nose bobbed. Whew! Keith Moon meets Dracula.”

Madonna
Singer
"He's above sex… a cocktail messiah"
"I met Dusty Carr early in my career. I was in my 'Desperately Seeking Susan' phase. I felt terrible about myself. My eyebrows were a lot bushier than they are now. I wasn't sure if I had any talent. Dusty told me that talent wasn't important in the entertainment business - and I felt very relieved. He said all you needed was ambition, nice clothes and good teeth. He said that he once gave the same advice to Marilyn Monroe. I was attracted to him and told him so. But he's above sex. His mind is elsewhere. Often we'd be out on a date in a restaurant and he'd suddenly say stuff like 'You're draining my power through your eye sockets!' In another time he would be a cocktail messiah. Everybody knows he's a fallen angel." 

Pamela Anderson
Actress
"He called me a trailer-park Bardot"
"I have nothing but loathing for that man! He's said some terrible things to me. I had just split from Tommy Lee and I really wanted to have sex with another musician - and I met Dusty Carr on the beach in Malibu. At first he seemed okay. After we partied together and smoked a few doobs, we had a big argument and he told me that I was too stupid to be treated as a human, that I must be some kind of alien life form that runs on silicone. Then he called me a trailer-park Bardot . Still, if he knocked on my door tonight, who knows? I like my men dangerous." 

William Shatner
Actor
"Why is he so obsessed about my toupee?"
"Okay. Let's go… back to 1960… 8. I had just released an album called 'Transformed Man'. We had a … launch party in… L.A. That's where I met the fabled Dusty Carr. He walked in… to the room and everybody kind of… grew tense! So I approached him and we… spoke. But he kept staring at my toupee. It really bothered him. He kept saying that it was wrong for a man to wear fake hair, that it was… sickening! Why is he so obsessed with my toupee? Even today I hear he talks about it. It frightens me that he is out there walking around and often carries an unlicensed firearm - and that's just not right" 

Russell Crowe
Actor
"He struck me as a sick man"
" I met Dusty Carr on the set of 'Gladiator'. He was a drinking pal of Oliver Reed and was actually with Reed when he died in that bar in Malta. One evening, Carr told the director Ridley Scott that he wanted a part in the film. Scott told him to piss off. So the next morning we were shooting a crowd scene in the coliseum, and somehow Carr snuck in wearing a toga with a great big red 'I Love Las Vegas' painted across the front. And he actually made it into the final cut because nobody caught it. If you look closely you can see him. He struck me as a sick man, but in his line of business the sickness actually works for him." 

Martha Stewart
Lifestyle Guru
"He asked me why I never tuck in my shirt"
"Occasionally we will have celebrity guests cook a meal on my show. We were doing a summer segment and someone suggested a piece on refreshing cocktails - and Dusty Carr's name came up. So we called him. He said sure, he made the best martini around. Well, the day came to shoot the segment. Carr showed up three hours late, perspiring and clearly inebriated, stormed onto the set and began by insulting the sexuality of our director. We called security but they were too afraid to even approach him. He burned himself on a gas stove and tried to smack my head with a gin bottle. He asked me why I never tuck in my shirt and insinuated that I might be in drag. He said I dressed like a crack-addicted cleaning lady. Then he raced away screaming and collapsed in the parking lot. I quickly fired the producer who suggested such a stupid idea and from now on will more closely follow my own unique vision of domestic accomplishment." 

Grace Slick
The Jefferson Airplane
"He's never really there"
"Dusty Carr presents some real problems for me because, like any person I guess, he's got good and bad points. But with Dusty, everything is so extreme. So you end up really loving him or truly hating him. There's no in-between. And that's not right.
"When he first started performing with The Airplane, our audience was really confused. And we were too. But it felt right. He became like some kind of crazy Day-Glo mascot, a rambling court jester, a Cannery Row shaman. Because of his drug use, which was stupefying even to us, Dusty was more a way of life than an actual person. Sometimes when he was singing I got the feeling that if I reached out to touch him, my hand would pass right through him. Because there's something very unearthly about him. He's never really there." 
 
Keith Richard
The Rolling Stones
"He never fell down"
I think he opened for the Stones during our first North American tour, but I can't remember. But I met him during that time - somewhere. And the thing that struck me about him was that no matter how drunk or stoned he was, he never fell down or even cut himself! And Mick and me and Brian found that quite impressive. I still do. Plus, he had this talent for vomiting in the glass he was holding. I mean, you could be talking to him and never even realize that he was retching. And the fact that he's still alive really gives a lot of us in this business great hope. I would call Dusty Carr the real thing, a true inspiration, a true inspiration." 

Tom Wolfe
Journalist/Novelist
"The fact that Dusty Carr has a dedicated web site says more than enough about contemporary society's morbid fascination with the darkside of celebrity. It brings into raw focus the notion of celebrity as a kind of impotent popularity, totally divorced from those talents that have traditionally made someone well known. For me, Dusty Carr's renown floats somewhere in that dark ether that eternally encircles Jack Ruby, Lee Harvey Oswald and John F. Kennedy, or Mark David Chapman and John Lennon. There was a time when 'infamy' didn't necessarily equate with 'fame'. Whether Carr's celebrity has any value - or if we can even judge it - will be determined by a group of rather shocked social scientists a hundred years on." 

Buddy Hackett
Comedian/Actor
"Look at it this way. Do you know how many singers there are in the world? In Las Vegas alone? Or comedians? Thousands. Millions! So to be popular and have a career that stretches from Jack Benny's radio show to L.A. rap music, is worthy of a Nobel Prize. " 

Shel Greenberg
'Psychiatrist to the Stars'
"Childish Demands"
"Although I'm breaching doctor-patient privacy here, I have to say that without a doubt, Dusty Carr is the most troubled individual I have ever treated. And believe me, I've had people like Montgomery Cliff, Jonathan Winters and Hilary Clinton on my couch. Carr's biggest problem is that he feels the world owes him something, and when his childish demands are not met, this incredible blood-boiling rage overcomes his actions. Hence, his profound and sustained alcohol and drug abuse. It's one of the great mysteries of my life why Carr is neither dead or institutionalized." 

Francis Ford Coppola
Film Director/Producer
"He cannot be contained"
"When I was casting 'Apocalypse Now!', I wanted Dusty Carr to play the role that eventually went to Dennis Hopper --that of an unbalanced American photo-journalist who has succumbed to Kurtz's Vietnam madness. We all knew of Carr's life, and he seemed to be a natural for the role. So Dusty came in for an audition, and although his performance was invigorating, it became apparent that he was too close to the role; that if we took him over to Thailand, he stood a good chance of killing himself, if not other crew members. I respect him as an artist, but he's a man who cannot be directed or contained. The fact that I chose Dennis Hopper for that role testifies to how badly Dusty frightened us." 

John Ehrlichman
Former Domestic Policy Advisor to President Richard Nixon
"Carr was hip"
"There was a time, in the late 1960s, when Nixon made a conscious effort to appear 'hip' in order to attract younger voters. So he would invite celebrities to the Whitehouse that he believed were truly contemporary. But the problem was that Nixon's notion of 'hip' was totally out of step with the younger generation. I mean, we had people like Elvis Presley and Sammy Davis Junior come in. And the hippies regarded these guys as true dinosaurs. The only time I can recall that Nixon actually invited someone who was hip was Dusty Carr. Of course the irony was that Nixon was totally unaware of Carr's reputation; that the reason he was hip had more to do with his degenerate lifestyle than his music. I remember Carr kind of stumbling around the Oval Office, completely stunned he was there. I think he believed that he was under arrest. I remember at one point Carr asked Nixon, "Can you kill anybody you want and get away with it?" We were all horrified, except Nixon, who sat down very quietly, thinking." 

Elizabeth Montgomery
Actress
"Head-butted Dick York"
About two-thirds through the 'Bewitched' series, the producers decided to cast more celebrities - because, I think, Paul Lynde had done so well. For this one show we needed someone who could portray a kind of 'Hey cool Daddy-o' beatnik character. Someone mentioned Dusty Carr, so they brought him in, and he got the part of 'Sammy Q', a jaded beatnik poet whom Samantha conjures up with a bad spell, and then she can't undo the spell.
"So, through a series of accidents, Sammy Q winds up the spokesperson for a client of Darren Steven's ad agency. I like to speak kindly of my peers, but with Dusty Carr, that's just not possible. I remember he used to shiver all the time, and he would suddenly shout out strange words, just like a parrot; then he might start weeping or squealing. We soon realized that we had a real time bomb on our hands. Finally he got fired after he head-butted Dick York during an argument. After that, Dick was never the same, and he left the show the following season." 

William F. Buckley, Jr.
Journalist, Commentator, Novelist
"I am a mighty tree"
During the winter of 1968, it was my profound misfortune to participate in a Harvard debate concerning the social relevancy of contemporary music. I was of the opinion, and remain so, that rock and roll music is best suited to atavistic mating, and of absolutely no social value whatsoever. Facing me in the debate was Dusty Carr, whom the organizers of the event had appropriated as representative of the hippie generation.
"It became immediately apparent that Carr was not only grossly unprepared, but in fact was actively experiencing the effects of a hallucinogenic drug. He kept staring at his fingers, carefully examining the cuticles, or would occasionally gnaw on the podium. Whenever I challenged his opinions, he would spread his arms and repeat the same thing, "Yes, these are my limbs I admit. Because I am a mighty tree and you are but a thick white worm gobbling my sweet sap." The fact that the audience voted him victorious in the debate had more to due with the composition of the audience, that is, predominantly under worked and under washed hippies, than the actual content itself." 

Cher
Singer, Actress
"Feed the leather monkeys"
"By the late 1970s my career was in the toilet. Like many entertainers with a one-word name, I wasn't taken seriously as an artist. I had been through a lot of disastrous relationships with really funny looking guys and felt ready to chuck the whole thing and clean pools for a living! Then, during a holiday in Las Vegas, I met Dusty Carr.
"With Dusty I found a kindred spirit and this gave me some hope. I mean, I thought my pain was bad. This man walks under a ton of black clouds and ghosts, everywhere he goes, every day. We spent a wonderful week together. He made me laugh, but I finally left because he scared me. I mean, he used to go out at night and shove bananas down sewer holes, saying that it was his job to feed "the leather monkeys" who would one day rise up and take over the world. That kind of talk made me uncomfortable." 

Bob Dylan
Singer/Songwriter
"Maggot-ridden garbage"
"A lot of people laugh at Dusty. They think, what a fool, what a sad little man, he should be like us with lots of food and cameras and cars. But he ain't no fool. He's a true holy man, maybe a holy fool. You see, Dusty Carr is all of us, he is what you and me could have become if corporate America had treated us like a chunk of maggot-ridden garbage instead of one of god's humble creatures. I love that guy and he's welcome in my home anytime." 

Charlton Heston
Actor
"We had to beat him."
"I met Mr. Carr during the shooting of 'Planet of the Apes'. Carr was a friend of Rod Serling, who wrote the script. One day Serling brought him along to the set, and he told us all that it had been Carr's behavior that had inspired him to do the film. He said that Carr had truly simian-like characteristics; that, when drunk, Carr more closely resembled an ape than any man alive. Carr didn't say a word. He just sat in a chair drinking something from a black bottle. Then he disappeared. Shortly after we heard a woman's terrified screams, and discovered that Carr had pinned down one of the female apes and was trying to rip off her rubber suit. We had to beat him with a club. I remember he was yelling at her, saying, "You goddam ape! You stole everything from me! Even my goddam Cadillac! Everything!" He was escorted off the set by a few of the more robust apes. In a perfect world, Carr would have faced immediate execution."

Docs about Dusty

The DA Pennebaker Documentary
Just Shut Up and Love Me
2004. Written and directed by DA Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus.

DA Pennebaker, the legendary documentary filmmaker responsible for such classics as Primary (1961), Don't Look Back (1966), and the multi-awarded War Room (1993), found himself navel-gazing in 2003, overeating and pretending that he enjoyed reality TV. "I can see now that I was bored. Nobody with an ounce of decency or compassion for fellow humans actually likes reality television. I was in big trouble."


In order to snap out of a potentially lethal bout of ennui, Pennebaker knew that he had to latch onto a larger-than-life subject. "That's when Dusty Carr came to mind," says Pennebaker. "My work is all about exploring the individual as a representation of society. Can you name me one person, dead or alive, who better encapsulates twentieth century angst? It's freakin' impossible. When you look in the face of Dusty Carr, you look in the face of chronic terror kind of mingled with bravery. He's tough but weak, extremely violent but compassionate."


Pennebaker spent three months following Carr from Atlantic City to Memphis, then to Miami and finally Las Vegas. "Travelling with Carr was like going on a dark road trip of the soul. The people that he attracts range from hardcore rock and rollers to Reno sleazoids. His groupies range from beautiful twenty year olds to aging crack whores. In all my years of documentary filmmaking, this is the most engrossing but terrifying project I've ever done. And keep in mind that I got pretty close to Bill Clinton."


Just Shut Up and Love Me will receive an extremely limited release through Mainline Cinema.


The PBS Documentary One Hand Clapping Very Loudly: The Dusty Carr Story

2006. Written and directed by Lenny Brillstein. The Carnegie Film Arts Institute

Graduating with an MA from Harvard in 1992, Lenny Brillstein's doctoral thesis centered on the study of desperation in the creative process. "We always harbor grand illusions about how works of art actually come to fruition," says Brillstein. "We have the indentured poet, tearing his hair out in a drafty turret. We have the bloodied feet of an exhausted dancer swaddled once again for a final rumba. Whatever the case, total desperation, and not especially talent, is often the key motivator of success." 


Brillstein set out to investigate how desperation motivates creativity. "I was itching to make a film, and my brother works for the Carnegie Institute. He told me that all I had to do was write up a typed, double-spaced proposal, and the they would give me money - and they did." 


The next step was to find subject matter that exemplified Brillstein's thesis. "I looked around and finally determined that the greatest living progenitor of what I term mind over talent was Dusty Carr, and I aimed to let his so-called career tell my story," Brillstein comments. 


Brillstein discovered the most difficult aspect of the film was actually convincing Dusty Carr of the validity of the project. "At first, all Dusty wanted to know was how much he was going to get paid, and if it involved any nudity. I told him that I couldn't pay him and that he didn't have to remove his clothes. He told me I was a freak." 


By 2002, Dusty had settled into complete obscurity. "I had had fame and fortune," Dusty says of that period, "and I felt that I had entertained the people of the world enough, so to hell with them and it." 


Brillstein and his crew followed Carr through his dark haunts in Manhattan, into crumbling nightclubs packed with what Carr dubs - "kind of sick looking people." 


"It was in these clubs," says Brillstein, "that it really became apparent that Dusty had very little talent. But what he did possess - and this is truly admirable - is the ambition to keep off Social Assistance. So he'd drag his forlorn self onto these ratty little stages, put on a karaoke-type tape, and belt out his songs from forty years ago. It was very primal and eventually quite terrifying."


One Hand Clapping Very Loudly: The Dusty Carr Story aired on PBS in December, 2006 "The reaction was immediate," Brillstein comments. "On one side were people who thought it was a total waste of energy and money. On the other side, thousands of people wrote to me, expressing their admiration for Dusty, for the way he just keeps going like a spring bull in heat. Oscar Wilde once said that when the critics disagree, then you have a work of art. And I think that's what we accomplished."

Discography

Discography (and Books/Articles)

Albums
1953 Let's Have A Good Time!
1954 Let's Have A Really Good Time!
1955 Good Times Are Over: Dusty Sings the Blues
1956 Hey, Let's Go To Crazy-ville: On The Road With Carr
1959 C'mon Everybody, Get Happy! (released in France as Through a Thick Veil of Salty Tears)
1962 Surf's Comin' Up! (released in France as So Many Forlorn Faces)
1968 Streaming Lights and Cartoon Faces: Live At The Fillmore (with The Jefferson Airplane)
1972 Feelin' Kinda Thoughtful
1979 Gotta Disco 'Til I Die
1990 Really Fast Carr
2005 Dusty After Dark
Singles
1953 You Are My Angel
1953 Thinkin' 'Bout Somethin' Stupid!
1954 Hey, Give A Fella A Kiss!
1955 The Loneliest Boy On Broadway
1956 You Make Me Feel Funny Inside
1959 I Cut My Lips On Your Love
1962 You Are My Angel (with The BoneTones)
1968 Big Corporate Toilet (with The Jefferson Airplane)
1969 It's All So Groovy
1972 People Are Really Petty
1979 Gimme A Chunka Funk
1990 Early One Morning I Wept
2005 Never With A Skank
Books/Articles (by or about Dusty Carr)
Dusty Carr: My Life, My Love, My Hell
by Dusty Carr with Albert Goldman (Gibberish Press, NYC, 1978)
Total Flukes of Fame: Ringo and Beyond
by Eileen Jessup (Advantage Press, Boston, 1980)
Teen Dreams: A Sociological Interpretation of Teen Idols
by Barbara Goldblatt (Harvard University Press, 1982)
Carr Crash
by Derrick Dunne (Vanity Fair Magazine, October 1986)
On The Beach With Dusty Carr
by Mark Grielus (Rolling Stone Magazine, September, 1990)
An Analysis of Chronic, Abusive Drug Addiction
by Adam Grundig (McGill University Medical Press, 1992)
Deep Loathing and Midnight Jabbering
by Gelbart Thompson (Schrevers Press, NYC, 1994)
Whoa! Running Over Republicans With A Dusty Carr!
by P.J. O'Rundgren (The Atlantic Magazine, March 1996)
Why the fat corporations hate Dusty Carr
by Michael Moore (Mother Jones, July, 2004)
My Secret Admiration for the Laudable but Prevaricating Artistry of Dusty Carr
by William F. Buckley (New York Times, February 2006)

Best seller

Thumbnail Biography

Dusty Carr was born Gossamer Gretch in Nashville, Tennessee, in 1934. His mother, Queenie Carr (nee Gretch), was a local nightclub 'performer'. His father, Tor Lappard Carr, had immigrated to the United States from Norway in 1933, escaping a jail term for mail fraud and petty larceny. Tor became a chronically unemployed train mechanic who met Queenie only once, for about five minutes. 

In his self-published (very limited edition) autobiography 'Dusty Carr: My Life, My Love, My Hell', Dusty describes growing up in a run down house trailer: "The worst thing about a house trailer is that there's only one way in and one way out. That's it. One damn door! Do you know what that's like? It really affects your whole stinking perspective of life." 



Dean smacks Dusty. Frank cheers

In 1948, through a 'friend' of his mother's who worked in an advertising agency, Dusty became the on-air voice of 'Tripple Tipple Soda', as featured on Jack Benny's weekly radio program. Two years later he signed (that is, his mother signed) a five year recording contract with Silly Sally Records. 

Irving ("Dead Lips") Moffberg, former head of A & R and Building Supervisor of Silly Sally, recalls, "Although he was kind of an ugly kid, he had the voice of a fallen angel." Moffberg arranged an audition for the boy with the head of Silly Sally, Shelby Critter. Says Critter, "What I heard was a raw talent that we had neither the interest nor energy to refine into something better. And herein lays the 'Carr appeal' - just a desperate guy with balls big enough to go up and sing in front on people." 

Carr's first single for Silly Sally, and his first big hit, was the self-penned

'You Are My Angel', an achievement that won him repeated appearances on the Milton Berle Show. 

As Carr's career was never properly managed, he stumbled through the dark morass of pop music like a drunk moose in mating season. But above all, he's a survivor, although clearly jaded and profoundly embittered. 

Dusty Today

The year 2018 finds Dusty with a new lease on life, having survived six months in a state penitentiary for drunk driving and evading arrest. In his defense, Dusty claimed that he was "actually too drunk to drive" so "technically, I wasn't really driving." Recently, he received an offer from Lady Gaga to duet on his 1960s hit 'It's All So Groovy'. Dusty plans to "keep in the biz in a big way. I'm talking Dayton, I'm talking Atlantic City - wherever there's a stage. In fact, I've got a personal invitation from my close pal Donald Trump for a casino gig - so I'm told. In fact, we have the same barber."