Remembering Carl Anderson

. . . vocalist extraordinaire and a
very beautiful and generous soul

It’s the birthday of the late, great American vocalist Carl Anderson (1945-2004). He would have been 77 today.

As I’ve noted previously, I sometimes like to think that in a parallel universe Carl has the superstar status which in this universe was inexplicably denied him. This despite the fact that he possessed a vocal range, elasticity, and sensuality that matched, and often bettered, those of his contemporaries Freddie Jackson, El Debarge, Jeffrey Osborne, John Whitehead, Al Jarreau, and Luther Vandross.

As the Funky Town Grooves website notes, “Carl Anderson was a singer with great range, clarity of diction . . . [and] that rare ability to sing flawlessly from a technical standpoint [while] still communicating character and emotion.”

He was, in short, an artist and vocalist extraordinaire!

I dare say that for most people, Carl Anderson is best known for playing Judas Iscariot in the 1973 film adaptation (above and right) and numerous stage productions of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice’s rock opera, Jesus Christ Superstar. (For more about Carl’s groundbreaking portrayal of Judas, click here, here, and here.)

Yet there is much more to Carl Anderson than Jesus Christ Superstar. Indeed, for over three decades he was an accomplished and well-respected song stylist, artfully blending jazz, soul, pop, and R&B influences into his own unique and unforgettable style.

Between 1982 and 1996 Carl released nine albums. In addition, he made memorable duets with other artists and provided solo guest vocals on a number of songs by others. Artists he worked with included Weather Report, Nancy Wilson, The Rippingtons, Michael Paulo, Maynard Ferguson, Gerald McCauley, Eric Marienthal, Brenda Russell, Dan Siegel, Lisa Deveaux, and Linda Eder.

Yet for reasons that are frustratingly elusive, many of Carl’s best recordings remain unknown to the general public. His most popular song is his duet with singer-actress Gloria Loring, “Friends and Lovers,” which reached #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1986.

Carl died on February 23, 2004, after an 8-month struggle with leukemia. He was less than a week away from his 59th birthday. . . . His memory and his music, however, live on.

In addition to his many professional and creative achievements (in both both music and film), Carl was also a very beautiful and generous soul. Filmmaker Merrill Aldighieri, who worked with Carl in the mid-1980s, remembers him as being “very philosophical, very warm and honest,” while Veth Javier, a friend, recalls how Carl “gave so much of himself. . . . There was so much love.”

Perhaps no other recording of Carl Anderson’s embodies this great love that he possessed and shared than “God’s Gift to the World,” from his last studio album, 1996’s Heavy Weather Sunlight Again.

Written by Mike Himelstein and Terry Sampson, and featuring the Jesus Christ Superstar Choir, which included Carl’s longtime friend Ted Neeley, “God’s Gift to the World” is a powerful testimony that transcends religious categories and divisions. In doing so, it beautifully reflects humanity’s deepest spiritual truths.

In honoring Carl on the 77th anniversary of his birth, I share today his soulful recording of “God’s Gift to the World.” May we all take this song’s message, one embodied by Carl throughout his life, to heart so that we may also, like Carl, strive to share it with others through our thoughts and actions.

This one, that one
Each one is God’s gift to the world

We are, they are
Each one is God’s gift to the world

There are no extra people
In a mansion or a ghetto
From where you start your journey
Anywhere you go

So look across the ocean
See those on distant corners
Or see the one beside you
Look in their eyes long enough
And you’ll know

This one, that one
Each one is God’s gift to the world.

And all the lonely people
The first ones and the last ones
All the great and small ones
The ones that win and lose

All of those remembered
And even the forgotten
From every single nation
I believe these words are true
For me and you

We are, they are,
Each one is God’s gift to the world

Oh, let’s sing this song
This one, that one
Each one is God’s gift to the world

We are (all of His children)
They are (all of us chosen)
Each one is God’s gift to the world

The Wild Reed’s February 2021 Celebration of Carl Anderson:
• Remembering an Artist and Vocalist Extraordinaire
• An Electrifying Spectrum of Emotions
• “Fare Thee Well, My Nightingale”
• “He Was Bigger Than Life . . . Very Philosophical, Very Warm and Honest”

The Wild Reed’s February 2020 Celebration of Carl Anderson:
• Carl Anderson: On and On
• Carl Anderson and The Black Pearl
• Carl Anderson in The Color Purple
• Carl Anderson: “Let the Music Play!”

The Wild Reed’s February 2019 Celebration of Carl Anderson:
• Remembering and Celebrating Carl Anderson
• Carl Anderson: “Pure Quality”
• Carl Anderson’s Judas in Jesus Christ Superstar: “The Gold Standard”
• Carl Anderson’s Judas: “A Two-Dimensional Popular Villain Turned Into a Complex Human Being”
• Carl Anderson: “Artist and Vocalist Extraordinaire”
• Playbill Remembers Carl
• Remembering the Life of Carl Anderson: “There Was So Much Love”

For more of Carl at The Wild Reed, see:
• Carl Anderson: “Like a Song in the Night”
• Carl Anderson: “One of the Most Enjoyable Male Vocalists of His Era”
• With Love Inside
• Carl Anderson
• Acts of Love . . . Carl’s and Mine
• Introducing . . . the Carl Anderson Appreciation Group
• Forbidden Lover
• Revisiting a Groovy Jesus (and a Dysfunctional Theology)

Related Off-site Links:
A Profile of Carl Anderson – Part I: A Broadway Legend with Lynchburg Roots – Holly Phelps (LynchburgMuseum.org, May 12, 2015)
A Profile of Carl Anderson – Part II: The Legend Lives On – Holly Phelps (LynchburgMuseum.org,June 10, 2015)
Carl Anderson – Jazz Legend: The Official Website
Carl Anderson Memorial Page
Carl Anderson at AllMusic.com – Ron Wynn (AllMusic.com)
Carl Anderson Biography – Chris Rizik (Soul Tracks)