An Electrifying Spectrum of Emotions

Remembering Absence With Out Love,
Carl Anderson’s debut album

The Wild Reed’s celebration of singer and actor Carl Anderson continues!

It’s actually a month-long celebration, as February is the month of both Carl’s birth (in 1945) and death (in 2004, at age 58).

This evening’s installment of The Wild Reed’s celebration of Carl focuses on his debut album, Absence With Out Love, which was released in 1982 on the Epic label.

I recently acquired a mint-condition LP copy of Absence With Out Love through Discogs, a wonderful website for new, used and rare LPs and CDs. My copy of Absence With Out Love (often simply referred to as AWOL) contains a 8x10 black and white photograph of Carl and Epic’s press release for the album. I share this press release tonight with added images and links, along with three songs from the album – “Buttercup,” “AWOL,” and “Going Out Again.” Enjoy!

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With his Epic debut LP, AWOL (Absence With Out Love), Carl Anderson explodes on a musical scene in definite need of a sensational vocalist.

From the moment he stole the screen as Judas in the musical film, Jesus Christ Superstar [right], his place among the stars was inevitable. Now with the release of his first album, loyal fans and music audiences are in for another electrifying experience.

“The album goes beyond my expectations for my first LP,” says Anderson, whose vocal contributions on the Superstar soundtrack earned him his first gold record. With cuts written by Stevie Wonder [left] and Teena Marie, among others, this is another sure-fire winner.

What was it like working with such accomplished songwriters and performers? “Stevie’s tune ‘Buttercup,’ was a great challenge to sing. In one measure I had to stretch from the lowest part of my register to the very highest. It’s a great song, a real Stevie Wonder tune,” Anderson explains.

On hand in the studio, Teena Marie [right] not only arranged [the album’s opening title track] but sang background vocals on the song.

“Her presence went above and beyond the call of duty,” Anderson says. “‘AWOL’ is a riveting song, a real visual piece. I can’t wait to sing it before a live audience.”

Working before club and concert audiences both nationally and internationally has earned the Lynchburg, Virginia native a loyal following of fans who hook into that special dose of Anderson personality and magnetism. It was that quality that Anderson wanted to come across on the album.

“I knew I had to work with a singer’s producer,” Anderson explains, This led him to his collaboration with writer/producer Richard Rudolph, who had successfully produced Minnie Ripperton and Teena Marie albums, among others. Rudolph was able to tap into the wide range of styles and sensitivities of Anderson’s live material, and the result is a dynamic combination. Ranging from the sensitive ballad, “Going Out Again,” to the pulsating, funkiness of “AWOL,” Anderson captures a spectrum of emotions.





At last this veteran of both stage and screen has been able to harness his powers of performing to the recording studio. The result is an artist who has truly come into his own, and an album well worth collecting.

– Epic Records’ media release
1982

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Unfortunately, Absence With Out Love wasn’t the “sure-fire winner” that Epic had predicted. Indeed, it failed to chart. Still, regardless of its level of commercial success, the album remains a great showcase for Carl’s talents. It’s thus well-worth checking out.

In 2009, both Absence With Out Love and Carl’s second album, On & On (1984), were released on a single CD.

Currently, only used copies of this 2-album CD are available online. (For a review of this release, see the previous Wild Reed post, Carl Anderson: “Pure Quality”.)

Used copies of Absence With Out Love in LP format are available at Discogs, here.



NEXT: “Fare Thee Well, My Nightingale”

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)