Listen to The Hits

Editors note: Most of Dusty's songs and albums are buried under a rat's nest of conflicting copyrights and ill-constructed artist contracts. We managed to 'acquire' a few gems, mostly 'live' versions that occupy more ambiguous legal terrain. Though we heartily disprove of Dusty Carr 'bootleg recordings' (well, not really, but our lawyer told us to say that) we are not adverse to posting 'personal sound archives' (again, our lawyer chose those words) that you may wish to send our way.

“ Cypress 2 – 6725”

 (for Bobby Darin)

Recorded live at Cecil Taylor’s Hot Jazz, London, England, December 31, 2007.

Dusty comments: “I suppose you could say that Bobby Darin is hip again. But he sure wasn’t hip when his ticker finally blew in ’73. Anyway, he was a pal. In fact, we were about the same size and we used to swap clothes, in Vegas, just for the hell of it. He got his clothes from the same tailor as Sinatra. Last year, I was talking with some people who were with him at the end, and the last thing he ever said on this earth was ‘ Cypress 2 – 6725’, which was the phone number he had when he was a kid. He grew up poor and a phone must have been a big deal. It got me thinking about a song, and I thought that phone number said a lot about Bobby. He was a beautiful punk, he was sick a lot, but he was tough—and I miss him every day.”

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“ Cypress 2 – 6725”

 (for Bobby Darin)

(® I. Clarke – D. Carr)

When I heard your teenage words
They sounded so absurd
I knew you were for real
You wanted a much bigger part
You had the soul but not the heart
You rang Cypress 2 – 6725
It kept you alive
Cypress 2 – 6725

Back in town, you got around
I loved the way you moved
And you knew how to dress
What went wrong, you couldn’t stand
The future lost you in its plan
Time for Cypress 2 – 6725
Dead or alive <
Cypress 2 – 6725

May there be Beyond the Sea
someone who will wait for me <
At night we'll sing up to the stars
Come the day to go away
Let my phone ring a million times
Somehow I know I'll be fine
On Cypress 2 – 6725
It’ll keep me alive
Cypress 2 – 6725

… I know beyond a doubt

“Time Travel”

Recorded live at the Mondo Lounge Atomic Frolic, January 28, 2007, Aruba Hotel, Las Vegas, NV.

Dusty comments: “When Hunter Thompson popped himself, it put things in perspective. Suddenly, there was one less guy that I could phone at night, and I mean really, really late at night. The herd is thinning faster than Harrison Ford’s hair. I think when Tom Jones croaks, that’s freakin’ it. Time to hang up the microphone and write kids’ books. This song is for Hunter. It says that memories are timeless, that nobody knows what’s going on, and when the spotlight dims, it’s time to go. Life’s a game, as my pal Steve McQueen believed. So spark a dart, swill some chilled vodka, and call up a woman who knows how to sway… real close.”

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Time Travel

(® I. Clarke – D. Carr)

As I look back on the things that I’ve done
Faces I’ve been, songs I’ve sung
Someone calls my name from across the years
People may be gone, but I’m still here

So let me time travel, and try to work it all out
What’s it all about?

Some people tell me that the past is gone
Nothing but ghosts that vanish with the dawn
Where does someone go when they go away?
How long must you run before you can stay?

So let me time travel, and try to work it all out
What’s it all about?

There are some things that I’ve left undone
There are some battles I should never have won
But as you were when I saw you then
You’ll be forever ‘cause there is no end

So let me time travel, and try to work it all out
What’s it all about?

(She Belongs Now On) The Coastline

Dusty comments: “After Marilyn Monroe capped it, all these people who used to laugh at her suddenly stood in front of cameras proclaiming her genius. The poor kid, she had nowhere to go. She used to call me late at night and talk about snuffing it. Professionally, I thought it was a good idea, and told her so, because her act was getting tired: it had no place in the 1960s. But on a personal basis, it seemed kind of extreme. Anyway, I wrote this song soon after she bit it—because we used to take long walks together along the Malibu coastline on summer, sky blue days with that rolling white surf, and she was young and pretty and healthy and fun to be with. Thinking about her now I feel nothing but blood-red rage for Bobby Kennedy because without a doubt he strangled her with his bare hands in Peter Lawford’s beach house. And he probably laughed while he was doing it, kind of that high-pitched goat laugh the Kennedys all had. I know this for a fact because Kennedy told me he did it, about a week before his own death at the Ambassador Hotel. But, I guess, that’s another story. I said goodbye to Norma Jean long before Elton John made another million dollars off of her, that wretched bastard.”

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(® I. Clarke – D. Carr)

She belongs now on the coastline

What does it mean?
She’s aquamarine
She is the one
Who fell behind the sun

She is an angel
Gliding through a state of grace
Along the ocean
Waves roll in covered in her lace

She belongs now on the coastline

There is a place
Where I can see her face
But come high tide
She’s buried alive

I cannot hear you
Sometimes I can feel your hands
Come walk beside me down
A thin line between stars and sand

She belongs now on the coastline

“Walk With a Ghost”

Recorded live at Gerde's Folk City, May24, 1963.
Dusty comments: “I can remember looking over at Gram Parsons that night while he was singing back up. He was square looking. Short hair, didn't shave, but a beautiful voice. This is a true bootleg. I didn't know it even existed until Emmylou Harris gave it to me last year. She said Gram had left it with her for safekeeping. I wrote this song for Mimi Farina, better known as Joan Baez's sister. Mimi was a lot better looking than her sister. Plus, she never slept with Bob Dylan and wasn't an embittered lesbian.”

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Walk With A Ghost

I can tell that you lost someone
I can tell you loved him the most
It's so true he doesn't deserve you
That's why you walk with a ghost

He had no right to do what he did
I heard him lie I heard him boast
There are some men you just can't defend
That's why you walk with a ghost

No truth is stronger than love
No truth is stronger than love
And once it's gone
There's no point to linger on
For yesterday, yesterday

I can see that he will never return
He was a fool that you held close
All this I see 'cause that fool is me
That's why you walk with a
That's why you talk with a
That's why you walk with a ghost

No truth is stronger than love

Copyright D. Carr & I. Clarke

“The Unique Vocal Stylings of Dusty Carr: Reprise”

Recorded live at the Bellagio Hotel, Fontana Bar, Las Vegas, Nevada, July 12, 2003.
Dusty comments: “In some ways, this is the end of my story, a bookend, a gravestone. It’s all over. I want to die and be reborn as Wayne Newton’s hair. I mean, just think of the preening and coifing that hair enjoys. I truly believe that the happiest hair in the world must be on Wayne Newton’s head. But I guess the downside would be that every night I’d have to listen to ‘Danke Schoen’. That would be unbearable, even for hair. Anyway, I did what I did for love, for women, for money, usually in that order. Unlike Sinatra, I have no regrets. The past is dead, and so are most of the people from my past. It’s funny, but every time I want to just call it quits and go away to live in an Airstream in the Mojave desert, invisible hands gently push me on to that stage and phantom lips whisper the words into my ears. Music is just too powerful – we all know that.”

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The Unique Vocal Stylings of Dusty Carr: Reprise

It all began without a plan
Now I’m fading like the neon lights of Vegas
I had no choice but to follow my voice
Tumblin’ through a time tunnel forever

Fiction or fact, I know about that
Because real ain’t the way I feel

I had no place in a state of grace
There was always a wild man down inside me
You gotta understand martinis and a tan
I was the cause for applause and I miss it

Fiction or fact, I know about that
Because real ain’t the way I feel

How did it happen? It’s so bizarre
Can anybody still recall the unique vocal stylings of Dusty Carr?

“Slippin’ Away From Me”

Recorded live at Le Questa Bong & Thong Hotel Americana, Mexico City, August 17, 2002.
Dusty comments: “Back in 1974, Elvis asked me to accompany him on some horrible ski trip to Aspen. I told him I’d go, but that I’d only get involved in ‘après ski’ – because I think most sports, especially skiing, are a total waste of time, especially if you can’t bet on them. He said okay. So one night we were sitting around this huge chalet. I was drinking absinthe from a massive glass of chipped ice and packed snow, and Elvis was gulping roughage pills for his chronic constipation. I told him to give me a first line to work with. So he sat there for a moment and tears came to his eyes. He said softly, “I can feel myself slipping away from me.” And that’s it. I wrote it a few years later, after he had slipped away from us all. I recorded it live in Mexico City – a place I love because amid all of its confusion and violence and squalor, I feel normal and at peace with my soul. Plus, it has cheap hookers – or so I’m told.”

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Slippin’ Away From Me

I can feel myself slipping away from me
An actor out of lines, a blind man who can see
Once I had it, you said it was so
Then I lost it, so where did it go?
Too much time with late night philosophy.

I can feel myself slipping away from me
The sand castle is drifting out to sea
Who was that person, a bird in the sky?
Walk with a truth but sleep with a lie
I love to say hello but can never say goodbye.

I can see what you mean
You start it, you end it, then in between
We were alone and the world passed by
What did I do, why did you say?
Where does love go when it goes away?
It either means something or nothing at all.

I can feel myself slipping away from me
It happens slowly, it happens by degrees
I have nothing to leave behind
Smash the clock and let it unwind
I’ve got a deal with the man who keeps the time.

"Powers that Be"
Recorded live at the Empire Theatre, Liverpool, England, October 17, 1989.
Dusty comments: "I have absolutely no recollection of this concert whatsoever, except the fact that the audience was incredibly energetic. They really wanted to party. I'm told that right after this song a bunch of zipperheads rushed the stage. But god bless them, that's what rock is all about. Liverpool is a very violent place, very rundown, and that makes the people special. This song was something I wrote while I was dating this so-called spiritual woman who later tried to screw me out of my money. I was trying to seem like a deep, spiritual guy, which I am, but it's kind of forced. Anyway, I was goddam lucky to escape with my life. She was always burning incense and boiling the roots of plants. It was horrible. What a freakin witch. So I had a lot of conflicting attitudes racing around my head. Always be very suspicious of pious people - ten-to-one they'll step over your rotting corpse to get your wallet."

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Powers that Be

Never mind the dark nights
Don't be afraid they will go away
Sometimes it's hard to see
So place your faith in the powers that be

You know life at the edge
You know the face of the man in black
Cry now, cry to be free
Think about love and the powers that be

Oh no, you're not alone
Get a hold of yourself
Oh no, time to come home
We miss you so much
How much money you got?

Who knows your name, what do you fear?
Time's up, down on your knees
You've got a chance with the powers that be

(Copyright 1998 I.M. Clarke)

Jim Morrison - Dusty Carr: 1971 Paris Poetry Reading

Editor's Note: We are proud to feature this never-before-heard rock artifact - The 'Jim Morrison - Dusty Carr 1971 Paris Poetry Reading' mp3. We have extracted a four-minute section that we believe best represents the spirit of the evening. The entire recording is thirty-two minutes in length.

A number of Morrison biographies mention this poetry reading, but until now we had to be satisfied with only ear-witness accounts.

Alain Jouet, a retired stockbroker who lives in Paris, sent the recording to us. Mr. Jouet tells us that he recorded this famous session on his own Phillips reel-to-reel tape deck, at the Rock and Roll Circus Club, at 57 Rue de Seine, Paris, on May 3, 1971. Morrison died exactly two months later.

Mr Jouet recalls: "In those days I loved anything American, we all did, that's what the New Wave was about. The Rock and Roll Circus would occasionally have poetry readings, but mostly they were French poets. When the Morrison-Carr reading was announced, it created much excitement. Here were two bona fide American stars. Both men were known for the excesses of their lives. They were not expected to live long, especially Carr. He made Morrison look like a schoolboy. At that time, Carr was known as 'le vampire de musique' because he looked like death and never seemed to sleep.

"I had a habit of recording the poets who spoke at the Circus. The club owners didn't care. I had forgotten about this tape for thirty years - until my son started asking about the Doors.

"Regarding that particular evening, Carr had turned the reading into a contest: he was actually trying to win something. This upset Morrison and he grew afraid of Carr. Carr was often belligerent and didn't seem to understand where he was and what he was supposed to do. He treated the event like a Las Vegas act. He hypnotized the audience. They had never seen anyone quite like Dusty Carr. The evening ended with Carr throwing an amplifier at Morrison's back. But it was all great fun."

Dusty comments: "I couldn't believe this tape existed! It's very weird hearing myself - and hearing Jim who has been dead for so long. That's why I've always supported bootleg recordings. The only performers who are uptight about bootlegs are in fact shitty live performers who don't want their awfulness put on tape. They are useless creatures of studio technology. Anyway, I can't remember much of that evening, not even if I won anything. Morrison was a spooky little bugger, but I miss him sometimes. He was certainly the smartest rock star that I've ever met."

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"So Incredible"
Recorded live at 'Fat Boy's Roadhouse', Shreveport, Louisiana, July 26, 1974. Dusty comments: "I was under a lot of pressure at the time to expose my 'sensitive side'. Just before this gig, the Miami Herald had referred to me as 'a sweating, atavistic boor'. And that hurt, especially as I didn't know what the hell 'atavistic' meant. I still don't. Listen, 1974 was a terrible time for music, just shitty. Women's Liberation had convinced everybody that there's a difference between romance and sex, which there isn't (Lorenz Hart, where are you now baby? Anyway, Disco would later prove them wrong). So a lot of guys wrote songs with the word 'Gentle' or 'Peaceful' in the title. I was trying to update my image so this was my attempt to seem like a nice, 'gentle, peaceful' guy. Anyway, I had the last laugh when a pitiful TV sitcom, 'That '70s Show', featured this song in an episode because it was 'so appropriate to the times'. Now every zipperhead wants to hear it. I think it's a good piece of music - catchy. There's never was a studio recording of this song, just this bootleg - which suits me fine."

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So Incredible

There was a time when I knew it all
But there's no answer I can now recall
I can't understand but it slipped right threw my hands
And it was so incredible.

Let me remember, let me forget
The places we saw, the people we met
I made a mistake and I threw it all away
And it was so incredible

It's a crazy dream
'Cause love moves unseen
Still I feel that something was real
Some things should have been
Because…

We had it
They could see it
I could feel it
And you believed it
We had it, we had it all
And it was so incredible

So what can I say? What does it mean,
to live inside of a faraway dream?
I can't understand but it slipped right threw my hands
And it was so incredible.

I don't have the strength to take it away
Was more than a game we played?
It was the big time, why let it slip away?
'Cause it is so incredible

(Copyright 2002 I.M. Clarke)

"Jim Morrison's Father"
Recorded live at 'The Tin Palace', Waco, Texas, April 6, 2000. Dusty comments: "Two things about this song. Most importantly, in the bar that night there was this huge fat pinhead that had a ringside seat and all through my set he wouldn't sit down. He kept looking at people, grinning, spilling beer. There is no God because if there was He would vomit pure poison on such a pathetic piece of crap. Second, I personally knew Jim Morrison and he was an irresponsible little twerp who should of left Paris and gone home to help his father clean up the garage. If you die in a bathtub cranked on heroin you'll get no pity from me brother. Don't touch that which you cannot handle."

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Jim Morrison's father

Jim Morrison's father
He went out on a moonlight drive
He thought of someone in France
Who loved to dance
All around a stage in leather pants
But that someone was gone
So hello, I love you, and goodbye.

Jim Morrison's father
Slowly wiped a tear from his eye
'Cause when the music's over
all that remains
Is a really weird feeling that people are strange
No time to cry
So hello, I love you, and goodbye

I live in darkness since he's been gone
I'd give god anything
For a moment to hold my lizard king

Jim Morrison's father
He drove out to Pere Lachaise
His grey head resting against a stone
And he said, 'son, time to come home'
Please don't ask why
Just hello, I love you and goodbye
Hello, I love you, and goodbye
Hello, I love you, and goodbye…

"I was in love"
Recorded at MegaSound Studios, New York City, January, 1990. From the album 'Really Fast Carr'. Dusty comments: "Unfortunately, this song is true. There was a woman, once, a long time ago, and I guess you could say that I fell… oh baby, I fell hopelessly in love. I believed that we had something special. I used to follow her everywhere. I just wanted us to be together. And then one day, right on a Manhattan street corner, she suddenly spun around, looked me in the eyes, and said, "I've noticed you following me. What are you, a creep!" I didn't give her my name, and just ran away like a goddam coward. I still dream about her and what might have been. Sad, isn't it… Anyway, on the album, all that was left of this song was the vocal track, because Ringo hit some wrong buttons during the mix. Bu this is the way it should have sounded."

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I was in Love

Lovers, they live for as long as forever
And the world runs to their door
Lord knows, they move like wind over water
and they roll like waves to the shore

Isn't it odd that I must be
all alone with memories?
They are not just fantasies
For I was in love, please remember me
Heavens above, oh I was in love

Strangers, they live for as long as the moment
and they fade with the light of dawn
I know I lost my sense of proportion
when I held you all night long

They say there's one great love in your lifetime
and if you're lucky the flame never dies
My soul lives like a curious shadow
because I see myself through your eyes

"As Long as it's Groovy". Recorded live at the 'Wet-Strap A Go-Go Club', Amsterdam, January 3, 1972. Dusty comments: "I do remember this gig. I had been to a local massage parlor earlier in the day, and they injected me with some kind of blue oil. It made my limbs feel very light. I believe this 'other-worldly' quality is conveyed in this take."

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As Long As It's Groovy

I've been looking for a groovy chick like you
No matter what you do
As long as it's groovy

They laugh and say I'm old enough to be your Dad
But they haven't lived the life I've had
It's been so groovy

So let's live together, I don't mean marriage
And who needs the hassle of a baby carriage?
You are my woman, I'll sing you my songs
Then sock it to me baby all night long
... It's all so groovy.

They say to me 'hey why don't you cut your hair?'
But that would just make me a square
I'd rather by groovy

I'm tired of all the killing and the war
I mean, what's it all really for?
Why can't they be groovy?

"The Unique Vocal Stylings of Dusty Carr." Recorded at Pet Rock Studios, Topeka, Kansas, July 12, 1982. Dusty comments: "This is very rare. I've only performed this in bars. In fact, until this web site thing, it's never been actually released - which is bullshit because it's one of my best songs. I mean, for once in my life I was completely honest, mainly because I had to be. I wrote it as part of an early parole program. Some kind of self-help garbage. So I paid for this demo out of my own pocket."

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The Unique Vocal Stylings of Dusty Carr

Now I'm not that old
But I don't feel so young
Only one song been written
That I've never sung
And that the sad sweet tale
Of a man undone
That man is me

I started as a kid
Just singing to the trees
A man said I was great
And they put me on TV
They said, "We're going to make millions
If you just keep in key"
So I did

But they could never see
The real Dusty
They could never see the real me

You tell me what happened
Did I lose my guiding star?
Remember the unique vocal stylings
Of Dusty Carr
Now I'm only recognized
Down in my local bar
And they just laugh

But they could never see
The real Dusty
They could never see the real me

But I'm not the kind of man
Who stays down for too long
Sure I might have lost my looks
But I've still got my songs
But somewhere, somehow
Something must have gone wrong
Why can't I see?

Why can't I see?
The real Dusty
Why can't I see the real me?

I stay in key with memories
And may they never wander far
From the unique vocal stylings…
The unique vocal stylings of Dusty Carr

"You Are My Angel".

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"You Are My Angel". Recorded live at The Dayton Ramada, August 18, 1982, Dayton, Ohio. Dusty comments. "I'm so goddam sick of playing this song that even thinking about it gives me stomach cramps. Still, people want to hear it, be they a group of 15 or 15,000. As I recall, there was about 15 people during this particular evening."

I got a '49 Chevy and a ten dollar bill
So get in my car and I'll give you a thrill
Let's swing it with some cats on the hot side of town
Then park down by the beach and watch the moon go down
Park by the beach and watch the moon go down.

I know Jerry loves Janet and Sammy loves Sue
And maybe I'm thinking that I love you too
The radio is playing all those wonderful sounds
Let's park by the beach and watch the moon go down
Park by the beach and watch the moon go down.

For you, you are my angel
You're a dream and a queen and you're just sixteen
And baby I think you know what I mean

For you, you are my angel
I'm revving in heaven in my '49 Chev and
No way I'll get you back by eleven

I gotta make it clear, you gotta understand
The love that I'm feeling ain't no flash in the pan
So whatever happens and may come around
Remember how it was watching the moon go down
Remember how it was, watching the moon go down
'Cause you, you are my angel…

"Not My Good Eye". Recorded at Little Bullhorn Productions, June 10, 2001, Ottawa, Canada. Dusty comments: "I haven't had good luck with so-called 'artisitic collaborations'. Everybody knows about the problems I had with that midget Paul Anka and our unreleased 'Live at the Sands' duet tapes. But hey, if you're going to wear a hairpiece, then for christ's sake spend a little money on it. Anka has some furry thing on his scalp that looks like it was ripped from the ass of a a sick baboon - and yes, I still think that a Vegas crowd found my Anka hairpiece joke funny. By the way Paul, I refuse to punch a man who is under five feet tall. Anyway, when Glen Nevous called me about this song, I asked what's in it for me? They said a free trip, food, booze, and a party-til-you-puke post-session celebration. I replied that tambourine playing is a lost skill, so for the sake of popular art I'd do it. Listen to the singer shout 'Dusty', then you can hear what it's all about."

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