David Carr Obit

In memory of my friend and colleague
DAVID JOHN CARR
August 4, 1943 - June 17, 2011

      Born and educated in England, David Carr told me that arranging and conducting the orchestra for my World Premiere Benefit Performance of Grumpuss for the Save the Children Fund at Blenheim Palace, a World Heritage site, birthplace of Sir Winston Churchill, and home to the Dukes of Marlborough, was the fulfillment of a long-imagined homecoming dream, and a highlight of his musical career.
      David was in the original UK line-up of the Fortunes best remembered for their hit recordings of “You’ve Got Your Troubles” (Decca, 1965) and “Here Comes That Rainy Day Feeling” (Capitol Records, 1971), after which, David stayed on in Hollywood, as a session musician, frequently working with The Ventures and Kim Fowley.
      The photo (left), taken at the Grumpuss Banquet after the performance, was David’s favorite.
      Below, left to right, Colin Sheen, one of the top musician contractors in the UK, US Cinematographer and visual FX supervisor Peter Anderson, David Carr, and Phillip Moores, who before returning to the UK, had worked many US sessions with David, including the demo session with me for the songs from Long-Grin.

David asked Travis to co-produce and direct a long-form Ventures music video celebrating the 25th anniversary of America's Space Program for Award Records and Tapes. Together they studied NASA footage, budgeted and filmed the one day shoot at Conway Recording Studios in Hollywood. David sat in at the editing session at the video editing facility in Burbank, California, where Travis artfully cut together the fan-favorite shot of Mel, set up by cinematographer Harry Mathias when he shot Mel playing a fill from beneath his floor tom, that Travis intercut with a shot of a NASA booster rocket separation.

David Carr and Travis Pike (1984)

In February, 1984, Travis asked his friend, English ex-patriot David Carr, to arrange and play the "English Music Hall" piano-style for three songs from his screenplay, Long-Grin. Another English ex-patriot friend, Philip St. John Moores was called upon to engineer the recording session and Philip's father, opera and symphony conducter Michael Moores, dropped in to see how his son was getting along. When Travis heard Micahel's accent, he immediately drafted Philips's father's to sing along with the rest. In all, the vocalists, shouters and screamers were David Carr, Michael Moores, Lonnie Snyder, Julie Long, Mary Moyers and, of course, Travis, himself. Of the three songs they recorded, the only one still in the screenplay is "Owen'e Drinking Song," but the "Love Song" may still make the cut.

David Carr Hands Out the Music

David Carr and Pamela Grant

Michael Moores and Philip Moores		Mary Moyers and Julie Long
Michael Moores, David Carr, and Lonnie Snyder		Michael Moores and David Carr