Carl Gardner
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Carl Edward Gardner (April 29, 1928 – June 12, 2011) was an American singer, best known as the foremost member and founder of
The Coasters The Coasters are an American rhythm and blues/rock and roll vocal group who had a string of hits in the late 1950s. With hits including "Searchin'", "Young Blood (The Coasters song), Young Blood", "Charlie Brown (The Coasters song), Charlie Bro ...
. Known for the 1958 song "
Yakety Yak "Yakety Yak" is a song written, produced, and arranged by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller for the Coasters and released on Atco Records in 1958, spending seven weeks as #1 on List of number-one rhythm and blues hits (United States), the R&B chart ...
", which spent a week as number one on the Hot 100 pop list, he was inducted into the
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF), also simply referred to as the Rock Hall, is a museum and hall of fame located in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States, on the shore of Lake Erie. The museum documents the history of rock music and the ...
in 1987.


Life and career

Gardner was born in
Tyler, Texas Tyler, officially the City of Tyler, is a city in and the county seat of Smith County, Texas, United States. As of 2020, the population is 105,995. Tyler was the List of municipalities in Texas, 38th most populous city in Texas (as well as the m ...
, to Rebecca and Robert Gardner. As a singer, his first major career success came with The Robins, a
rhythm and blues Rhythm and blues, frequently abbreviated as R&B or R'n'B, is a genre of popular music that originated within African American communities in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predomina ...
group that had a big hit in 1955, "Smokey Joe's Café". After leaving that group, in 1956 Gardner formed the Coasters with the Robins' bass singer Bobby Nunn, Leon Hughes and Billy Guy, at the behest of the songwriting/producing team of Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, and had a two-sided hit in 1957, "Young Blood" (on which Gardner sang lead) and "Searchin. With new members Cornel Gunter and Will "Dub" Jones, the Coasters went on to produce several enduring classics of 1950s
rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock-n-roll, and rock 'n' roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from African ...
music, including "
Yakety Yak "Yakety Yak" is a song written, produced, and arranged by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller for the Coasters and released on Atco Records in 1958, spending seven weeks as #1 on List of number-one rhythm and blues hits (United States), the R&B chart ...
", " Charlie Brown", and "
Poison Ivy Poison ivy is a type of allergenic plant in the genus '' Toxicodendron'' native to Asia and North America. Formerly considered a single species, '' Toxicodendron radicans'', poison ivies are now generally treated as a complex of three separate s ...
". Together with the other members of the Coasters – Cornell Gunter, Billy Guy and Will "Dub" Jones – Gardner was inducted into the
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF), also simply referred to as the Rock Hall, is a museum and hall of fame located in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States, on the shore of Lake Erie. The museum documents the history of rock music and the ...
in 1987. Gardner's son, Carl Jr., officially joined the Coasters in late 2005, after Gardner semi-retired, although Carl Jr. had been touring with them since at least 1998. His father officially made him a member to carry on his group as the lead singer. Since Gardner was the last of the original members the list of early Coaster songs performed live was limited in a sense, a fan recalls meeting Gardner after a concert in his last years, where this was mentioned:
"There was a nightclub in Fayetteville, NC called Cagney's and they announced they were having the Coasters. When on stage, they did their set and asked for requests. They did whatever was requested except for mine. I went outside with them between sets and spoke to the leader of the group. I asked him why they wouldn't do Run Red Run. He just smiled and said that he was the only member of the original Coasters and that these fellows had never rehearsed it. I told him it was my favorite and right then and there, the two of us did it. When they went back inside to do their next set, I was high. What a great experience."
In 1993, shortly after moving with wife Veta to Port St. Lucie, Florida, Gardner sought treatment for a nosebleed. He was ultimately diagnosed by an ENT specialist with a cancerous tumor of the nasopharynx "the size of a grapefruit", and was told chances of survival were slim. Nevertheless, after enduring weeks of radiation therapy, the cancer went into remission, never to recur. Despite some change in the sonority of his voice, Gardner continued to perform with the Coasters as lead singer. Carl Gardner, Sr. died on June 12, 2011, after suffering with congestive heart failure and vascular dementia (according to the Coasters website). Carl, Jr., took over as lead singer, but was fired by Veta Gardner. Together, Carl Jr. and Thomas (Curly) Palmer vowed to keep the legacy alive by "The Coasters featuring Carl Gardner Jr. And Thomas Curly Palmer The legacy continuous". Carl Jr and Thomas Palmer both recorded with The Coasters before Carl Sr's death. Veta Gardner, Carl's widow, owns the rights to the Coasters name and manages a performing group, which has no original members.


References


Further reading

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External links

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Carl Gardner Sr. at Find a Grave

The Coasters Website - Those Hoodlum Friends