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Carla Olson (born July 3, 1952) is an American, Los Angeles-based songwriter, performer and record producer.


Biography

Born and raised in
Austin, Texas Austin ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat and most populous city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and W ...
, Olson moved to Los Angeles, California, in 1978 where she formed the Textones, whose debut album ''Midnight Mission'' entered the ''Billboard'' 200. Carla is multilingual. She served as a French translator for Malian legend Ali Farka Toure. She also speaks Italian, Japanese and Swedish. An early version of the Textones, consisting of Olson, Kathy Valentine, Markus Cuff, and David Provost, played the late 1970s punk/new wave scene in Los Angeles and toured the US and Europe. They also released an EP in the UK and a single in the US. Their debut album for A&M Records, ''Midnight Mission'', consisted of Olson along with George Callins, Joe Read, Tom Jr Morgan, and Phil Seymour. They also toured the US and Europe. The record charted at 76 on the ''Billboard'' 200, and both singles, "Standing in the Line" and "Midnight Mission", were featured videos on MTV, and received radio airplay as well. The second Textones album, ''Cedar Creek'', was released in 1987 by Enigma Records. Olson has received critical acclaim for her work as a solo performer, band leader, and producer. In varying capacities, she has worked with former Rolling Stones' guitarist
Mick Taylor Michael Kevin Taylor (born 17 January 1949) is an English guitarist, best known as a former member of John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers, John Mayall's Bluesbreakers (1967–1969) and the Rolling Stones (1969–1974). As a member of the Stones, h ...
, Percy Sledge (Sledge has recorded five songs that Olson has written or co-written),
Ry Cooder Ryland Peter Cooder (born March 15, 1947) is an American musician, songwriter, film score composer, record producer, and writer. He is a multi-instrumentalist but is best known for his slide guitar work, his interest in traditional music, and h ...
,
Gene Clark Harold Eugene Clark (November 17, 1944 – May 24, 1991) was an American singer-songwriter and founding member of the folk rock band the Byrds. He was the Byrds' principal songwriter between 1964 and early 1966, writing most of the band's best ...
, Don Henley,
Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan; born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Described as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture over his nearly 70-year ...
,
Eric Clapton Eric Patrick Clapton (born 1945) is an English Rock music, rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is regarded as one of the most successful and influential guitarists in rock music. Clapton ranked second in ''Rolling Stone''s l ...
, John Fogerty, Mikael Rickfors, and many others. Her musical partnerships in the 1980s included former Byrd member Gene Clark (which resulted in a duet album, ''So Rebellious a Lover'') and Mick Taylor. The Carla Olson and Mick Taylor band included George Callins on guitar, Jesse Sublett on bass (Sublett had previously played with Olson and Valentine in Austin in a band called the Violators), Tom Jr Morgan on saxophone, and Rick Hemmert on drums. Their live album ''Too Hot For Snakes'' added Ian McLagan (
Small Faces Small Faces were an English Rock music, rock band from London, founded in 1965. The group originally consisted of Steve Marriott, Ronnie Lane, Kenney Jones and Jimmy Winston, with Ian McLagan replacing Winston as the band's keyboardist in 1966 ...
, Faces) and Barry Goldberg ( the Electric Flag, the Rides) on keyboards. Varying combinations of these musicians also appear on the subsequent Olson studio albums ''Within An Ace'', ''Reap The Whirlwind'', and ''The Ring Of Truth''. Olson also appeared in
Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan; born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Described as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture over his nearly 70-year ...
's first video (for the song " Sweetheart Like You"). To return the favor, Dylan gave Olson his previously unreleased song "Clean Cut Kid" which she recorded on ''Midnight Mission''.
Ry Cooder Ryland Peter Cooder (born March 15, 1947) is an American musician, songwriter, film score composer, record producer, and writer. He is a multi-instrumentalist but is best known for his slide guitar work, his interest in traditional music, and h ...
played slide guitar on the track.Howard Massey, "Carla Olson", in Behind the Glass: Top Record Producers Tell how They Craft the Hits, Volume 2 (Hal Leonard Corporation, 2009), , pp. 124ff. Excerpts available at Google Books Since 2001 Olson has concentrated most of her energies on music production, but has continued her songwriting and co-writing activities. She has written music for lyrics (or poems) by Sterling A. Brown, George Callins,
Cream Cream is a dairy product composed of the higher-fat layer skimmed from the top of milk before homogenization. In un-homogenized milk, the fat, which is less dense, eventually rises to the top. In the industrial production of cream, this proces ...
lyricist Pete Brown, Allan Clarke, George Green, Rick Hemmert, Brian Jones and
Jim Morrison James Douglas Morrison (December 8, 1943 – July 3, 1971) was an American singer, songwriter, and poet who was the lead vocalist and primary lyricist of the rock band the Doors. Due to his charismatic persona, poetic lyrics, distinctive vo ...
. (The latter collaboration was released in December 2019 on the expanded release of True Voices i.e. Ode To L.A. While Thinking Of Brian Jones, Deceased as performed by Johnny Indovina of Human Drama.) She has also written with Barry Goldberg, Kathy Valentine, Mikael Rickfors, Danny Tate, Danny Wilde and Pete Brown. In 2013, after not releasing an album of her own since ''The Ring of Truth'' in 2001, Olson recorded '' Have Harmony, Will Travel'', which is an album of cover songs with guest vocalists on each track including Rob Waller, John York,
Richie Furay Paul Richard Furay (born May 9, 1944) is an American musician and Rock & Roll Hall of Fame member (with Buffalo Springfield). He is best known for forming the bands Buffalo Springfield with Stephen Stills, Neil Young, Bruce Palmer, and Dewey ...
, Juice Newton, James Inveldt, Scott Kempner,
Peter Case Peter Case (born April 5, 1954) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. His career is wide-ranging, from rock n' roll and blues, to folk rock and solo acoustic performance. Biography Early career Case was born in Buffalo, New York, B ...
and Gary Myrick. May 26, 2015, saw the re-release of the Textones albums ''Midnight Mission'' and ''Cedar Creek'' by Omnivore Recordings. Both albums were expanded editions with additional studio tracks, live recordings, photos and newly written essays. In January 2017, Olsons's debut solo album, recorded in Malmo, Sweden, in 1988, was released in the U.S. by Sunset Blvd Records. This U.S. edition is titled ''Rubies & Diamonds'' after one of the album's tracks. It featured Olson and George Callins of the Textones, plus Gene Clark on vocals, plus most of the members of the Swedish rock band Wilmer X: Thomas Holst (lead guitar), Stefan Bjork (bass guitar), Sticky Bomb (drums) and Jalle Lorensson (harmonica). The album was produced by Tomas Gabrielsson along with Olson and Callins. In February 2020, Olson released ''Have Harmony, Will Travel 2'' – the sequel to volume 1. The new album included new duets with Stephen McCarthy (of The Long Ryders), Timothy B. Schmit, Peter Noone,
Terry Reid Terrance James Reid (born 13 November 1949), nicknamed "Superlungs", is an English rock vocalist, songwriter, and guitarist best known for his emotive style of singing in appearances with high-profile musicians as vocalist, supporting act and s ...
, Jim Muske, Ana Gazzola as well asfour4 archive recordings featuring Percy Sledge, Gene Clark, and I See Hawks In L.A. In late 2021, BMG Records / Renew released a vinyl album ''Americana Railroad''. It was released on CD in 2022. The album featured nine tracks produced by Olson: "Here Comes That Train Again" and "I Remember The Railroad" by Stephen McCarthy and Carla Olson, "The Conductor Wore Black" and "Midnight Rail" by Robert Rex Waller Jr, "Mystery Train" by Rocky Burnette, "Train Kept A-Rollin'" by Gary Myrick, "Runaway Train" by John York, also "Mystery Train" by James Intveld and "Southwest Chief" by Dave Alvin. Olson also appeared with Brian Ray performing "Whiskey Train" and she mixed John Fogerty's contribution, "City of New Orleans".


Discography


References


External links


Official website
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Carla Olson Interview
NAMM Oral History Library (2021) {{DEFAULTSORT:Olson, Carla 1952 births Living people Singers from Austin, Texas American women singers Songwriters from Texas Record producers from Texas American women record producers 21st-century American women