Rockology

Biography

Eric Carr (July 12, 1950 - November 24, 1991), born Paul Charles Caravello was an American musician, best known as the drummer for the rock band KISS. Following two albums that alienated many fans with their departure in style (1979's Dynasty and 1980's Unmasked), and a falling-out with Peter Criss over his substance abuse problems and unreliability, KISS held open auditions for a new drummer. Criss had not recorded an entire studio album with KISS since 1977's Love Gun. At the time of his aud...

Eric Carr (July 12, 1950 - November 24, 1991), born Paul Charles Caravello was an American musician, best known as the drummer for the rock band KISS.

Following two albums that alienated many fans with their departure in style (1979's Dynasty and 1980's Unmasked), and a falling-out with Peter Criss over his substance abuse problems and unreliability, KISS held open auditions for a new drummer. Criss had not recorded an entire studio album with KISS since 1977's Love Gun.

At the time of his audition, Paul Caravello was cleaning stoves for a living, while playing drums in a variety of bands. He was the last drummer to audition for the band and even asked Paul, Gene and Ace for autographs, believing he had little chance of being chosen. He was chosen and, after considering monikers such as Rusty Blades, he changed his name to Eric Carr upon joining the band. For his Kiss persona, Carr was first made up as "The Hawk," which he didn't like, and later adopted the persona of "The Fox", with his makeup design reflecting the character.

Eric's first album with the group was 1981's Music From "The Elder", which marked yet another departure for the band, in a mystical art-rock direction. His contribution to the album, "Under the Rose", featured a Gregorian Chant-style chorus.

Carr is often cited by fans as a favorite among drummers in the band's history, for his intense playing style and incredible timing, which was radically different from the soft-by-comparison jazz-influenced technique of Criss. Carr's style is featured most prominently on 1982's Creatures of the Night, and on 1988's Smashes, Thrashes & Hits, in which Carr overdubbed updated drum tracks in place of Criss' on KISS classics such as "Strutter", "Deuce" and "Rock and Roll All Nite".
Carr, in his Fox make-up, from the "I Love It Loud" video in 1982.
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Carr, in his Fox make-up, from the "I Love It Loud" video in 1982.

Eric was also part of the band's well-publicized removal of their stage makeup in 1983.

Aside from his legendary drum skills, Eric was also a talented vocalist, and was given the chance to showcase that ability when the KISS classic "Beth" (originally vocalized by Peter Criss) was re-recorded for the 1988 compilation album Smashes, Thrashes & Hits. Eric recorded his version of the song using the same backing track as Criss, and reportedly sat on the same drum throne as Criss did to record the song. His first lead vocal on a self-penned, studio album track was "Little Caesar," in 1989. Carr's last live performance with KISS was November 9, 1990 in New York City, at Madison Square Garden. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.