Carla Olson (Photo credit: Dietmar Kohl)
Singer, songwriter, and producer Carla Olson unveils her latest single, “Is It True,” a modern reimagining of Brenda Lee’s 1960s classic. In collaboration with Clem Burke and Tall Poppy Syndrome, Carla shares with Jason Barnard insights into the creative process behind the track and her musical life alongside collaborators like Allan Clarke, Mick Taylor, and Gene Clark.
What drew you and Tall Poppy Syndrome to ‘Is It True’, and how did you adapt it to fit your style?
I’ve known Blondie drummer Clem Burke, Bee Gee Vince Melouney, and Jonathan Lea of The Jigsaw Seen for many years and love their latest band Tall Poppy Syndrome! We have toyed with the idea of recording a song together and Brenda Lee’s sixties single “Is It True” is the one. Jonathan thought the song might work for us after seeing Jimmy Page’s online post (Jimmy played guitar on Brenda’s version) and giving it a listen. Coincidentally, Jonathan heard the song played later that same day on Little Steven’s Underground Garage channel at SiriusXM and took it as a sign. This summer, Clem, Jonathan and I went into Catasonic Studio in Echo Park and tracked the song with just guitar and drums (I sang a guide vocal) and the basic track really rocked!
Tall Poppy Syndrome members Alec Palao and Paul Kopf added some great bass lines and backing vocals at their studio in Northern California to get that cool sound (Vince recorded his guitar parts at his home in the UK.) I went back in to sing the vocal and harmony parts trying to put my stamp on it while staying true (no pun intended) to the original single. Our co-producer Mark Wheaton blended it all to smooth out the rough edges (but not too much.)
You recently collaborated with Allan Clarke on the single ‘It Makes Me Cry.’ Can you share some highlights on working with Allan over the years?
Always a huge Hollies fan, I was introduced to Allan by my manager Saul Davis and we started collaborating a few years back. He’d stopped performing due to his wife’s illness (she has since recovered), but he was still writing lyrics and asked me to compose music. There’s a song that I co-wrote called “Heart Of Stone” on Allan’s 2019 comeback album “Resurgence” and he’s on my latest album “Have Harmony, Will Travel 3” which includes two more songs we’ve written; “It Makes Me Cry” and “A Love That Never Blooms.” He’s a fantastic songwriter and singer!
Your ‘Have Harmony, Will Travel’ series has brought together some fantastic artists. What inspired you to start this project, and how did it evolve into three albums?
The first “Have Harmony, Will Travel” album was mostly songs from my childhood that I’d heard on Pop radio, cutting songs with people I admired and could duet with. The follow-up album “Have Harmony, Will Travel 2” featured a couple of sixties hits mixed with contemporary songs sung by some great vocalists and also some that I felt were good duets like Timothy B. Schmidt singing the Buffalo Springfield song “A Child’s Claim To Fame” and Peter Noone who wanted to sing the British Invasion-era song “Goodbye My Love” on which Tall Poppy Syndrome’s Jonathan Lea plays twelve-string guitar.
“Have Harmony, Will Travel 3” was another mixture, recording some of my favorite songs and featuring great guitarists that I sang lead on. My singles collection in the sixties included the Who, The Rolling Stones and Texas psychedelic band Zachary Thaks whose songs I recorded for this volume. My friends, guitarists Eric Johnson, Craig Ross, Gary Myrick, Jake Andrews, Laurence Juber and Todd Wolfe joined me on this album.
When you’re working on a new project, how do you decide which musicians and songs to bring together?
Sometimes it starts with one song that becomes the concept for the project. The idea of women singing Gordon Lightfoot’s songs became “Ladies Sing Lightfoot,” released in 2021. It helps to have a core band record the basic tracks and to have each song selected for the different singers. The “Americana Railroad” album (released by BMG in 2022) started with a Gene Clark song called “I Remember The Railroad” and Stephen McCarthy’s Long Ryders song “Here Comes That Train Again.”
Looking back at your time with The Textones, how do you feel the music scene has changed since then?
I think there are some really great bands now that harken back to the days of The Byrds and the early rock bands that I like. There are so many ways to listen to music now (like streaming playlists) but I still want to hear a whole album like “Exile On Main Street” played as an entire body of work.
You have a rich history of working with Mick Taylor and Gene Clark. Could you share some insights into your time playing with them?
I was a huge Byrds fan having purchased the first and second albums when they came out in 1965. I wore out my LPs learning to play and sing like The Byrds and The Beau Brummels. The first time I met Gene was in 1984 at a club called Madame Wong’s West in West Los Angeles where he was playing with his band The Firebyrds. They played their set to a room of mostly UCLA students. At the end of the show, the fans coaxed an encore out of them and they launched into “I’ll Feel A Whole Lot Better.” Gene’s friend Tom Slocum was sitting in the next booth and asked if he could join us. The next thing I knew, he was taking my hand and pulling me towards the stage. He said, “you can sing with them on this one, you know it right?” Halfway through the guitar solo, Gene says “hi, I’m Gene Clark” to which I replied “Carla, Carla Olson, nice to meet you.”
I first met Mick Taylor at the Golden Bear nightclub in Huntington Beach (south of Los Angeles) in 1982, on tour with John Mayall. Saul Davis and I took my friend Eric Johnson and Textones guitarist George Callins. The second time was after my appearance in Bob Dylan’s first-ever video “Sweetheart Like You” in 1983 where I pantomimed Mick Taylor’s guitar parts (I’m featured in the last thirty seconds of the video playing Mick’s solo.) This led to my meeting Mick again and making that connection. He and Bob came to see The Textones in Santa Monica in 1985 and he later got in touch to do a project together. We ended up recording the live album “Too Hot For Snakes” at The Roxy Theatre in West Hollywood and releasing it in 1990. After the album was released, we did a west coast tour with the live band from the show. In 1993, Mick played on my solo record “Within An Ace” and again on my next one “Reap The Whirlwind,” released in 1995. In 2000, Mick and I recorded a studio album called “Ring Of Truth” and in 2004, I produced Barry Goldberg’s album “Stoned Again” which Mick also played on.
What led to your appearance in Bob Dylan’s ‘Sweetheart Like You’ video, and can you tell me how he came to give you ‘Clean Cut Kid’ to record?
I was lucky to have been friends with Bob’s road manager Gary Shaffner who was a fan of The Textones and he asked me to “play“ guitar in the video for the song “Sweetheart Like You” which features Mick Taylor who was not available for the shoot. Gary gave me a cassette of the song to learn the parts for the pantomime. Thanks to Textone George Callins who coached me on the difficult bits, it was possible to believe I was actually playing the licks played by my hero Mick. Although everyone thinks I’m really tall, at 5’3” I had to stand teetering on a crate so that the Titan Crane wouldn’t miss me as it swung its camera across the stage. During the last thirty-two seconds of the video, the camera is focused on me and my 1955 Gibson Les Paul Special. After Bob’s “Infidels” album was released, The Textones were in the studio recording “Midnight Mission.” I asked his publisher if there was an unreleased song we might record and we were offered an outtake from the album called “Clean Cut Kid.” Ry Cooder played slide guitar on our recording.
Looking back at your career, if you could go back to one musical moment or collaboration for a second time, purely for the joy of it, what would it be and why?
It would definitely be The Jimi Hendrix Experience in San Antonio, Texas on August 2, 1968 at the Municipal Auditorium with The Soft Machine. I went with my friend John Staehely who would join Jo Jo Gunne a decade later. We drove down from Austin in the afternoon to see if we could catch their sound check and discovered that the road manager was in a panic because the night before, someone had stolen all of Jimi’s guitar cases. We offered to drive them to San Antonio Music to purchase replacements. As a “thank you” they invited us to have dinner with them and Robert Wyatt (the drummer of Soft Machine) at the hotel. They then asked if we wanted to come to the hotel after the show and meet the band.
We spent an hour or so in Jimi’s suite listening to an acetate copy of Jeff Beck’s album “Truth” before it was released. About 1:00 AM, Jimi and Mitch said they really felt like jamming and asked if there was anywhere open. The HemisFair (aka the 1968 World’s Fair) was taking place and had a nightclub called Love Street that was open until 4:00 AM so we piled into two cars and drove them down there. Our friends the Sweet Smoke from Ft. Worth were playing and there were about fifteen people inside when Jimi and Mitch took the stage. Jimi played Ron Thibert’s Gibson ES 335 upside down on five songs. Years later, I met Mitch who was living in Los Angeles then and we talked about that night.
With your involvement in multiple projects, what’s next on the horizon for you, and what continues to inspire you creatively?
Right now, I’m working on recording songs I wrote with Pete Brown during the pandemic lockdown. Pete was the poet and lyricist for Cream, penning lyrics such as “Sunshine Of Your Love,” “White Room” and “I Feel Free.” I was introduced to him by Paul Jones of Manfred Mann for whom I’d produced two solo albums. Pete sent me lyrics and I wrote music and sent the songs back to him in England via iPhone. Unfortunately, Pete got cancer and passed away in May 2023. His posthumous album “The Shadow Club” came out in June 2024 and includes a duet with me called “With My Black Cat By My Side,” written together during the lockdown. I plan to release my album next year.
I’m also writing more songs with Allan Clarke who is currently working on a new album.
In November, I’m hosting a tribute to Gene Clark in Los Angeles for what would’ve been his 80th birthday. Performing will be John York of The Byrds, Gene’s son Kai, Robert Rex Waller Jr., Stephen McCarthy from the Long Ryders, and myself. “Is It True,” my collaboration with Tall Poppy Syndrome will be available on October 4. I’ll also have a new single with Todd Wolfe out in January and who knows, “Have Harmony, Will Travel 4” could be in the works by 2025!
Further information
Is It True by Carla Olson and Tall Poppy Syndrome – Bandcamp
CARLA OLSON SOCIAL TAGS: FACEBOOK: @CarlaOlsonMusic, INSTAGRAM: @carlaolsonmusic, TWITTER: @CarlaOlsonMusic
TALL POPPY SYNDROME SOCIAL TAGS: FACEBOOK: @TallPoppySyndromeBand, INSTAGRAM: @tallpoppysyndromeband, TWITTER: @tpsbandofficial
