Carl Lynch

Biography

For more than half a century, Carl Lynch reigned as one of main session guitarists associated with the recording scene in New York City. R&B was in the process of being invented when Lynch did his first recordings in the early '40s. By the time he might have been thinking about retiring, Lynch was playing great gobs of fusion-funk, having managed to digest fellow picker George Benson's "Giblet Gravy." Typical of any great and busy session player, Lynch can be used as a connection between ridiculously disparate elements: Pearl Bailey and the Fugs, for example. Wonderful as they are, sides such as the latter group's Golden Filth hardly represent this guitarist's most widely heard works. While recording credits do not always come with dotted "i"s and crossed "t"s, Lynch's participation not only in hit records but in the entire process they came out of is a given. To start by backing the guitarist up against a literal wall, Lynch has been credited as one of the main "tracking" players on many singles created by producer Phil Spector, whose so-called "Wall of Sound" process often began by bricking up the sound of pairs of basses and guitarists with percussion. Lynch's partners in these episodes included guitarist Billy Butler and bassists Russ Savakus and Dick Romoff.

Some may try to diminish Lynch's abilities by pointing out that he was the rhythm guitarist, not the lead, on Isley Brothers cuts such as the pushy "Move Over and Let Me Dance." Jimi Hendrix was the lead guy, however, so no further comment is necessary. Another stylistic area where Lynch is heavily featured -- in a stark contrast to an unfortunate other meaning of his surname -- were songs that developed quickly into anthems of the civil rights movement. "Say It Loud: I'm Black and I'm Proud" and "Young, Gifted and Black" are examples from James Brown and Nina Simone, respectively. While not as well-known as Spector, perhaps because he never was accused of shooting a house guest, arranger and producer Artie Butler made wonderful use of Lynch in tandem with Al Gorgoni on the hit version of the Leiber & Stoller team's "Sally Go 'Round the Roses." The guitarists provided interlocking parts that seemed to grow like mushroom spores inside car radio speakers. Every other instrument on the record was played by Butler, but lucky for Lynch this arranger had absolutely no abilities on guitar. When the record was a smash, Butler recalls that "other producers started calling me to arrange sessions for them and they wanted the same band I used on 'Sally Go 'Round the Roses.' Oh boy -- was I in trouble!"

Lynch is also connected with aspects of the Stax studio sound, showing up on some well-loved Carla Thomas albums. He also recorded with the Coasters, Jackie Wilson, Les McCann, and many others. He should not be confused with an Australian blues guitarist of the same name, not to mention the Virginian Carl Lynch who claims to have seen a UFO. ~ Eugene Chadbourne, All Music Guide