A Very cool painting I found of Eric Carr.

[Blazer]

Okay for those who don't know: Eric Carr (Paul Caravello) replaced Peter Criss as Drummer of Kiss in 1980 adopting the image of a Fox.


Kiss in 1980, from left to right: Ace Frehley, Eric Carr, Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons.

Carr quickly became a favorite with the fans, being easy going, friendly and humble and his powerhouse drumming pushed Kiss in a heavier direction as well as turning Kiss' live shows into much tighter played shows.


Carr remained a member of Kiss during the Eighties in which he saw various line up changes and played on multiple extensive world tours until his death because of cancer in 1991, he was 41 years old.

Nevertheless among Kiss fans and hardrock fans alike Eric Carr is remembered fondly because of his friendly outgoing persona and his virtuosic drumming. And the picture I found shows that affection that fans still have for him perfectly.

[uwe]

He was cute. Gene Simmons only had nice things to say about him in his biography and Gene doesn't say nice things about a lot of people he's played with.

[gweimer]

I've heard it said that it was Carr's death that changed Kiss forever.  No more band members after him, only sidemen.  I think I've heard that losing Eric affected both Gene and Paul deeply.

[OldManC]

Eric was never a band member. Like Eric Singer now, he was a paid employee (Eric S. also gets a retainer but I'm not sure how that works; he tours with Alice Cooper when he's not on the road with KISS).

Gene may have written nice things about Eric but that didn't stop the KISS organization from letting him go and canceling his health insurance when it became obvious that he probably wasn't going to recover. From most accounts I've read or heard, Eric died having been abandoned by his supposed friends, who wouldn't even take his calls by then. Very sad for a guy who, by all accounts, was a gem.

[Blazer]

Eric was never a band member. Like Eric Singer now, he was a paid employee (Eric S. also gets a retainer but I'm not sure how that works; he tours with Alice Cooper when he's not on the road with KISS).

Gene may have written nice things about Eric but that didn't stop the KISS organization from letting him go and canceling his health insurance when it became obvious that he probably wasn't going to recover. From most accounts I've read or heard, Eric died having been abandoned by his supposed friends, who wouldn't even take his calls by then. Very sad for a guy who, by all accounts, was a gem.

Oh really?

Listen to what Kiss' former manager Bill Acoin says at the beginning of this clip.

I don't believe that bullshit. Everybody who was in Kiss (including Peter Criss) saw Eric Carr as the only true drummer of the band, a legit member and not just a hired gun. According to an interview with Eric Carr's then girlfriend, everybody of Kiss was there in the hospital a few days before he died and they all attended his funeral.


This interview came from 1992 shortly after Eric Carr's passing and you can tell by Gene and Paul's demeanor that they still are suffering from the loss, Paul in particular seems to have trouble holding back his tears.

[OldManC]

Oh really?


I don't believe that bullshit. Everybody who was in Kiss (including Peter Criss) saw Eric Carr as the only true drummer of the band, a legit member and not just a hired gun.

According to an interview with Eric Carr's then girlfriend, everybody of Kiss was there in the hospital a few days before he died and they all attended his funeral.

Believe what you want Blazer, but you'd do better to chill out on the bullshit calling. You seem bent on pissing up every leg you find here, but it's not doing you any favors to do so. I don't really need or care to post 15 links to show I'm a bigger fan-boy than you are, but I'm pretty sure I've been a fan of the band longer than you've been alive. Then again, I'm not a big enough KISS nerd to sit and argue about them over the internet (God knows there are plenty of those  ) so maybe you win. Thanks for playing...

[Dave W]

I never followed KISS and I never heard of Eric Carr before this thread, but it took me less than 2 minutes to find that he was never part of the KISS company and that he was paid a fixed wage.

I guess that means I win. 

[OldManC]

Dammit Dave, now I have to clean Pepsi off my laptop screen!

[rockinrayduke]

<-------never a KISS fanboy, thought I do like "Calling Dr. Love". Zero respect for Gene Simmons as a person or bassist. My opinion. Wouldn't shock me to hear they canceled Carr's health insurance and would actually be surprised if they didn't.

[Lightyear]

Hey Blazer lighten up - where here to shoot the sh*t not not sling it    We can't all agree with each other - that would be boring and this place is anything but boring.

I mean where else could you find a combination of red headed bastard step children that have a thing for the red headed bastard step child of basses with a goodly mix of chrome and mahogany worship?    Not to mention if Freud were alive he would want goodly portion of us on his couch    

If there's to be drama let's keep it between the Fraulien & Chris    

[uwe]

Eric was hired. Gene even writes so in his bio. Everyone is hired with Kiss except Gene and Paul and - in the days of yore - Peter and Ace. Ace got bought out of the company. Peter might still be in it, I don't know.

That said, with a band of the commercial statute of Kiss in the late seventies, no new band member replacing an old one could have expected a share in the partnership. The new drummer in REM is never gonna be a full band member either and Michael Stipe is perhaps not quite the capitalist cardboard villain Herr $immon$ so excels in portraying himself as.

I have a faint memory of the life insurance thing from the bio, though it is depicted there as the Kiss organisation rushing to save Eric's life insurance when - as insurance companies sometimes do  - the insurance company wanted to pull out. I can't see why they would have wanted to pull his life insurance while he was approaching death, the benefit of saving on another monthly payment seems slim in comparison to the litigation claims the Kiss organisation would have invited from Eric's family.
 
Uwe

[Chris P.]

Fraulein & me. What drama?

No opinion on Kiss. Ow well, I'll just make one:

God Gave Rock And Roll Yo You II is the best Kiss song ever. Period.

And let's remind: Blazer is still posting only guitar related things here, so let's face it he's just 'different'.

[gweimer]

Fraulein & me. What drama?

No opinion on Kiss. Ow well, I'll just make one:

God Gave Rock And Roll Yo You II is the best Kiss song ever. Period.

And let's remind: Blazer is still posting only guitar related things here, so let's face it he's just 'different'.

Considering it's a remake of an old Argent song, I can't tell if you like them, or you're slamming them.   

[Chris P.]

Well, I really DO like the song, but I don't know much Kiss songs (only the well known once) and this song is part of the soundtrack of a part of my life (no I wasn't in that Ed & Ted's Bogus Journey film;) ) as well as Under The Bridge was. A happy period (*), so I like it. I have to find the Argent version though!


(*) Well, happy has a complete other definition since I met Mark.

[Blazer]

And let's remind: Blazer is still posting only guitar related things here, so let's face it he's just 'different'.

Only about guitars you say?

What kind of Matsumoku built instrument did I buy recently?

What kind of instrument is Juan Nelson playing in that thread I posted about him?

What kind of Gibson Thunderbird with a Fender Jazz neck hybrid did I build and showed the entire process of?

Not to mention my threads about airplanes, movies, cartoons and a band that played along to a tractor running idle. And this thread which is about a drummer.

I certainly handle more topics than just guitars Chris and may I remind you that YOU wanted to do a feature on me in that mag you work for because of a bass I put together.

I'm no one trick pony.

To get Back on Kiss and Eric Carr here's MY favorite Kiss track.

This song and the album from which it came steered Kiss away from the disco and bubblegum image they had with songs like "I was made for loving you." Eric Carr's drumming has such a prominent role on this song. Cementing that he really was the true Kiss drummer.