Carl Carlton

Carl Carlton (born May 21, 1952, Detroit, Michigan) is an American R&B, soul, and funk singer and songwriter best known for his hits "Everlasting Love" and "She's a Bad Mama Jama (She's Built, She's Stacked)". Carlton first sang in the late 1960s as "Little Carl" Carlton , a marketing ploy to capitalize on some vocal similarities to Stevie Wonder, who recorded under the name "Little Stevie Wonder" in the early 1960s. After scoring some minor local hits, Carlton was signed by Don D. Robey and moved to Houston , Texas , the home of his new record label, Back Beat Records. Carlton saw some success with the new label including his first major hit, a disco-tinged remake of Robert Knight's "Everlasting Love", that went to #6 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1974 (which went on to become the most popular version of Buzz Cason and Mac Gayden's song ever). Robey sold his labels to ABC Records in 1972, and in 1976 Carlton became embroiled in a royalty dispute with the new ownership that caused him to stop recording for some time. He then signed with Mercury Records in 1977, but only released one single on that label. Carlton was unable to land a new recording contract for several years until Leon Haywood helped him get a singles deal with 20th Century Records. A Haywood-penned single, "She's a Bad Mama Jama", became a major hit, peaking at #2 on the soul chart and earning Carlton a Grammy Award nomination for Best R&B Vocal Performance, Male. Carlton 's subsequent album, Carl <b>...</b>