Birth date: Nov 26, 1949 Death date: Jun 12, 2023
Chris. 73. of Tulsa, Oklahoma was born November 26, 1949. Then called home June 12th, 2023, at 11:27am at the OSU Medical Center. Proceeded in death by his parents Virginia Kaufman and Harry Carlton, sister Joan and Nancy Cole. S Read Obituary
Dr. Sawyer lit a candle in memory of Christopher Carlton
My name is Dr. H. E Buzzy Sawyer, Jr. I' was about 5 months younger than Chris : I met Chis 60 years ago standing in line behind Chris, waiting for Mrs. Burton, 7th grade math teacher at Grover Cleveland Jr. High school, 700 block North Atlanta in Tulsa. Even then, he had just a little gray in his dark hair. Chris Carlton, then, was the proverbial " class clown " Class clowns are folks that some serious doubts about their worth.....It wasn't hard to understand Chris Carlton..... Chris Carton was a kid who did have doubts about his place in this World ; most of the problem, was his absentee Father. Virginia, his Mother. worked all the time at Child Protective Services for the State of Oklahoma ; his Father was utterly nowhere to be found...... oh, met his Father --- once ---- at one of Joan's weekend get togethers. So. This brings us to winter of 1973.....Chris Carlton was living with me at the large downtown apartment house.....we got a call on afternoon announcing the very untimely death of Chris' beautiful sister, Joan in Arkansas ; she had thrown a cerebral embolism, in the bathtub, and passed instantly. Her body arrived at FitzGerald's downtown Tulsa building.......I drove Chris down there to view her remains...... Let me tell you, Chris was inconsolable. He adored and loved Joan. So much that he named his Daughter after her ( Joan Carlton Brantley ).
I believe it is suitable to let you know that I NEVER met anyone that did not adore Joan Carlton. There was Joan, in that horrible, dark room they call the "family room". It was just Chris....and me, feeling totally inadequate. Chris cried. I hugged him. I tried to console him....it was impossible.
Chapter Two : WIZZARD RECORDS
" TURN THOSE RECORDS INTO CASH !!!!!! "
Chris Carlton pioneered the used record business in Oklahoma.
HOW?? Sheer guts, brains, and pure obsession. Oh, yes, OBSESSION. I mean, who owns EIGHT THOUSAND VINYL RECORDS, PERSONALLY ?????? Mr. Carlton did. But he had SIX THOUSAND at age 20 !!!! This obsession was just something you accepted about Chris....... but by his third year at 11th and Yale, he was doing 200,000 dollars in sales volume.
Chapter Three : BASS GUITAR
This is where I have to reveal what was on of the World's Greatest Non-secrets. Chris Carlton's Super-Ability to smas that BASS GUITAR. FACT : There is a HIGH PROBABILITY that Chris was the most incredible Bass player God ever put a breath in.
Chris could do things with a Bass Guitar that ordinary Humans simply could not do. I know. I saw Chris burn up a Bass Guitar a hundred times In my den, playing with another World Class musician : My Brother, Phillip Sawyer. The only thing I always regretted : that not enough people saw Chris play.
Chris was a unique Human Being. If you hold still, and listen very carefully...... you can feel Chris' Bass in your gut......from Heaven.
Buzzy
I've known Chris since 1976 when he, Treva, Delana, & Cass were neighbors. At that time he had Wizzard Records. He looked like Wolfman Jack with his salt and pepper long hair. I never met anyone with as much musical knowledge as him. We spent hours listening to his albums. At that time he had a personal collection of over 8k albums, all in alphabetical order! He cleaned them with windex and a soft cloth diaper. He introduced me to alot of artists music and I purchased multiple records from him. He had a great sense of humor and always made you laugh. He will be missed. A very unique guy. Rest in peace Chris. If there's a rock n roll heaven, well you know they've got a hell of a band.
Chris was a friend and trusted record dealer to me and countless others. I always considered him to be the Grandfather of used record dealers in Tulsa who had shops near 15th/Peoria, 15th/Sheridan, 15th/Memorial, 11th/Yale and in flea markets located in Tulsa. I first met Chris through another mutual friend, Steve Herzog who at one time ran Honest Johns Records. I will always remember buying records from Chris, discussing records, running to Egg Roll Chef to grab lunch when he was at 15th/Memorial. I know that any time I pull out one of the records I bought at one of his shops I'll remember buying it from Chris and discussing the hows/whys/whens of the recordings. Rest in Peace Chris - you are missed from this world!
I miss you Daddy...so very much, every single day. I am so happy for all the extra time we got to spend together over the last year or so. Especially the last day that we spent almost all that day just listening to music and talking and enjoying each other's company like we always loved to do. You were such a huge spirit in this world and were truly loved by so many. I keep repeating "The leader of the band" by Dan Folgelberg in my mind just thinking about what big shoes you had to fill. There's no way in a million years I'll ever meet anyone like you and I just hope you know how very much you mean to me and always will. They say the grief comes in waves and I just feel like I'm trapped in a rip current lately. I just hope that I make you proud of me. We are going to celebrate your life soon and I truly plan to do that with your friends and family that all miss and love you. Please say hi to grandma and aunt Joan for me and tell them ill see them some day when it's my turn, until then I'll be keeping your memories close to my heart, I love you daddy, your Joanie Bologna
