Lynn Carey - Biography

Biography

Born in Los Angeles, California, Carey first began her career as a teen model and actress appearing in the 1966 cult film Lord Love a Duck as well as several guest slots on the T.V. shows Lassie, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., Run for Your Life and The Wild Wild West. In the late 1960s she joined and recorded with the band C.K. Strong for their 1970 self titled release. She subsequently recorded with Neil Merryweather on the 1970 joint project album "Ivar Avenue Reunion" which also featured musicians Barry Goldberg and Charlie Musselwhite. Also in 1970,she provided the vocals for the fictional character Kelly McNamara (Dolly Read) in Russ Meyer's Beyond the Valley of the Dolls. In addition to singing, Carey also co-wrote two songs for the soundtrack with composer Stu Phillips. In 1971 the album Vacuum Cleaner resulted co-credited to Merryweather & Carey. In December 1972, Carey was Penthouse magazine's Pet of the Month. That same year, she and Merryweather formed the group Mama Lion and released the albums Preserve Wildlife and its 1973 follow up Give It Everything I've Got. Lynn and the band are seen performing in another Russ Meyer film called The Seven Minutes. In 1984 her debut solo release (which she produced along with co-producer Ollie Mitchell) Good Times showcased her jazz & big band leanings.(A remastered CD reissue of the album was released in 2000). A gigging unit of veteran musicians composed of Ray Pizzi (woodwinds), Paul Humphrey (drums), Frank Marocco (accordion) & Carey performed often in the mid to late 80s. During the 1990s and in the early 2000s she performed in Russia on several different occasions. In 2001 the archival CD release Lynn Carey - Mama Lion...Roars Back! was issued featuring the early Mama Lion demos which secured the group their initial record deal as well as 80-90s unreleased solo material. She has sung live with B.B.King, Al Jarreau, and Jimmy Witherspoon. Her studio session credits range from backing vocals for Charlie Musselwhite (1975) to Eric Burdon (80s era), Michel Berger and providing music for various television and film scores in the 1980s. Often mistaken as being related to singer/songwriter Lynn Carey Saylor, she is not.

Lynn credits her father with introducing her to the world of jazz music and foreign film. Through him, she also met many of the legendary Hollywood stars. Harpo Marx was the first to notice her singing talent as a child and suggest she could turn pro. Her nextdoor neighbours were ventriloquist/comedian Edgar Bergen and his wife Frances and daughter Candice. At 16, she had the pleasure of sitting at John Coltrane's feet while he performed, and became friends with pianist Dorothy Donegan. Among other memorable encounters, she has drunk with Judy Garland, gone on a date with Jerry Lewis, and narrowly escaped being one of the victims of the Tate-La Bianca murders, when her then boyfriend Jay Sebring invited her to Sharon Tate's house, and because of her intuition, Lynn declined.