PHOTO/Ralph De Palma
Caffeine Carl Wagoner with Bill Blue, who claims he taught Wagoner to play the guitar.
SOUL OF KEY WEST
Caffeine Carl Wagoner: The real thing
KONK LIFE STAFF WRITER
Carl Wagoner was born and raised in Key West. His father played ukulele in a barber shop quartet. The Wagoners had an organ at their house, and by the time he was five, Carl had learned to play it by ear. A local music shop open house was broadcast on radio channel WKWF. Five year old Carl Wagoner played “Blue Spanish Eyes.” During his early grade school piano lessons, Carl faked reading the music, just playing and turning the pages. He received an “A” in the classes. Wagoner graduated from Key West High School in 1985.
For Christmas in 1980, Carl’s mother gave him his first guitar and amplifier, purchased from a Sears catalog. She said, “I don’t know why I’m getting this for you; you’ll probably never play it.” Carl changed from the piano to the guitar and never looked back. One of his favorite songs is about his mother he loved fiercely, “Moma Don’t Like It When I Play My Guitar All Night Long.” Until Carl’s mother died about a year ago, she was his biggest fan.
Steve Mello, of “Feets Up in the Air” fame, played in a band called the Dog House Zydeco. He also was the regular drummer for Barry Cuda. Mello played the drums and a xylophone, and just about every other instrument he could get his hands on. He was the first to use the name “Caffeine Carl.” It stuck.
There is an argument in Key West about who taught Wagoner his first guitar chords. Bill Blue and Clayton Lopez both lay claim to teaching Carl to play the guitar. Wagoner says it was Joel Nelson who taught him at radio studio WIIS. Nelson was a DJ at the time and he showed Wagoner and a friend, David Freeman, their first chords on Freeman’s acoustical guitar. Wagoner credits Nelson with being his biggest early musical influence. Other influences were Calvin and Clayton Lopez and their band, The Masterpiece. Wagoner also used to attend all of Bill Blue’s gigs and was amazed at his skill playing the blues.
Caffeine Carl Wagoner’s first gig was with a band called “Bad Oscar” at the Hemingway House for one of the first Hemingway Days Festivals in 1984. They were the opening act for Bill Blue and the Nervous Guys. They watched as these burly guys with long hair came on stage and then were just amazed by their music. The first time Caffeine Carl played with Bill Blue was in the early 1990s at the Bull & Whistle. Wagoner is still a regular with the Bill Blue Band and they both love playing together. Wagoner says Bill plays with conviction. Everyone that’s ever heard Caffeine Carl play his guitar says the same thing about him.
Fellow Bill Blue Band member Melody Cooper says Caffeine Carl is the “real thing.” She says, “He plays the same rips and licks that have been done for 100 years. When he plays them, it’s the real thing and he can do that six nights a week and you feel the joy in him and the energy from him.”
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Great article and tribute to a local legend. We are lucky to have such a talent walking amongst us like a regular dude… Thanks, Carl! Rock on!