Ort Carlton passed away in January a couple of years ago. I feel like I need to pay my respects now here as at the time of his passing this blog was off air.
You didn’t know Ort? Well, no, neither did I, but I felt like I knew him. Let me explain.
As something of a record collecting nerd I frequent the 45cat site. For those of you who don’t know the site it is something of a crowd sourced venture with the goal in it’s original form (it has since expanded to 45worlds sort of sister site which encompasses albums, magazines, memorabilia) essentially to document every 45rpm 7” record ever released. Anybody can add a record to it under strict guidelines. One can also document their own collection on it via an “I Own It” button, and their want/wish list via an “I Want It” button. Over the last few years I have documented the bulk of my collection by hitting that “I Own It” button, and my own account page is currently telling me I have 3,663 singles (and a further 2,000+ albums and 12” singles on 45worlds). You can also see what other people own.
I found over the years that whenever I added a US release 45 to my collection (predominantly of the soul variety), or hit the “want” button, and then went to see who else owned or wanted a copy Ort.Carlton’s name was there. Wow, I thought, our tastes strongly align. I don’t think it was until I became aware of his passing that I went to his account page and saw how many 45s Ort had recorded as owning (32,714!), or wanting (34,703!!). So maybe our tastes weren’t that closely aligned, it was just that Ort owned or wanted everything! (Interesting to note that he joined the 45cat community in 2015, that’s five years after me, so in just a few years he was very busy documenting his collection).
So who was Ort Carlton? His full name was William Orten Carlton and he was a character, that’s for sure. He was very well known in his hometown of Athens, Georgia, where he was born, and resided for the bulk of his life. He ran a record shop called Ort’s Oldies on College Avenue there for some years and hosted radio shows on WUOG-FM called Ort’s Oldies and Ort’s Radio Problem, starting in 1972 and continuing right up to 2022. He was well known in the local music scene, and was there as bands such as REM and the B-52s blossomed. During some of the 80s at least he was working for a company measuring the strength of AM radio signals (with a view to ensuring local stations did not drown each other out). This meant he travelled extensively, particularly in Tennessee and Alabama. He had a photographic memory and apparently knew the call sign of every AM station in the South and every zip code in Georgia. It’s possible therefore that the act of documenting his record collection on 45cat was simply a case of accessing his memory rather than physically looking up his records. I’m not sure he could vouch for the condition of some of those records though judging by some of the pictures in the reel here! I would bet though that he put together his collection at least in part by making numerous stop offs at thrifts etc. as he travelled through the southern States measuring those radio signals. Sounds like it was a dream job.
I have gleaned this information on Ort from lovingly put together tributes here, and here which also gives links to Youtube clips of Ort on Public Access TV during the 80s. There is also a heartfelt tribute from a friend describing time he spent in Atlanta here. I urge you to follow these links to get a better sense of the man.
I wish now I had researched Ort whilst he was still alive as I like to think I could have struck up at ast an email/message based friendship with him based on our shared love of music. It seems like he was an easy guy to get on with.
A stash of fliers and other music ephemera of the Athens music scene that Ort had has now been taken in by the University of Georgia (Extent: 7 Linear Feet 1 box, 4 oversize boxes, 1 oversized folder). I can’t help but wonder what has happened to his record collection.
Ort’s account at 45cat is “archived”, but still there in all it’s glory for all to see. The last comment he made on a record was just a month before he passed. The comment reads “For some reason, nice crackly copies of this just sound better to me. Maybe it's too late to hunt down a near mint one.” The record in question is by The Vanguards, a soul group from Indianapolis. When I found out about Ort’s passing as a mark of respect I went online and bought a copy of this record (due to the unfavourable exchange rate, and ever increasing postage and import costs, it was the first record I had bought from the States in quite a few years). Now whenever I pull it out of it’s storage box or just browse past it I think of Ort).
I’m sure Ort will live forever in the memories of his family and many friends he made in Athens. Also, hopefully, he will live forever at 45cat.
The Vanguards – It’s Too Late ForLove 1970
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