Carroll Coates

September 23, 1929 – October 21, 2023

Carroll Coates, one of the few remaining standards songwriters, passed away peacefully on October 21, 2023, at the age of 94. He was at his home in Carmel, California with his wife and daughter at his bedside.

Carroll was born September 23, 1929, at his parent’s home in Uxbridge, near London, England.

He was named after his Godfather, the famous American bandleader/songwriter, Carroll Gibbons, a close friend of his parents. Carroll’s musical talents were evident while at Ellesmere College in England. In his late teens, he soon headed to London to pursue a career in music. Carroll was accomplished enough to play piano for a 16-week tour of Noel Coward’s “Private Lives” starring the British Peter Graves and film star Margaret Lockwood. He was then hired to play piano at The White Room, a private club near London’s Piccadilly Circus, even though the Manager acknowledged “he was too young to be admitted as a patron.” Carroll was also tapped to write music for Robert Nesbitt’s follies style show “Excitement” at the London Casino.

In his teens, Carroll became aware that he was “gifted” with new melodies spontaneously appearing in his thoughts every day. He said of these new tunes “If they are good, they’ll keep coming back” eventually becoming his published and recorded songs.

In London during the early 1950s, Carroll’s song “London By Night” was performed nightly by American cabaret singer, Julie Wilson at London’s Embassy Club. Frank Sinatra came to the show one night and told the 20 yr. old composer “I want to take that back to the States and record it”, which he did for three separate albums. Soon after, the song was again released in England on a special single record with a foreword by HRH The Duke of Edinburgh in support of his charity, the National Playing Fields Association. With Sinatra’s encouragement, Carroll emigrated to the US in 1952. While in New York, Carroll’s songs were recorded by Sarah Vaughn, Doris Day, Carmen McRae, The Chordettes and others and he was again encouraged by Sinatra to keep writing. During his time in the musical world

Carroll next moved to Hollywood working at 20th Century Fox where in the 1950’s and early 1960’s he wrote lyrics for Lionel Newman’s music that became movie theme songs.

In 1963, he wrote the lyrics for Peter Nero’s music for “Sunday In New York” earning them a Golden Globe nomination.

In the early 1970’s Carroll moved to Laguna Beach and established a place for jazz in Southern California. Carroll embarked on a dizzying schedule taking on new musical roles of artistic director and producer and establishing his own publishing company. He wrote a column, Jazz Matters, as “Ashton Lord” for the magazine This Week in Laguna and was often sought for print and radio interviews sharing his musical experiences. As artistic director for local jazz clubs, Carroll engaged a steady flow of jazz talents including Carmen McRae, Stan Getz, Dizzy Gillespie, Kenny Burrell, Mose Allison, Cal Tjader, and dozens of others. He produced three major annual “Friends of Jazz” festivals at the Irving Bowl from 1977 through 1979.

Carroll continued his songwriting with many recordings by talented artists during the following decades. He retained an impressive memory for the dozens of songs he had written over the decades and acknowledged that he still found pleasure in writing. Carroll said of his music “My songs are also my children…. I raise and release them with love into the world trusting they will give pleasure through the efforts of the many talented artists who chose to record them.”

Carroll is survived by his wife Carol Lee Coates of Carmel, his daughter Anna Karelia Coates of Santa Fe, NM., his son, Michael Anthony Coates of Dana Point, CA., and his sister-in-law, Jane Coates of Sutton Veny, Salisbury, England.

Donations may be sent to a charity of choice. A celebration of his life will occur in the coming months, the date to be determined. See carrollcoates.com for songs and stories.