Budd Carr, a rock musician-turned-music agent who managed the band Kansas before helping to establish the role of music supervisor in film and TV, died unexpectedly July 20 in Santa Barbara where he lived. He passed away surrounded by family from complications following a routine medical procedure he had undergone four days prior. He was 79.
Carr started his career as a member of the band One Eyed Jacks which had a bit of success late 50s and 60s. He then became a music agent and came across an unsigned band from Kansas named Kansas. He took them on and managed thr group through its glory days. He also produced the 2015 Kansas documentary Miracles Out of Nowhere.
As the band started slowing down a bit in the 1980s, Carr began looking for new sources of income and became a music supervisor at a time when it was not a popular vocation as the studios’ music departments were tasked with finding songs.
“He really revolutionized this field,” said Carr’s attorney of more than 30 years and close friend Jeffrey Light.
The first movie Carr worked on, the 1984 The Terminator, became a global blockbuster. Starting with the 1986 Salvador, Carr started a close collaboration with Oliver Stone, serving as a music supervisor on all of his movies, including Platoon, Wall Street, The Doors, Born On the Fourth of July, JFK, Natural Born Killers, Nixon, Alexander, W. World Trade Center and Snowden. Carr was working with the director on his next film at the time of his death.
Other features Carr worked on throughout his career included Heat, Evan Almighty, Any Given Sunday, Twister, Hotel Rwanda, Donnie Brasco, Beyond Borders, Stigmata, Seven Years In Tibet and Hoosiers.
He received two Guild of Music Supervisor Awards nominations, for the movie Get It On: The James Brown Story and the series Californication.
Outside of his career, Carr was very active in local Santa Barbara charities and helped raise a lot of money for first responders.
“He was a guy whose heart was always in the right place, and he was always looking to do the next right thing,” Light said.
Carr is survived by his wife of 55 years, Jeanne, and their three adult children, Elizabeth Carr-Ernst, Ryan and Jonathon.
