The Well's Gone Dry

Recorded in 1974 at Wally Heider Recording, Studio 3, in Hollywood, The Well's Gone Dry featured Larry Carlton on guitar, Joe Sample on keyboards, Wilton Felder on tenor saxophone, Wayne Henderson on trombone and Stix Hooper on drums. Composed by Carlton and produced by Stewart Levine as a Crusaders production, the recording was engineered by Rik Pekkonen and Peter Granet and remixed at Hollywood Sound Recorders. Released on Blue Thumb Records in October 1974 as part of The Crusaders' double album Southern Comfort, The Well's Gone Dry was a four-minute, forty-six-second instrumental composition by guitarist Larry Carlton. Its guitar-led arrangement and tightly coordinated ensemble playing contributed to an album that reached number one on Billboard's Jazz Albums chart and number three on the Soul Albums chart. The Well's Gone Dry remains part of The Crusaders' influential mid-1970s catalogue, documenting Larry Carlton's contributions alongside the group's established horn, keyboard and rhythm-section players. Its continued availability through reissues of Southern Comfort has preserved the recording for later generations of listeners exploring the band's instrumental work.