He initially taught himself to play piano, but when The Beatles saw their first single, "I Want to Hold Your Hand", get radio airplay in the United States in mid-December 1963, Carlson became a major fan and decided to switch to drums. His mother gave him a Sonor drum kit for his 14th birthday, purchasing the kit from Ralph Nielsen Music (which was owned by Rick Nielsen's father). He began taking formal lessons. Being left-handed, Carlson became frustrated by having to constantly change the sticking instructions in his lesson book. He gave up formal lessons, and instead taught himself to play the drums by playing along with songs on the radio or jukebox. Seeing left-handed drummer Dennis Wilson play a right-hand drum kit at a Beach Boys concert inspired him to keep playing. He began attending live concerts just to watch the drummers, paying particular attention to Ringo Starr of The Beatles, Mitch Mitchell of The Jimi Hendrix Experience, and Charlie Watts of The Rolling Stones. He was particularly impressed by the drumming of Ginger Baker, co-founder of the British rock band Cream. From 1966 to 1968, Carlson played in a band called The Pagans with several other high school friends. The band released a single: The A-side was a cover of The Beatles' 1966 hit "Good Day Sunshine", and B-side a cover of Them "I Can Only Give You Everything." The single received local radio airplay on WCFL in Chicago and WROK in Rockford and the band sold about 1,500 copies at local record stores, making The Pagans hometown celebrities. The Pagans broke up, and in 1969 he played in another local band, Probe and the Lost Souls (which later changed its name to Albatross). Carlson enrolled at Rock Valley Junior College in 1969 to obtain an exemption to the draft. He and Robin Zander briefly were members of the same band at this time. Carlson also briefly toured in backup bands for Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley, and The Shirelles. Meanwhile, Rick Nielsen and Tom Petersson formed a band in 1969 and called it Fuse. Carlson dropped out of college and in 1971 moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, with Nielsen and Petersson. Fuse's lineup included former Nazz vocalist/keyboardist Robert "Stewkey" Antoni and drummer Thom Mooney, and (according to Carlos) now changed its name to Sick Man of Europe. Nielsen and Petersson took Sick Man of Europe (without Antoni or Mooney) on a tour of Europe in 1970.