Carson (band)

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title: "Carson (band)" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["australian-blues-musical-groups", "musical-groups-established-in-1970", "musical-groups-disestablished-in-1973", "musical-groups-from-victoria-(state)", "1970-establishments-in-australia", "1973-disestablishments-in-australia"] topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carson_(band)" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::data[format=table title="Infobox musical artist"]

FieldValue
nameCarson
aliasCarson County Band
originMelbourne, Victoria, Australia
genreBlues rock, boogie rock
years_active1970–1973
labelRebel, Havoc, EMI, Harvest
::

| name = Carson | image = | caption = | image_size = | alias = Carson County Band | origin = Melbourne, Victoria, Australia | genre = Blues rock, boogie rock | years_active = 1970–1973 | label = Rebel, Havoc, EMI, Harvest | website = | current_members = | past_members =

Carson were an Australian blues rock and boogie rock band, which formed in January 1970 as Carson County Band. As Carson, their classic lineup was Gary Clarke on bass guitar, Greg Lawrie on slide guitar and dobro, Mal Logan on keyboards, Tony Lunt on drums, Broderick Smith on vocals and harmonica and Ian Winter on guitar. They had a top 30 hit single on the Go-Set National Top 40 with "Boogie" in September 1972. The group released their debut studio album, Blown, in November on EMI/Harvest, which peaked at No. 14 on the Go-Set Top 20 Albums. Their performance at the second Sunbury Pop Festival in late January 1973 was issued as a live album, On the Air, in April, but the group had already disbanded.

Founding pianist and vocalist, John Capek had left by mid-1970 and relocated to North America by 1973 where he worked as a composer (often with Marc Jordan), record producer and keyboardist both in Toronto, Canada and in Los Angeles, United States. After Carson disbanded, Smith formed the country rock band the Dingoes in 1973 and also had a successful solo career. Broderick Smith died in 2023, aged 75.

History

Carson formed in Melbourne in January 1970 as the Carson County Band and, influenced by United States group Canned Heat, they performed blues rock and boogie rock. Founders of Carson County Band were John Capek on piano and vocals, Ian Ferguson on bass guitar and vocals, Greg "Sleepy" Lawrie on slide guitar and dobro (Creatures, Chocolate), Tony Lunt on drums. Other early members were Tony Enery on piano, Paul Lever on guitar, harmonica and vocals, and guest musician, Matt Taylor on guitar, harmonica and vocals. Their debut single, "On the Highway", was issued in May on Rebel Records. Capek left in mid-1970 to join King Harvest and moved to North America in 1973. He worked as a composer (often with Marc Jordan), record producer and keyboardist both in Toronto and in Los Angeles.

In October 1970 Carson dropped the County Band from their name to avoid being confused for a country music group.Ian Winter joined Carson on guitar at the beginning of 1971. Broderick Smith (ex-Adderley Smith Blues Band) joined in mid-year, providing vocals and harmonica. The group released a second single, "Travelling South" in August on Havoc Records, which was written by Lawrie. Ferguson left in July to be replaced successively by Barry Sullivan and then Gary Clarke. Mal Logan on keyboards joined later that year. Carson performed at the first Sunbury Pop Festival in late January 1972. On the Easter weekend, 31 March–2 April 1972, they played two sets at the Mulwala Pop Festival, supporting head-liners Canned Heat and Stephen Stills. Smith spent part of 1972 recording solo material.

Meanwhile, Carson, with Smith returned, issued their next single "Boogie" in September 1972, which reached No. 30 on the Go-Set National Top 40. It was co-written by Lawrie and Smith. This was followed in November by their debut album, Blown on Harvest produced by Rod Coe, which reached No. 14 on Go-Set Top 20 Albums. Michael Foster of The Canberra Times observed, "a Melbourne group of considerable ability and inventiveness, if still needing some more joint experience. I enjoyed [Lawrie]'s bottleneck guitar and found good listening in tracks such as 'Banana Power', 'Sunday in the City' and, nostalgically, 'Boogie'." Australian musicologist, Ian McFarlane, described it as a "powerful" recording, "full of free-flowing, bluesy hard rock".

Carson also performed at the second Sunbury Pop Festival, on the Australia Day long weekend in late January 1973. Ian Winter left soon after and by February, Carson had disbanded. A live recording of their Sunbury set, On the Air was released in April 1973. Smith was a founding member of country rock band, the Dingoes and later had a successful solo career. In 2020 Aztec Records issued an expanded version of On the Air with additional live tracks from performances at Melbourne club Thumpin' Tum in August 1970, Mulwala Rock Festival (April 1972) and at Melbourne's Festival Hall (November 1972). Broderick Smith died in 2023, aged 75.

Personnel

Listed chronologically:

  • John Capek – piano, vocals, keyboards (1970)
  • Ian Ferguson – bass guitar, vocals (1970–1971)
  • Greg Lawrie – slide guitar, dobro (1970–1973)
  • Tony Lunt – drums (1970–1973)
  • Tony Enery – piano (1970)
  • Paul Lever – guitar, harmonica, vocals (1970)
  • Ian Winter – guitar (1971–1973)
  • Broderick Smith – vocals, harmonica (1971–1973)
  • Barry Sullivan – bass guitar (1971)
  • Gary Clarke – bass guitar (1971–1973)
  • Mal Logan – keyboards (1971–1973)
  • Mal Capewell – saxophone (1972–1973)

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LineData = color:album layer:back at:01/11/1972 at:01/04/1973 color:single at:01/05/1970 at:01/08/1971

BarData = bar:Smith text:Broderick Smith bar:Capewell text:Mal Capewell bar:Lawrie text:Greg Lawrie bar:Lever text:Paul Lever bar:Winter text:Ian Winter bar:Capek text:John Capek bar:Enery text:Tony Enery bar:Logan text:Mal Logan bar:Ferguson text:Ian Ferguson bar:Sullivan text:Barry Sullivan bar:Clarke text:Gary Clarke bar:Lunt text:Tony Lunt

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Discography

Albums

::data[format=table title="List of albums, with Australian chart positions"] | Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | AUS | Blown | On the Air | Travelling Highway Blues | |---|---|---|---|---|---|---| | | 19 | | | | | | | | - | | | | | | | | - | | | | | | ::

Singles

::data[format=table title="List of singles, with selected chart positions"] | Year | Title | Peak chart positions | Album | AUS | "On the Highway" | "Travelling South" | "Boogie" | |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| | 1970 | - | | | | | | | | 1971 | - | | | | | | | | 1972 | 29 | Blown | | | | | | ::

References

;General

  • Note: Archived [on-line] copy has limited functionality.
  • Note: [on-line] version of The Who's Who of Australian Rock was established at White Room Electronic Publishing Pty Ltd in 2007 and was expanded from the 2002 edition. As from, September 2010 the [on-line] version shows an 'Internal Service Error' and was no longer available. ;Specific

References

  1. Smith, Craig. (1997). "Carson County Band, The".
  2. Smith, Craig. (28 January 1998). "Carson".
  3. "Song Catalogue Search Results for 'Travelling South'". [[APRA AMCOS]] (Australasian Performing Right Association, Australasian Mechanical Copyright Owners Society).
  4. "Song Catalogue Search Results for 'Boogie'". APRA AMCOS (Australasian Performing Right Association, Australasian Mechanical Copyright Owners Society).
  5. Foster, Michael. (26 February 1973). "Turntable with Michael Foster". [[The Canberra Times]].
  6. Cashmere, Paul. (28 January 2020). "Classic Carson ''On the Air'' Released On CD For The First Time".
  7. (1 May 2023). "Vale Broderick Smith at 75".
  8. Varvaris, Mary. "Aus Music Legend Broderick Smith of Carson & the Dingoes Passes Away".
  9. Kent, David. (1993). "Australian Chart Book 1970–1992". Australian Chart Book.
  10. McFarlane, [https://web.archive.org/web/20040823035332/http://www.whammo.com.au/encyclopedia.asp?articleid=172 'Carson'] entry. Archived from [http://www.whammo.com.au/encyclopedia.asp?articleid=172 the original] on 23 August 2004. Retrieved 28 April 2011.
  11. "Carson". [[Australian Rock Database]]. Passagen.se (Magnus Holmgren).
  12. (2002). "Carson". MilesAgo.
  13. "Search results for "Carson"". Waverley Press.
  14. (2002). "Rock Isle (Mulwala) Festival, Albury NSW, April 1972". Ice Productions.
  15. Nimmervoll, Ed. "Carson". Howlspace – The Living History of Our Music (Ed Nimmervoll). White Room Electronic Publishing Pty Ltd.
  16. "Who's Who of Australian Rock / Compiled by Chris Spencer, Zbig Nowara & Paul McHenry". [[National Library of Australia]].

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australian-blues-musical-groupsmusical-groups-established-in-1970musical-groups-disestablished-in-1973musical-groups-from-victoria-(state)1970-establishments-in-australia1973-disestablishments-in-australia