Carson (band)
Encyclopedia
Carson was an Australian blues-rock
and boogie rock
band, which formed in January 1970 in Melbourne as Carson County Band. 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
and Harvest Records
, 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 member, John Capek
had left by late 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. His replacement in Carson, Broderick Smith
, formed country rock
ers, The Dingoes
in 1973 and also had a successful solo career.
, performed blues-rock
and boogie rock
. Founders of Carson County Band were John Capek
on piano, vocals and keyboards (ex-Leo and Friends), Ian Ferguson on bass guitar and vocals, Greg "Sleepy" Lawrie on slide guitar and dobro (Creatures, Chocolate), and Tony Lunt on drums. Their debut single, "On the Highway", was issued in May on Rebel Records. In October they dropped the County Band from the name to avoid being confused as a country music
group. Capek left at the end of the year to join King Harvest and eventually moved to North America. He worked as a composer (often with Marc Jordan
), record producer and keyboardist both in Toronto, Canada and in Los Angeles.
Broderick Smith
(Adderley Smith Blues Band) replaced Capek, providing vocals and harmonica. Ian Winter also joined on guitar. The group released a second single, "Travelling South" in August on Havoc Records, Ferguson had already left in July to be replaced successively by Barry Sullivan and then Garry 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, 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, which reached No. 30 on the Go-Set
National Top 40. This was followed in November by their debut album, Blown on Harvest Records
produced by Rod Coe, which reached No. 14 on Go-Set Top 20 Albums.
Carson performed at the second Sunbury Pop Festival, on the Australia Day long weekend in late January 1973. Band members Winter and Ferguson 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
ers, The Dingoes
and later had a successful solo career.
Blues-rock
Blues rock is a hybrid musical genre combining bluesy improvisations over the 12-bar blues and extended boogie jams with rock and roll styles. The core of the blues rock sound is created by the electric guitar, piano, bass guitar and drum kit, with the electric guitar usually amplified through a...
and boogie rock
Boogie rock
Boogie rock is a music genre which came out of the hard heavy blues rock of the late 1960s. It tends to feature a repetitive driving rhythm in place of instrumental experimentation found in the more progressive blues-rock bands of the period.-Definitions:...
band, which formed in January 1970 in Melbourne as Carson County Band. They had a top 30 hit single on the Go-Set
Go-Set
Go-Set was the first Australian pop music newspaper, published weekly from 2 February 1966 to 24 August 1974, and was founded in Melbourne by Phillip Frazer, Peter Raphael and Tony Schauble...
National Top 40 with "Boogie" in September 1972. The group released their debut studio album, Blown, in November on EMI
EMI
The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...
and Harvest Records
Harvest Records
-References:* Harvest Records collectors guide ISBN 978-5-9622-0021-7...
, 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 member, John Capek
John Capek
-Biography:John Capek was born in Prague, Czech Republic, the son of a concert pianist and his wife, a survivor of Auschwitz. Capek moved with his family to Melbourne, Australia at the age of three.-Career:...
had left by late 1970 and relocated to North America by 1973 where he worked as a composer (often with Marc Jordan
Marc Jordan
Marc Jordan , is a Canadian singer-songwriter, record producer, session musician, and actor. Covering a wide variety of genres, he has written songs for a number of well-known artists, including Diana Ross, Rod Stewart, Cher, Bette Midler, and Josh Groban...
), record producer and keyboardist both in Toronto, Canada and in Los Angeles, United States. His replacement in Carson, Broderick Smith
Broderick Smith
Broderick Smith aka Brod Smith is an Australian singer-songwriter, harmonica, guitar and banjo player. He was a member of 1970s bands Carson and The Dingoes, 1980s Broderick Smith's Big Combo and performed solo...
, formed country rock
Country rock
Country rock is sub-genre of popular music, formed from the fusion of rock with country. The term is generally used to refer to the wave of rock musicians who began to record country-flavored records in the late 1960s and early 1970s, beginning with Bob Dylan and The Byrds; reaching its greatest...
ers, The Dingoes
The Dingoes
The Dingoes are an Australian country rock band initially active from 1973 to 1979, formed in Melbourne they relocated to the United States from 1976. Most stable line-up was John Bois on bass guitar, John Lee on drums, Broderick Smith on vocals and harmonica, Chris Stockley on guitar and Kerryn...
in 1973 and also had a successful solo career.
History
Carson formed in Melbourne in January 1970 as Carson County Band and, influenced by United States group Canned HeatCanned Heat
Canned Heat is a blues-rock/boogie rock band that formed in Los Angeles, California in 1965. The group has been noted for its own interpretations of blues material as well as for efforts to promote the interest in this type of music and its original artists...
, performed blues-rock
Blues-rock
Blues rock is a hybrid musical genre combining bluesy improvisations over the 12-bar blues and extended boogie jams with rock and roll styles. The core of the blues rock sound is created by the electric guitar, piano, bass guitar and drum kit, with the electric guitar usually amplified through a...
and boogie rock
Boogie rock
Boogie rock is a music genre which came out of the hard heavy blues rock of the late 1960s. It tends to feature a repetitive driving rhythm in place of instrumental experimentation found in the more progressive blues-rock bands of the period.-Definitions:...
. Founders of Carson County Band were John Capek
John Capek
-Biography:John Capek was born in Prague, Czech Republic, the son of a concert pianist and his wife, a survivor of Auschwitz. Capek moved with his family to Melbourne, Australia at the age of three.-Career:...
on piano, vocals and keyboards (ex-Leo and Friends), Ian Ferguson on bass guitar and vocals, Greg "Sleepy" Lawrie on slide guitar and dobro (Creatures, Chocolate), and Tony Lunt on drums. Their debut single, "On the Highway", was issued in May on Rebel Records. In October they dropped the County Band from the name to avoid being confused as a country music
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
group. Capek left at the end of the year to join King Harvest and eventually moved to North America. He worked as a composer (often with Marc Jordan
Marc Jordan
Marc Jordan , is a Canadian singer-songwriter, record producer, session musician, and actor. Covering a wide variety of genres, he has written songs for a number of well-known artists, including Diana Ross, Rod Stewart, Cher, Bette Midler, and Josh Groban...
), record producer and keyboardist both in Toronto, Canada and in Los Angeles.
Broderick Smith
Broderick Smith
Broderick Smith aka Brod Smith is an Australian singer-songwriter, harmonica, guitar and banjo player. He was a member of 1970s bands Carson and The Dingoes, 1980s Broderick Smith's Big Combo and performed solo...
(Adderley Smith Blues Band) replaced Capek, providing vocals and harmonica. Ian Winter also joined on guitar. The group released a second single, "Travelling South" in August on Havoc Records, Ferguson had already left in July to be replaced successively by Barry Sullivan and then Garry 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, they played two sets at the Mulwala Pop Festival, supporting head-liners Canned Heat and Stephen Stills
Stephen Stills
Stephen Arthur Stills is an American guitarist and singer/songwriter best known for his work with Buffalo Springfield and Crosby, Stills & Nash . He has performed on a professional level in several other bands as well as maintaining a solo career at the same time...
.
Smith spent part of 1972 recording solo material. Meanwhile Carson, with Smith returned, issued their next single "Boogie" in September, which reached No. 30 on the Go-Set
Go-Set
Go-Set was the first Australian pop music newspaper, published weekly from 2 February 1966 to 24 August 1974, and was founded in Melbourne by Phillip Frazer, Peter Raphael and Tony Schauble...
National Top 40. This was followed in November by their debut album, Blown on Harvest Records
Harvest Records
-References:* Harvest Records collectors guide ISBN 978-5-9622-0021-7...
produced by Rod Coe, which reached No. 14 on Go-Set Top 20 Albums.
Carson performed at the second Sunbury Pop Festival, on the Australia Day long weekend in late January 1973. Band members Winter and Ferguson 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
Country rock
Country rock is sub-genre of popular music, formed from the fusion of rock with country. The term is generally used to refer to the wave of rock musicians who began to record country-flavored records in the late 1960s and early 1970s, beginning with Bob Dylan and The Byrds; reaching its greatest...
ers, The Dingoes
The Dingoes
The Dingoes are an Australian country rock band initially active from 1973 to 1979, formed in Melbourne they relocated to the United States from 1976. Most stable line-up was John Bois on bass guitar, John Lee on drums, Broderick Smith on vocals and harmonica, Chris Stockley on guitar and Kerryn...
and later had a successful solo career.
Personnel
Listed alphabetically:- John CapekJohn Capek-Biography:John Capek was born in Prague, Czech Republic, the son of a concert pianist and his wife, a survivor of Auschwitz. Capek moved with his family to Melbourne, Australia at the age of three.-Career:...
– piano, vocals, keyboards (1970) - Mal Capewell – saxophone (1972–1973)
- Gary Clarke – bass guitar (1971–1973)
- Ian Ferguson – bass guitar, vocals (1970–1971)
- Greg Lawrie – slide guitarSlide guitarSlide guitar or bottleneck guitar is a particular method or technique for playing the guitar. The term slide refers to the motion of the slide against the strings, while bottleneck refers to the original material of choice for such slides: the necks of glass bottles...
, dobroDobroDobro is a registered trademark, now owned by Gibson Guitar Corporation and used for a particular design of resonator guitar.The name has a long and involved history, interwoven with that of the resonator guitar...
(1970–1973) - Mal Logan – keyboards (1971–1973)
- Tony Lunt – drums (1970–1973)
- Broderick SmithBroderick SmithBroderick Smith aka Brod Smith is an Australian singer-songwriter, harmonica, guitar and banjo player. He was a member of 1970s bands Carson and The Dingoes, 1980s Broderick Smith's Big Combo and performed solo...
– vocals, harmonica (1971–1973) - Barry Sullivan – bass guitar (1971–1973)
- Ian Winter – guitar (1971–1973)
Albums
- Blown (November 1972) EMIEMIThe EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...
, Harvest RecordsHarvest Records-References:* Harvest Records collectors guide ISBN 978-5-9622-0021-7... - On the Air (live album, April 1973) EMI, Harvest Records