Carson

In the annals of Melbourne rock Carson, along with Billy Thorpe and the Aztecs and Chain, are central players in the fertile boogie blues which emerged at the end of the Sixties, into the Seventies. What the Aztecs managed to focus through the imagination of guitarist Lobby Lloyde, Carson built on, and the Matt Taylor version of Chain rammed home with the set of songs represented by 'Towards The Blues'. While Billy Thorpe went off in his own enigmatic direction, and that Chain line-up managed to almost become pop stars, Carson were always true to the form, a rock band known for its musicians' improvisations within a blues framework. A lot of members came and went around slide guitar supremo 'Sleepy' Greg Lawrie and drummer Tony Lunt. Like the latter Chain, Carson became an occasion home for the top musicians of the day. Occasionally they augmented the traditional rock guiater line-up with a brass section.

Carson started life in January 1970 as the Carson County Band, and released one single ('On The Highway') under that name before dropping the 'County' lest they be thought of as playing "country". In June 1971 they were joined by ex-Adderly Smith Blues Band singer and harmonica player Broderick Smith, possessed of a powerful voice and a strong stage presence. With Smith, the band signed to EMI's "progressive" Harvest label and in November 72 released their album 'Blown', the title descriptive of the loose, jammed, spur-of-the moment performance. By then Chain had fractured and Billy Thorpe and the Aztecs had moved on to 'Most People I Know'. Carson's album was eagerly received and they had that field of music to themselves. Their manager however had seen singer Broderick Smith's 'pop star' potential and signed Broderick to a solo recording contract with another record label. 'Blown' was preceeded by a solo single, and was followed by a second single in March 1973. By then Carson had broken up. The group's Sunbury 1973 performance was released as a second album, 'On The Air'.

If the pre-Matt Taylor Chain album 'Chain Live' represents the beginning of this period of Australian music, 'Blown' represents the end. Broderick Smith went on to join the Dingoes, while the rest of the Carson alumni, including Greg Lawrie, melted into the fabric of Australian rock.