History
Along with Billy Thorpe and the Aztecs and Chain, Carson was one of the leading blues bands on the early 1970s Melbourne scene. Other blues bands on the Melbourne scene at the time included Genesis, Bulldog and Adderley Smith Blues Band. The original version of Carson formed as Carson County Band in January 1970.

By late 1970, Carson had dropped the County Band part of the name to avoid the country image with which the band was being tagged. Prior to that, Carson County Band issued a single on the Rebel label, `On the Highway'/`Resting Place' which was a good example of the band's clattering Chicago blues/Canned Heat-influenced sound. Even at that early stage, Greg Lawrie was one of the foremost slide guitar players in the country. Around the same time (May 1970), Lawrie and Capek collaborated with Genesis members Matt Taylor, Tim Piper and Yuk Harrison, plus Trevor Courtney, on a one-off recording session as The Meating. The resultant single, `Bad Luck Feeling'/`Back Home' on Rebel (August 1970), was another fine example of Australian hard blues.

Capek left Carson at the end of 1970; he went on to join King Harvest, Flite and Hannagan. He issued a single on Philips in 1972, `Blue Jean Baby'/`Annabelle', after which he left to work overseas. According to the Who's Who of Australian Rock, Capek has had his songs recorded by Rod Stewart, Chicago, Toto, Manhattan Transfer, Don Johnson, Olivia Newton-John, Dan Hill, Marc Jordan, the Little River Band, John Farnham, Patty Austin and Diana Ross. His songs have also appeared on the soundtracks to the overseas feature films Cocktail and Youngblood, plus a trio of Pino Amenta's Australian films, Boulevard of Broken Dreams (1988), Heaven Tonight (1990) and What the Moon Saw (1990). In 1991, Capek issued a solo album, Indaba.

In the meantime, Broderick Smith (vocals, harp, ex-Adderley Smith Blues Band, Sundown) and Ian `Willy' Winter (guitar; ex-Brothers Grimm, Five Just Men, Pigface) joined Carson in time to record a single for the Havoc label, `Travelling South'/ `Moonshine', which came out in August 1971. Havoc reissued the single in November 1972, by which time Carson had signed to EMI/Harvest. Reissue specialists Raven included `Travelling South' on the Golden Miles: Australian Progressive Rock 1969–1974 compilation (1994).

In July 1971, Ferguson left to join Island, and his place was taken by Barry Sullivan (ex-Chain) for three months. When Sullivan left to join Capek and ex-King Harvest singer Leo De Castro in Flite, Gary Clarke (ex-King Harvest) became Carson's new bass player. In November, Mal Logan (keyboards; ex-Healing Force) also joined. By that stage Carson was celebrated as one of the great jamming bands of the day. Occasionally the band was augmented by a three-piece brass section.

In March 1972, Ian Winter left Carson to join Daddy Cool as second guitarist. With the break-up of Daddy Cool in August, Winter returned to the Carson fold. During early 1972, the band's manager, Rhett Walker, decided to promote Broderick Smith as a solo artist. Smith recorded two singles for Image, `Goin' on Down to the End of the World'/ `She's Gone' (May 1972) and `Yesterday It Rained'/ `About Life' (March 1973). All four tracks had been written and produced by Brian Cadd (Smith did co-write `About Life').

Carson's first commercial success came with the single `Boogie Part One'/`Boogie Part Two', which reached #30 in September 1972. It was followed in November by the powerful Blown album, which was full of free-flowing, bluesy hard rock. By that stage sax player Mal Capewell (ex-Dr Kandy's Third Eye, Company Caine) had joined the touring line-up. Capewell had made a name for himself in the UK as a member of such bands as Dada and Graham Bond's Holy Magick. Carson appeared at Sunbury 1973, over the January Australia Day weekend, and then promptly broke up. The Carson track `Friday Night Groove' appeared on Mushroom's triple live album of the event, The Great Australian Rock Festival Sunbury 1973 (April 1973). EMI/Harvest issued the band's Sunbury set later in the year as the live album On the Air.

Broderick Smith formed The Dingoes with Kerryn Tolhurst and Chris Stockley. Sleepy Greg Lawrie appeared on the Chain album Two of a Kind, as well as playing on Matt Taylor's albums Straight as a Die and Music, plus his hit single `I Remember When I Was Young'. Lawrie then turned up in Gulliver's Travels, Broderick Smith's Hired Hands, The Whittle Family and Last Chance Band. Mal Logan formed Alta Mira, then joined The Dingoes and the Renée Geyer Band.