Audio CD
ID: AVSCD077
Number of Discs: 1
Release Date: November 10, 2016
Format: Audio CD
Label: Aztec Records
Aztec Records continues the Expanded CD reissue programme of landmark Australian albums with the classic 1972 LP from the country’s original Kings of Boogie – Carson.
Blown arrived at a time when the Australian musical landscape was intensifying with ground-breaking albums from the likes of Chain, Spectrum, Billy Thorpe and The Aztecs, Daddy Cool, Buffalo, Country Radio etc. It was a vibrant era when Australian bands were stripping away old inhibitions and exploring their roots in order to expand their horizons. As part of that push towards the roots of rock – the blues – Carson helped to establish the blueprint for the pub rock scene that was to follow.
Slide guitar master Sleepy Greg Lawrie formed Carson in February 1970. He’d already tasted notoriety as a member of 1960s band The Creatures whose single ‘Ugly Thing’ is now justly celebrated as one of the most sublime slices of garage-punk mania ever. As the 1970s dawned Lawrie was determined to form a blues band. As Carson County Band they issued the single ‘On The Highway’, a clatteringly good example of the band’s earthy Chicago blues / Canned Heat-influenced sound. Lawrie also collaborated with blues singer extraordinaire Matt Taylor as Meating, issuing the single ‘Bad Luck Feeling’, one of the purest examples of early 1970s Australian hard blues.
With the arrival of singer/harp player Broderick Smith and lead guitarist Ian ‘Willie’ Winter in 1971, the Carson sound coalesced into a unique whole. They were now dispensing cookin’ hot blues, powerhouse boogie and hard driving rock’n’roll at will. Carson excelled in the live situation, becoming rock festival mainstays and entertaining enthusiastic audiences across the land. The singles ‘Travelling South’ and the Top 10 hit ‘Boogie (Part One)’ paved the way for Blown.
Recorded at the legendary T.C.S. studios in Melbourne, the album was full of dexterous, free-flowing, bluesy hard rock, with impeccable musicianship throughout. The centrepiece is undoubtedly the high powered ‘A Boogie’, a radically different cut from the familiar single version with a taut, razor-sharp quality to the guitar riffs. The band was known to pound this tune into the dirt for 10 minutes or more on stage, creating a monster groove in the process.
Beautifully packaged in a Deluxe Digi-pak, digitally remastered audio by Gil Matthews, it sounds better than ever. Included is a colour booklet with rare photos and liner notes by noted Australian Rock writer Ian McFarlane... it's a must-have for fans of Classic Aussie Rock.