David A. Carson

David A. Carson is a music historian and former Michigan disc jockey whose work documents the sounds and institutions that shaped Detroit broadcasting and rock. Grit, Noise, and Revolution traces the city's rock history through the 1960s and 1970s, connecting its rhythm-and-blues inheritance with garage bands and nationally influential performers. University of Michigan Press published the 416-page book under its regional imprint. Carson follows the MC5, the Stooges, Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels, SRC, the Bob Seger System, the Amboy Dukes, and Grand Funk Railroad, while placing their careers beside Motown and the city's earlier blues culture. He also pays attention to venues, radio stations, promoters, festivals, record labels, and audiences, treating the local scene as an ecosystem rather than a parade of famous names. Photographs help preserve the people and places behind the narrative. Carson's earlier Rockin' Down the Dial: The Detroit Sound of Radio complements this history by examining regional broadcasting. Together, the books explain how airplay, performance spaces, musicians, and listeners helped give Detroit a distinct musical identity.