It’s All Meat “It’s All Meat”
It’s All Meat were a late 60s/early 70s band that hailed from Toronto and released this excellent album in 1970 (Columbia). Prior to that, It’s All Meat had been known as The Underworld. The Underworld released a superb, crude garage single (“Go Away”/”Bound” – the label is Regency) in 1968 and also recorded some fine unreleased material captured on acetate. As mentioned before, some of the members of The Underworld would form It’s All Meat. In 1969 this new group would release their debut 45, “Feel It” coupled with “I Need Some Kind of Definitive Commitment.” The A-side combined MC5 energy with New York Dolls-style swagger and features plenty of feedback and great guitar breaks. It’s one of the great proto-punkers.
Their album was released the following year and feartured 8 fresh original numbers written by drummer Rick McKIM and keyboard player/lead vocalist Jed MacKAY. There are a bunch of good, solid stonesy garage rockers that form the axis of this lp: “Make Some Use Of Your Friends,” “Roll My Own,” “You Brought Me Back To My Senses,” and “You Don’t Know The Time You Waste.” The latter track would be released as the group’s second and final single but “Roll My Own” and “Make Some Use Of Your Friends” were just as good, featuring fine psychedelic guitar work and raw vocals. Other note worthy tracks flirted with blues (“Self-Confessed Lover”) and folk-rock (“If Only”) but the lp’s brightest moments were its two 9-minute marathon compositions. “Crying Into A Deep Lake” was full-blown Doors psychedelia with spacey keyboards and spooky Jim Morrison influenced vocals. The other lengthy track, “Sunday Love,” sounds like a strange Lou Reed/John Cale concoction with lots a great psychedelic guitar noise and soft folk-like passages sprinkled with light garage keyboards. So while these last two tracks are very long, they never wear out their welcome and are required listening for both garage and psych fans. The album’s production teeters between a primitive recording sound and the typical major label gloss, making it just right.
It’s All Meat is a fine, consistent trip all the way thru. It’s one of the best late period (really late) garage rock albums I know of. The album’s hard rock and proto-punk sounds give it a nice, visceral edge. It’s All Meat was reissued in 2000 by Hallucinations though originals are not hard to come by either.
“Make Some Use Of Your Friends”
Original Vinyl | 1970 | Columbia | search ebay ]
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McKim and MacKay weren’t in Underworld, but produced their much sought after single, “Go Away”. From all accounts, It’s All Meat played it loud, and that’s definitely the best way to listen to them! Totally agree about “Make Some Use Of Your Friends” and “Roll My Own” – they must have been sledgehammers live! The demo of “Pity In The City” on the CD version of the Hallucinations disc (it was slated to be their third single) shows that even when they were goofing, they were powerfully tight. It seems that their slambam energy just wasn’t in sync with the laidback hippie lets-go-to-the-country vibe of the time, and they couldn’t hold it together long enough to find a wider audience. Too bad. A real gem from the era.
Phew! Two great trax there. Feel It should have been a 60’s garage anthem but probably missed the boat coming out as it did in ’69. Woodstock material it ain’t. Nuggets / Psychotic Reaction type pumping gold it is.
“though originals are not hard to come by either”
Unnnnnnn, I’m from Toronto and in the 25 years I have been collecting this stuff, I have seen this LP only two times. It is super super rare (and great) and hence the big price tag. Sure you can see them popping up on Ebay but who wants to take a second morgage out on their home ?
Cheers !
I have the VOID 18 orange wax, unplayed, opened gatefold, vinyls are mint mint, sleeve is 8.5.10. email me summerof09 at live.com if interested.
Gene & Louder Than Milk,
You are correct about the live act. I saw it at least 30 times in 1969. Loud. Very loud. The Who probably sounded like this a few years before when they played clubs. Louder than anything one is likely to see in a club these days. And, unfortunately, probably too loud for many folks tastes back then.
Bovine. Hmm…