W.O.C.K On Vinyl: The Meating - Bad Luck Feeling (1970) Single

 

Before things get too serious here at Rock On Vinyl, I thought it might be fun to post a song / album at the end of each month, that could be categorized as being either Weird, Obscure, Crazy or just plain Korny.

The earliest Carson recordings date from 1970. As Carson County Band, they issued a single on the independent Rebel label, 'On The Highway' b/w 'Resting Place' (August, 1970). The clattering A-side was a good example of the band's earthy Chicago blues / Canned Heat-influenced sound. 

During May, Greg 'Sleepy' Laurie and John Capek, also collaborated with Genesis members Matt Taylor (vocals, harp), Tim Piper (guitar) and John 'Yuk' Harrison (bass), plus drummer Trevor Courtney, on a one-off recording session as 'The Meating'.

The resultant single, 'Bad Luck Feeling' b/w 'Back Home', also appeared on the Rebel label in August, 'Bad Luck Feeling' remains one of the purest examples of early 1970's Australian hard blues. It highlights Taylor's voice, full of resignation and regret ("Bad luck feeling in my life / It's a cut that just won't heal"), set in counterpoint to Piper and Sleepy's diamond-hard interplay of acoustic guitar/electric slide guitar modes. [extract from Aztec's expanded 'Blown' liner notes by Ian MacFarlane. 2018]

The A side is available on Raven's excellent Carson retrospective "Travelling Highway Blues" However the B side "Back Home" had never appeared anywhere else, until recently when Aztec Records made it available on their expanded release of Carson's album 'Blown' in 2016.

For a more in depth coverage of the Meating and the evolution of  Broderick Smith's band Carson, take a look at Harmonica's Riff Raff's blog 

So, this month's WOCK post pays tribute to the very rare and Obscure recording made by the Meating, an the early inception of the better known blues Aussie band - Carson.

I have included both MP3 (320kps) rips (taken from the 45) and FLACs (taken from the Aztec CD)

Meating were:

Greg 'Sleepy' Lawrie - Bottleneck Guitar

John Capek - Piano

Matt Taylor - Vocals & Harp

Tim Piper - Guitar

John 'Yuk' Harrison - Bass

Trevor Courtney - Drums

Download Here  (60Mb) New Link 18/11/2024