Wayne E. Roworth - It’s All Meat Interview
What would you and your friends do for fun growing up? Who were some of your earliest influences in your more formative years?
I lived in a small town called Maple some miles north of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. A typical self sufficient town with a few churches, elementary schools, small stores and a community center with a bowling alley. I remember when I was about 10 we used to, after school, get on our bikes and ride out to a barn in a local farmers field and chase the girls for a kiss. Every Friday night I would work as a “pin boy” at the bowling alley where they did not have automatic pin placement. You had to be careful when setting the pins by hand because some old ladies could not count and they would throw a bowling ball at you while you were setting the pins up! I had a 45 record player in my bedroom and would play a lot of The Beatles, The Doors, Jimi Hendrix and The Who. While learning how to play guitar I would used a self teaching album released by The Ventures where you could learn how to play the chords to each song like Walk Don’t Run. I took it further to learn the lead by ear. I discovered I could move on to more difficult popular songs and could learn them by ear as well.
When and where did you see your very first concert? When did you realize you wanted to spend your time pursuing music? Did you participate in any groups, or projects prior to IAM?
1965 The Beatles performing at Maple Leaf Gardens, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. You could not hear a damn thing for the girls screaming so loud. If you covered your ears tightly you could hear the bass and kick drum. I went on to see Jimi Hendrix, Joe Walsh, Phil Collins and many more at that venue. I guess there really wasn’t a specific time. It was in my blood since I got my first guitar at age eleven. I would hole up in my bedroom for hours every day trying to replicate what I heard on my record player. After awhile I would search the neighborhood for anyone who wanted to play music with me. My Dad became interested in playing and he bought a used Rickenbacker 12 string. I played that guitar on the IAM album. I was only 18 when I joined IAM. I played in local bands and bands formed in high school prior to that. They were all cover songs in cover bands. I could not find musicians with any skill levels matching mine until I hooked up with the Meat.
How did you initially meet your bandmates and what were your first impressions of everyone? What inspired you guys to first start the group and what were those early jam sessions like?
I think I was playing a 1969 Gibson Custom Gold Top and was 18 years old when I answered an ad in the Toronto Star paper for a guitarist. Jed MacKay, keyboard player, lead vocalist and Rick McKim drummer were forming a band. I showed up with both guitars at a church somewhere in Toronto. We jammed a bit then Jed wanted me to improvise on a song he and Rick had written called “Crying Into The Deep Lake”. For some reason I picked up my Dad’s Ric and picked off a melody in G. Jed said later that “moody” picking landed me the spot. I was the last member to join. My lower frequency Les Paul was a good contrast to Norm White’s Stratocaster. I loved Rick Aston’s nylon strings on his Rickenbacker bass. Rick McKim was one of the best drummers I have ever played with and I have played with some good ones such as Shawn Fitchter who is now with Tim McGraw. We all seemed to get along very well and all were very good improvisers to the music written by Mackay and McKim.
I talked my parents into me leaving school to become a full time musician. The group was the brainchild of keyboardist and lead singer Jed MacKay and percussionist Rick McKim. They were the co-writers of all IAM lyrics and music. They were looking for musicians who where not just great players but how their instruments uniquely sounded and how the chemistry between them sounded. We also all got along really well. I don’t think there was a band anywhere who had the sound IAM had. No one but the fans knew what it was or what to do with it. Before its time is an understatement. We really did not “jam” that much. Every rehearsal had purpose and structure. Jed and Rick would come with a song. We would hear it on piano or Farfisa with the drums and each one of us would write a part on the fly. Suggestions and fine tuning went along with that. There was no bringing it home to “bone up”. It was all done at rehearsals.
When and where did you guys make your live performance debut? The band released one legendary LP in ‘70 on Columbia records. Tell me about writing and recording that album and what the overall vision and approach was for those tunes.
Played the Cosmic Home club in north Toronto constantly as our home base. I remember Norm stabbing the headstock of his Strat into the white ceiling tiles and bits of tile would fall on people. He also used the mic stand as a slide, moving the guitar neck on the chrome pole. I remember Rick McKim used to hit his knuckles on the snare rim causing them to bleed. I have blood in one of my old guitar cases! After one gig there me and Norm got into my 1961 Comet and to our surprise there was a blonde in the back seat. She said she just wanted to hang with us, darn our socks, etc. Well she hung with us but I don’t remember my socks getting mended! Opened for “Muddy Waters” to a crowd of 5,000 at the Rock Pile an old Masonic Temple on Yonge & Davenport in Toronto. I saw Stevie Ray Vaughn play the same stage there in ’83 and it brought back memories. I remember that was our first large crowd, around 5,000, where we played “Feel It”. The crowd went crazy for our material and were pretty quiet for good ol Muddy. Before the album was recorded at RCA Studios in Toronto we were constantly rehearsing almost 7 days a week in addition to playing out.
Recorded “Feel It” at Eastern Sound Studios with “I need Some Kind Of Definite Commitment Baby as the “B” side. I think I wrote the guitar run for Feel It on the Gibson Les Paul Gold Top at the studio. It was my last time I used it before trading it in for a Gibson SG Custom. We were contacted by Jack London, formerly of Jack London and the Sparrows who took on the job of managing us. Some of the Sparrows went on to become Steppenwolf. Jack secured our Columbia record deal. He supplied the band with 100w double stack Marshalls. The writing of the album was mostly completed at rehearsals and fine tuning at the live performances. We recored the album live with only piano and vocals overdubbed. I remember Jed saying to me when I first arrived at the studio he wanted me to sing “Self Confessed Lover”. I never sang any of our songs live previously and it caught me off guard. I rehearsed in the men’s restroom! It always amazed me how quickly we got things done back then. The album was recorded in less than a week.
Would you mind walking me through some of the backstory to tracks such as “Roll My Own”, “If Only” and “Crying Into The Deep Lake”? What eventually happened to the band after ‘70?
The songs on the album were written over a period of two years, or so before we recorded them - only Self-Confessed Lover pre-dated the band.The only “vision” we had for the album - and the Feel It single - was to showcase the various facets of the Meat. And of course we all drew our inspiration from a variety of sources. We worked out all of the songs with repeated rehearsals and performances so we could minimize the (expensive) time in the studio it would take to record them. As I recall, we recorded pretty well all the instrumental tracks in two sessions, and vocals and leads in another session. We were a tight, pummeling band rhythmically and really wanted the record to reflect that, plus our other sides. That’s why we put PLAY IT LOUD in caps on the cover - we were a loud band with power. I think the record got that across, particularly if it’s played loud! (I’ve always felt the solo in Deep Lake should’ve been mixed more forward, but was outvoted on that!) Canada had a real shitty musical environment. No credentials, no recognition and no marketing plan to penetrate the US market. Of course the US market did not want to be penetrated. Canada leaned on the British market for its inspiration. We did not have a lot of money coming in to support us full time and eventually you have to get jobs to live. The kicker was when we showed up at the warehouse for one of our last rehearsals all of our new equipment was missing. We figured Jack London had something to do with it. The irony of the band is we received no recognition for that album at the time. The single Feel It was covered by ? And the Mysterians. As time went by new fans from all over the world have been talking about the album. Timing is everything. At least the surviving band members are soaking it up as we go along. Band members Rick Aston and Norm White passed away early in life late 70’s early 80’s.
Did you continue to write and record music after IAM?
I have been in dozens of bands since IAM. Played mostly the Southeastern US. Took on the country genre about 15 years ago. Played at CMA Nashville in 2013. I never wrote full songs while in IAM but did start to about 30 years ago. Have hundreds now. Recorded In Tampa, FL under the name Chrome Yellow which produced 2 albums. Recorded at Darkhorse Studios just outside of Nashville in Leipers Fork. Freddy Wall, guitarist for Robert Palmer produced that album. Shawn Fitchter played drums. I currently have all of my music on TAXI.com an independent A&R company. I can send you some links if you like. I write, record all instruments and produce all tracks.
Is there anything else you would like to further share with the readers?
Early in our career we used to haul our gear in Rick Aston’s VW bus which broke down a lot I remember it breaking down on the 400 heading to Barrie, Ontario somewhere. We did make the gig. Don’t know how with no cell phones etc.
