Hard Meat

British progressive rock group, founded 1968 in Birmingham, disbanded 1971.

Featuring brothers Mick Dolan (guitars, lead vocals), Steve Dolan (bass, vocals) and Mick Carless (drums), Hard Meat came together in late 1968 and came to the attention of producer Sandy Roberton who in turn brought the band to Chris Blackwell, founder of Island Records. The band issued a single ‘Rain’ (an excellent cover of The Beatles’ classic song) b/w ‘Burning Up Years’ on the label and subsequently recorded an album intended for release on Island. However, for various reasons, the band were dropped from Island’s roster and the excellent recordings failed to gain a release. In 1970 Hard Meat signed with the UK division of Warner Brothers and released their self-titled debut album soon after. The album and the band’s live performances in the UK and the USA (where they opened for acts such as The Flying Burrito Brothers) attracted enough critical praise and attention for a follow up album, the excellent ‘Through A Window’ to be released by Warner at the end of 1970. However, by the beginning of 1971 the band broke up leaving a legacy of two fine, but sadly commercially unsuccessful albums.