Joe MeekJoe Meek [csr037] (2004)

Foreword | by Frank M. Young

Joe Meek's story is that of a man who triumphed over obstacles. Whether these obstacles were the repressive, conformist record labels and studios of pre-Beatles Britain, or not being able to sing in key, read music, or play an instrument, the producer/songwriter's apparent motto was "never say never."
As these, er, remarkable songwriting demos show, Meek had a definite ear for a catchy tune. He could also create simple, clever turns of pop-song phrase. Unlike, say, Carole King or Burt Bacharach, Joe couldn't convey his songs in a clean, clear, easy-to-get manner.

He could wail like a banshee, bang on pots and pans, stomp the floorboards and turn up the reverb to 11. Meek did all this, and more, whenever he got the notion to create a new popular song for one of his recording acts.

It was up to his associates with more conventional musical talent--David Adams, Geoff Goddard, arranger Charles Blackwell, and future heavy-metal icon Ritchie Blackmore--to translate Joe's caterwauling into structured, AABA hit material.

Meek can be a winning vocalist, as evinced here by his bouncy-creepy demo of "He's All Mine." His was the talent of just missing the note, sometimes by a hair. What he lacked in accuracy, he made up for--in spades--in over-the-top vocal dramatics. At times, he sounds like a tent-revival preacher about to talk in tongues.

Given Meek's hair-trigger temper, and his increasing tendency to fly into rages, I don't imagine it was any Sunday picnic for Adams, Goddard, et al to be handed off a typical Joe Meek demo. Just getting at what Joe heard in his head, in the first place, would have been a challenge.

Meek was fond of singing along to totally inappropriate backing tracks to other records. Sometimes he'd slow them down, sometimes he'd play them Chipmunk-fast, jamming wrong chord sequences and phrasings over the pre-fab backgrounds he fished out of the chaos at his home studio.

Meek did work with Adams and Goddard, and you can hear him working with Adams on the song "As Time Goes By" here, apparently in a good mood and receptive to his partner's ideas. For every peaceful moment such as this, there may have been 20 Yosemite Sam-esque flipouts. Meek was an unpredictable soul, to say the least.

Though Meek's otherworldly wailings would've never seen release back in the day, to modern ears his vocal stylings are pretty amazing. There is passion in his singing, lots of passion--a hint of madness, a soupcon of pathos and an unmistakable pride and sense of humor.

To enjoy Joe Meek's demos does require a sense of humor, and an appreciation of the absurd. Out of these moans and groans came the likes of "Telstar," a global chart-topper that also made a pre-Beatles hit in the US. A producer of daring, innovation and sometimes surprising grace, Joe Meek the singer was a different beast entirely. To this Mr. Hyde of pop, I respectfully bow my head, tip my hat, and brace myself for the music we are all about to hear.

- Frank M. Young

--------------------------------------------------------

A Space Man in the Music Industry | by Blair Sterrett

I can almost guarantee, that a film will made about the life of Joe Meek! The elements are all there! - An unlikely misfit with all the odds against him, yet possessing a very unique vision, and an unrestrained passion for his art, followed by innovation, paranoia, schizophrenia, ghosts, singing aliens, oddball affiliations, strange inventions, alternative life styles, rock & roll, success, fame, recognition, utter failure, and later a life which led to murder and suicide! Joe Meek represents a very extreme human existence on all levels! And the more I read and learn about it, the more bizarre and amazing it gets!!! Just the fact alone that a tone deaf, musically un-inclined, eccentric, recording producer was churning out hit records from his bedroom, and making significant waves on the music charts, is a tall tale in itself! Andy Partridge of XTC, pretty much summed up the phenomenon with the statement: Meek spoke to the dead and heard music from other planets, making #1 hit records in his kitchen.

Joe was one of the most unique, and unusual characters in rock music history! And no matter what is said or believed about the legend of Meek, its true that we owe much of how music is recorded and produced today because of his example. He seemed to break every known convention and rule of the record engineering profession, with his compulsive experimentation, and unusual control freak ideas. Most of his innovations are probably taken for granted today, now that most of his techniques and recording strategies are built in options on current recording devices.

If youre familiar with the music of Joe Meek, and in particular his hit composition Telstar, then listening to these demos is a very surreal and amazing experience by comparison! This collection could almost be titled, "The History of Telstar", with several different composition demos of the track, including one with actual lyrics!!! DIY musician Joe Tepperman of the band GST Mugwump, and member of Ego Plum s Ebola Music Orchestra, once recalled crying when listening to Telstar (after comparing it to a demo of the recording). - It reminded me of how magical music really is, and the power that it can possess! Joe Meek probably had no idea of how beautiful it was going to be! Tepperman mused during a phone conversation. He was probably just trying to make something that sounded spooky and outerspacey (like many of his other recordings), and ended up with something accidentally beautiful and even majestic! Telstar is really weird, yet very beautiful by conventional standards, and its extremely rare that something so unique and bizarre would become such a huge hit! Tepperman ended by concluding that the success of Telstar is due to the fact that its Everything to Everyone!

At long last these rare recordings (void of copyright) are more carefully documented and accessible to fans and collectors! After all, what good is music if most people arent even going to get a chance to hear it during their existence? May this release add more intrigue and insight to the unfathomable mind and mystery of the legend that is Meek!

- Blair Sterrett

For more info and more detailed documentation on Joe Meek please check out the very recommended Songs in The Key of Z: The Curious World of Outsider Music by Irwin Chusid and "Creative Music Production: Joe Meek's Bold Techniques" by Barry Cleveland.

--------------------------------------------------------

Additional Notes

Special thanks to Blair Sterrett and Frank Young for source material and words, Jeff Robinson for artwork, Irwin Chusid for assistance, Otis Fodder for organizing the release and most of all, Joe Meek for the music.

This content has been posted for your personal enjoyment, entertainment, and education and is for archival and research purposes only and should not be redistributed for profit.

Check out more information about this recording on it's Comfort Stand release page.

This item is part of the collection: Comfort Stand

Author: Joe Meek
Date: 2004-00-00 00:00:00
Keywords: Beyond Classification

Creative Commons license: Public Domain

Individual Files

Write a review Reviews

Downloaded 48,294 times Average Rating:

Reviewer: Maury Brunner - - July 25, 2007
Subject: available elsewhere

all of these tracks are available elsewhere, mostly in the United Kingdom

Joe Meek was nothing but a wacko, like an early whacked-out version of Phil Spector

Except Spector knew how to arrange and record songs

Reviewer: Benjamin Taylor Sisson - - March 29, 2007
Subject: Very Interesting

I recently did a portrait of Joe Meek for the band Matmos and this collection of recordings was great for getting into the mind of Joe Meek. I'm glad it's been put out there for all of us to hear. Many thanks to the crew that assembled this gem.

Reviewer: Bags - - June 18, 2005
Subject: Fantastic!

This bunch of demos is a fascinating and often jarring look into the mind of one of the most underated and clever record producers of the last 50 years.

Recommended for anyone interested in Joe Meek, 60s recording techiques, or recording/songwriting in general.

Reviewer: RhUmbUs - - April 21, 2005
Subject: Lovely sound

beautiful sound. That's probably what the songs sounded in Joe's head to start with, and if so, we can call him great artist, as he pulled to reality what was lying deep inside.