In this article we look back on the life and career of Joe Meek, legendary record producer and pioneer of sound recording technology, the discovery of a stash of tapes known as 'The Tea Chest Tapes and review Heinz-The White Tornado, one of the first releases to be taken from the newly discovered recordings.
Born on 5 April 1929 in Gloucestershire, Meek had an interest in electronics from an early age. Biographers described him as a pre-teen Thomas Edison who spent his time in his parents shed at the bottom of their garden messing with radios and electronic circuits. From these humble beginnings a genius would emerge.
During his National Service he spent time as a radar engineer in the Royal Air Force and his fascination with space would lead to the sound for which he became famous and to produce his biggest hit record.
In 1953 he began working for the Midlands Electricity Board where he developed his interest in electronics and music production. It was there that he acquired a disc cutter. He left the electricity board to work as an audio engineer for an independent radio production company who made programmes for stations including Radio Luxembourg. He made his breakthrough working on Ivy Benson's Music For Lonely Lovers.
Meek set up his own production company, RGM Sound Ltd, which would later become Meeksville Sound Ltd. Operated from his home studio which he had built at his flat at 304 Holloway Road in London.
His developments in sound recording included sampling, overdubbing, reverberation and would lead to him being one of the most influential sound engineers of all time and one of the first to use the recording studio as an instrument.
In 1960 he produced Angela Jones, a top ten single for Michael Cox and the following year scored his his first number one with John Leyton's Johnny Remember Me. His third number one single and final major success was Have I The Right by the Honeycombs.
However, it was his second number one for which he will be best remembered. Telstar, an instrumental composed by Meek and recorded by The Tornados, whose bass player was a young blonde Heinz Burt, reached number one in the UK and spent five weeks at the top. The recording received an Ivor Novello Award for 'Best Selling A-Side' of 1962. The record also reached number one on the US Hot 100.
Meek would later produce a vocal version titled Magic Star which was sung by Kenny Hollywood and released as a single on Decca although it failed to chart.
His inability to play any instruments or to write notation did not prevent him writing and producing a string of commercial recordings. He turned to musicians and songwriters including Geoff Goddard, Dave Adams and Charles Blackwell to transcribe his vocal demos into hits. He worked on over 200 singles of which close to fifty reached the UK top-fifty.
Unfortunately his success as a record producer did not extend to his personal life. I do not want to cover his private life here except to mention that on 3 February 1967 Meek killed his landlady Violet Shenton in his flat and then himself using a single-barrelled shotgun. It followed an argument over noise levels and outstanding rent. Apparently he had confiscated the shotgun from Heinz Burt and had kept it under his bed. Meek was buried at Newent Cemetery in Gloucester.
Meeks reputation was recognised by the Music Producers Guild in 2009 who created the 'Joe Meek Award for Innovation in Production'. Music paper New Musical Express ranked him the greatest producer of all time writing, "Meek was a complete trailblazer, attempting endless new ideas in his search for the perfect sound. The legacy of his endless experimentation is writ large over most of your favourite music today."
Meek left behind nearly 1,900 tapes which sat in storage for almost fifty years and became known as the 'Tea Chest Tapes' due to how they were stored. Cliff Cooper purchased the tapes for around £300 following Meek's suicide. In the mid-1980s these tapes were catalogued by Alan Blackburn, former president of the Joe Meek Appreciation Society. The tapes were put up for auction in 2008 although it is reported that they failed to sell. What is known is that in 2020 Cherry Red Records purchased the tapes from Cooper.
An eighteen-month project resulted in all the tapes being digitized and catalogued by Cherry Red's Alan Wilson, a lifelong Joe Meek fan, analog tape specialist and studio engineer. Talking about the work Wilson said, "I'm very lucky to be working on this."
An almost impossible task as many of the tapes had little or no writing on the boxes or where there was documentation it often did not reflect the actual contents.
The tapes contained masters of released material, alternate takes, backing tracks and several songs in their original speed, often having been sped-up for original release. They found tapes with just a backing track, then discovered another with vocals and finally another where backing vocals had been added. It showed how Meek would create a song... bouncing from one machine to another to create a finished master.
Wilson spoke about the quality of the tapes, which you have to remember were over fifty years old and hadn't been stored in ideal conditions, "By and large, the tapes are in very good condition. We're taking everything off with great care, cleaning and baking where necessary. The quality is quite stunning, even flat transfers, before we restore and master. It makes me realize how good Joe Meek was.
The first material to be released by Cherry Red from the legendary 'Tea Chest Tapes' were a couple of limited-edition, 10-inch vinyl extended play albums, The Telstar Story and The Heinz Sessions Vol. 1. More recordings are due in the coming month which brings me to their first comprehensive package which has just been released, Heinz - The White Tornado.
Heinz Burt was born on 24 July 1942 in Detmold, Germany and, from the age of seven, bought up in Eastleigh, Hampshire in England. Bass player in the Tornados, he had come to the attention of Joe Meek and became his protege. Meek styled his image and persuaded him to peroxide his hair. It is stated that Meek fell in love with Heinz but it was one-sided as Heinz did not have any feelings towards him and would go on to marry Della Burke at the height of his career.
A fan of and influenced by Eddie Cochran his biggest selling solo hit was Just Like Eddie, written by Geoff Goddard and a top-five hit in August 1963.
Meek's death signalled the end of Heinz's solo recording career and he worked outside of the music industry at various jobs including working in advertising for a local paper. He would work in pantomime and in later years worked on several 1960s revival shows. Heinz suffered from motor neurone disease and was confined to a wheelchair. He died in 2000 aged 57 following a stroke and was cremated at Eastleigh Crematorium in Hampshire.
He released a number of singles including, Live It Up, Country Boy, Please Little Girl, Diggin' My Potatoes, End Of The World and Movin' In, some of which reached the UK top-fifty.
His only album, Tribute To Eddie, was released in 1964 and, as the title suggests was a tribute to his biggest influence. Among the Cochran tracks featured were, Summertime Blues, Three Steps To Heaven, Cut Across Shorty, Twenty Flight Rock and I Remember. The hit single Just Like Eddie was also featured.
The latest release from Cherry Red Records, and taken from the legendary 'Tea Chest Tapes', is Heinz - The White Tornado. A 5-CD set in a clamshell box with each disc housed in a cardboard sleeve made to look like original tape boxes.
The set is split into five different CDs... Tribute To Eddie + Versions, Tribute To Eddie Sessions, The Singles Pt. 1, The Singles Pt.2 and Demos And Curios.
Of the 131 tracks included over 100 are previously unreleased! These include alternate versions, backing tracks, demos, instrumentals, session highlights and tracks at their original speed. Also featured are a live rehearsal and a short interview. The sound is incredible when taking into account the age of the recordings and credit must go to all those involved in the production of this set.
The 20-page booklet includes a comprehensive liner note by Rob Bradford and Richard Anderson along with some great photos, record sleeves and other memorabilia.
A very impressive release which will not only be of interest to fans of Heinz but also those with an interest in the history of British pop music in the 1960s and the art of studiocraft. I am looking forward to future releases from Joe Meeks 'Tea Chest Tapes'.
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During one of my many walks around London's music sites I visited 304 Holloway Road and captured a few images,
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