He painted pictures with sound. In a time when the object of recording was to get the most realistic sound possible, Joe Meek wanted to expand the role of a recording studio. His contemporaries didn’t always embrace his goal of using the studio as an instrument. A complex character who experienced the highest of highs and the lowest of lows, Meek eventually met a tragic end. He wrote and produced one of the biggest hits of 1962 but never received any money for it. He developed electronic gear and perfected recording techniques, yet was haunted by paranoia and convinced rival recording engineers, and producers were spying on him. Let’s take a look at five fascinating facts about Joe Meek.
Videos by American Songwriter
Meek Made an Important Discovery at 5 Years Old
In 1934, Meek got his first gramophone.
Years later, he shared his discovery, “If you play the record at the end, in the runout groove, you could shout down the sound chamber, and the sound would be imprinted in the grooves. I thought I’d discovered something marvelous. But, of course, I was really doing just what [Thomas] Edison had discovered years before.”
The youngster became obsessed with how radios worked, taking them apart and putting them back together. When drafted into the service, he was a radar mechanic, repairing radios and record players.
“Telstar” Came to Meek in a Dream
Meek got a job at Stones Radio Shop in London when he left the service. It was one of the largest record stores anywhere. He created a recording studio in his apartment and became obsessed with recording. He then got a job at Lansdowne Road Studio as an assistant engineer. He created a spring echo device but did not let the other engineers use it.
Meek was involved with “The Green Door” by Jim Lowe and “Lay Down Your Arms” by Anne Shelton. After a session with Lonnie Donegan, Meek felt his ideas were not being accepted. He resigned. Meek had always been writing songs and had a few recorded by different artists. The royalties he earned from “Put a Ring on Her Finger” by Eddie Silver paid for his new studio at his three-story flat at 304 Holloway Road in London. Meek rented the property and shared it with a handbag shop on the first floor run by Violet Shenton.
Meek started RGM Records and recorded many songs, including the hits “Angela Jones” by Michael Cox and “Johnny Remember Me” by John Leyton. About this time, the U.S. satellite Telstar was making headlines for transmitting video images around the world. One night, Meek awoke with a tune in his head. He hummed it over a recording, making a confusing demo. He called it “Telstar.”
Drummer Clem Cattini remembered, “Joe played the demo a few times, and then [lead guitarist] Alan (Caddy) worked out the chord sequences. Joe wanted a moving rhythm; he sang the beat—like dum-diddy-dum and indicated the guitar sound and bass, and then we just kicked it about, and he’d direct each individual into the shape he wanted it to go. He knew what he was after, but if someone did something he liked, he’d say, ‘Keep that. I like it.’ Then he’d say, ‘Right, that’s it up to there,’ and it went on like that until it was more or less ready. Then he’d record it and change a couple of things here and there. I played the basic beat with brushes on the cymbals.”
The Tornados recorded “Telstar,” which went straight to No. 1 in both the UK and U.S. It was only the third British song to top the American charts in the rock era. Laurie London did it in 1958 with “He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands,” and Acker Bilk had done it earlier in 1962 with “Stranger on the Shore.”
Buddy Holly Was Helping Meek from Beyond
Meek was fascinated with communicating with the dead. He would invite friends over for séances where he would try to reach the rock ‘n’ roller Buddy Holly, who tragically died in a plane crash on February 3, 1959. Meek believed the singer was guiding him as he continued to have success with acts such as Screaming Lord Sutch, The Outlaws, Heinz, and The Honeycombs. Meek would take his recording equipment into graveyards, hoping to capture messages from the beyond.
Meek Pulled a Gun on Drummer Mitch Mitchell
On November 11, 1963, Meek was arrested for “importuning for an immoral purpose.” Homosexuality was not legal in Britain at the time. As the producer continued to work long hours, he would take drugs to stay awake. Over time, his personality changed. After The Tornados went their separate ways, Meek gathered new musicians, including guitarist Ritchie Blackmore and drummer Mitch Mitchell, to fill the void. The paranoid producer felt he was being spied on and was convinced his studio had been wiretapped. He made his musicians pledge their allegiance to RGM. One session ended with a frustrated Meek aiming a shotgun at Mitchell after repeated failed attempts to get his part right. The future Jimi Hendrix Experience percussionist got it on the following take.
Meek Never Received Royalties from His Biggest Hit
Shortly after “Telstar” topped the charts, a lawsuit was filed by French composer Jean Ledrut, claiming Meek stole the melody from his song “La Marche d’Austerlitz.” The money from “Telstar” was tied up for years, and Meek could not access it. On the morning of February 3, 1967, Meek had a confrontation with Violet Shenton that resulted in her death from a shotgun. The producer then turned the gun on himself. It was eight years to the day after Buddy Holly died. Three weeks later, the court ruled in Meek’s favor.
Producer Mickie Most considered him a trailblazer, “He made a path for people like myself who came some one or two years later. … Here’s this guy making these records and selling millions in his kitchen.”
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.
Photo by Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Images
