The third of February is usually known as the day that music died. The plane that crashed while carrying Buddy Holly, Richie Valens, and The Big Bopper J.P. Richardson was one of the first big music tragedies in the modern era. There is another tragedy that occurred on the same day a few years later. A musical producer who revolutionised the whole music production technique and the sounds that we hear on record to this day. Joe Meek was the British answer to Phil Spector and in many ways was very similar, but also very different throughout the late 1950s/early 1960s both were on top of their game and both careers ended in tragic circumstances. This week The Beat Marches On To the 3rd February 1967 when Joe Meek shot his landlady, Violet Shenton, and then himself.
Even growing up Joe Meek was different to his siblings. In an interview with BBC series Arena Meek’s brothers worked on the family farm while he did the cooking and cleaning at the house. One thing he absolutely loved to do was tinker with electronics. In a shed at the bottom of the garden, he would stay there for hours playing around with speakers or anything electrical he could get his hands on.
The tinkering would help Joe Meek in his future career as a record producer. He left his home in Gloucestershire at age 22 and moved to London to pursue a career in the music industry. At first, Meek started as an audio engineer for pirate radio stations and worked freelance as an engineer for various labels around the capital.
Meek’s first sign of genius was while in the studio with Humphrey Littleton and his jazz band. Recording ‘Bad Penny Blues’ when the producer decided to add some distortion on the piano. Littleton was angered by this addition but couldn’t change it because of the studio costs of the day. Meek was right to add the distortion and the song became a hit for the band. He also experimented with speeding up tape, slowing it down and most importantly creating the overdubbing technique.
The work that Meek did for the studios, although were top hits, made him hard to work with. The confidence he was gaining was feeding his ego and it was all going to his head. In 1960 Joe decided to leave the label’s studio and start an independent studio in an apartment above a leather shop in Holloway Road. One of the first independent studios in the country. This is when Joe Meek started to shine.
Meek was now a full-on music producer at his new studio. He was off the leash. Experimenting with sounds all across the studio, using house furniture in recordings. He hired a house band called the Outlaws that featured future Deep Purple guitarist Richie Blackmore and Chas Hodges from Chas and Dave. He provided songs for the likes of Screaming Lord Sutch, Billy Fury, Freddie Starr, and Lonnie Donnegan. Then in 1962, he hit the jackpot. He topped the USA Billboard charts.
Topping the Billboard Hot 100 back in the early 1960s wasn’t easy for a British act. It was before the Beatles invaded and had only been achieved three times prior, first in the Billboard era. But Joe Meek using his futuristic studio techniques and an admiration for sci-fi composed the song Telstar, wooed the American public whose government were amid the Soviet Union of a space race. The song performed by The Tornados which featured Muse guitarist Matt Bellamy’s father, George, was part satellite transmission part game show theme and gave Meek his first gold record as an independent.
There was one member of the group that Meek became infatuated with was the bass player Heinz Burt. Of German descent, Burt had bright bleached blond hair, a rarity at the time. The producer sent Heinz to the front of the stage to become a frontman. Joe forced the bass player to go solo with one name: Heinz.
Unfortunately, Heinz had the look but not so much the vocal talent to be a frontman. In his first single Meek overdubbed the singing with a session vocalist. Then he was sent out on tour with American superstars Gene Vincent and Jerry Lee Lewis. The crowd responded by lunging baked beans at the protégé. It wasn’t all bad for the singer though as he did have a hit with ‘Just Like Eddie’ a tribute to Eddie Cochran, but that was his only one.
By 1965 the Joe Meek hits were on the decline. The mental problems were starting to show. The stress of not producing a hit and the failed Heinz experiment was producing a lot of pressure. He was acting more paranoid of the London gangs as the famous Kray twins looked to buy the studio when Telstar broke out and Meek told them to ‘Piss Off’
There was an incident in 1963 where Meek was caught in public toilets having an inappropriate relationship with another male. He was on the front page of every newspaper because of his fame and was fined for the crime. Keeping his sexuality hidden from the public was another huge pressure for him that has been often cited to attribute to his mentality.
Towards the end of his short life, Joe Meek was obsessed with talking to the dead. He would put recording equipment in graveyards thinking that the dead were communicating throughout the night. Meek had reoccurring dreams with Rock n Roll star Buddy Holly visiting him in dreams. He even had the premonition that Holly was going to die on February 3rd, 1959 and tried to warn him. The singer dismissed him as a crazy fan, as most people would do.
As the years went by Joe Meek’s paranoia was getting worse and was convinced other producers were spying on him. In 1964 a rare UK appearance by Phil Spector on a UK TV show the American phoned his British counterpart to meet him and the reply was an angry no and accused Spector of stealing his techniques. From that point, Meek was convinced that his studio was bugged and even thought his landlady was a spy for the American producer.
In February 1967 the paranoia got to him. Convinced that his Landlady, Violet Shenton was giving away his techniques, Meek pulled a shotgun, a gift from Heinz, on her. He tried to get her to admit it but she had no idea what was going on. Ms. Shelton was just the landlady and Leather shop owner. Not hearing what the producer wanted to hear, he pulled the trigger and shot her. It wasn’t a fatal wound, but the force of the shot pushed her towards the stairs, and she fell them which broke her neck. Then Meek snapped back into reality. Realising what he had done and knowing he would go to prison he took his own life by shooting himself.
Although his legacy is marred by the horrendous murder, we must remember the studio techniques Joe Meek changed the music industry much like his American counterpart Phil Spector. What the two of them did in the studio paved the way for what we hear on the radio, or streaming services today. We can’t forgive Meek for his actions, but it doesn’t mean we should stop listening to his music.
The Beat Marches On is a music blog written by Jimmy Whitehead. Jimmy has been blogging for six years specialising in Sports (especially American Football). If you want to follow Jimmy on Twitter: @Jimmy_W1987
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The websites used for research were:
Joe Meek: The Life And Legacy Of The British Record Producer – HistoryExtra
Joe Meek, the murderous life of a trailblazing music pioneer (faroutmagazine.co.uk)
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