For the past 30 years I have been obsessed with the sounds and narrative of Joe Meek. There are many compilations out there, but what I suspect is a bootleg, "The Emotional, The Cosmic & Occult World of Joe Meek" is magnificent. Not a bad cut here, and extremely well curated collection of Meek's productions, mostly from the early to mid 1960s.
My favorite is Blue Rondos's "Little Baby" which is Roy Obrison magnified in the Meek surroundings into something huge and beautiful. The compressed sound of Meek's production makes it sounds like the band are in a box with tiny air holes to keep them alive. Therefore there is an aural intensity of the sound. The Moontrekkers's "Night of the Vampire" is the ultimate horror instrumental, from the creeking of a casket opening to the female screams, a superb marching riff which I suspect on guitar is played by Richie Blackmore.
There is only one mega-hit on this compilation and it's John Leyton's "Johnny Remember Me," a death song bordering on Meek's sense of eros. If you look hard enough one can find this 12-song compilation online. I'm not sure what the sound source is from - CD? Master tapes? Still, it sounds good on my hi-fi. A must for the Joe Meek fan.
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