Joe Meek - Joe Meek; Work in Progress - The Triumph Sessions (@320)

 

Joe Meek - Joe Meek; Work in Progress - The Triumph Sessions

 

Work in Progress: The Triumph Sessions Review by Richie Unterberger.

 

Twenty-seven outtakes, demos, and previously unissued tracks that Meek recorded at his Triumph label in 1959 and 1960. Most of these are unfinished (sometimes they're not close to finished); the West Five and the Fabulous Flee-Rakkers get about half the tracks, and such fellow no-names as Chick Lewis, Ricky Wayne, Yolanda, Lee Sutton, and Eve Boswell fill out the compilation (John Leyton, who did eventually get some hits, has one track). Stylistically it's all over the board, from instrumental '50s rock to rockabilly to pop ballads and awful lounge piano singing, as well as a couple of demos featuring Meek's own off-key vocals. It's been assembled not for the general listener, but for the Meek scholar, who knows full well that the quality of both the audio and the actual songs isn't up to what you'll find on most CDs, by Meek or anybody else. It's patchy, sometimes embarrassingly so, but it does provide insights into the man's methods at a time when he was just spreading his wings. Sometimes it's kinda cool, especially when Meek plays around with echo and odd effects/arrangements. Mostly, though, it's only of use to the Joe Meek fan club, which is no slur upon the label that compiled the disc -- that's exactly the kind of audience for which it was intended.

 

Tracklist:

 

1.       West Five (2) / Cavaliers*               Please Don't Touch               3:03

2.       –West Five (2) / Cavaliers*               'Till I Kissed Ya   2:15

3.       –West Five (2) / Cavaliers*               Alabama Jubilee               2:15

4.       –West Five (2) / Cavaliers*               Blues Stay Away From Me        2:57

5.       –West Five (2) / Cavaliers*               Sea Cruise          2:52

6.       –West Five (2) / Cavaliers*               Be Bop A Lula    2:47

7.       –West Five (2) / Cavaliers*               Don't You Know               3:36

8.       –Fabulous Flee-Rakkers*               Shiftless Sam (Demo)               2:52

9.       –Fabulous Flee-Rakkers*               Some Kinda Earthquake               2:37

10.   –Fabulous Flee-Rakkers*               Brer Robert (Demo)               2:01

11.   –Fabulous Flee-Rakkers*               Buckeye              2:25

12.   –Fabulous Flee-Rakkers*             El Rancho Rock     2:35

13.   –Fabulous Flee-Rakkers*               Sunday Date (Demo)               2:41

14.   –Fabulous Flee-Rakkers*               Taboo   2:35

15.   –Fabulous Flee-Rakkers*               Summertime     3:35

16.   –Chick Lewis      North Wind               2:29

17.   –Chick Lewis      With Someone Like You              2:16

18.   –Unknown Artist             Say Baby               2:29

19.   –John Leyton     Three Cute Chicks   2:12

20.   –Ricky Wayne (2)            Hot Chick A 'Roo (Demo)  1:25

21.   –Eve Boswell     Bridge Of Avignon              3:04

22.   –Eve Boswell     Hey 'Round The Corner  2:03

23.   –Yolanda (15)    With This Kiss (Demo) 2:13

24.   –Lee Sutton       We Ain't Giving Nothing Away   1:19

25.   –Lee Sutton       Keep Your Sunny Side Up 4:11

26.   –Joe Meek         Valley Of The Saroos/The Beat Of My Heart/ I'm Waiting For Tomorrow               4:31

27.   –Joe Meek         My Baby Doll (Two Takes)       1:57

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