Joe Meek - Joe Meek's Groups; Crawdaddy Simone (@320)

 

Joe Meek - Joe Meek's Groups; Crawdaddy Simone

 

Joe Meek's Groups: Crawdaddy Simone Review by Richie Unterberger.

 

Producer Joe Meek is primarily identified with the pre-Beatles era of British rock. However, he did make records until just before his death in early 1967, and he did make some recordings that were in the British Invasion-generated "beat group" style. This 20-track anthology of such material is not definitive, as it doesn't include some bands in the genre that he worked with, like the Riot Squad, David John & the Mood, and the Buzz. However, it's a decent sampling of Meek's efforts with mid-'60s rock bands, varying from wimpy Merseybeat to ferocious mod/R&B. The unquestionable highlights of the discs are the eight tracks (all eight tracks known to exist, actually) by the Syndicats, famous as one of the pre-Yes bands of Steve Howe. Those cuts are good R&B/rock, sometimes very good (like their cover of Howlin' Wolf's "Howlin' for My Baby"). Their most famous cut, "Crawdaddy Simone," is truly unsurpassed in its degree of wild British R&B mayhem, and is, ironically, the one Syndicats song on which Howe does not play. Elsewhere on the CD, the Puppets play reasonably fetching Merseybeat on "Everybody's Talking," and average R&B-rock on their three other cuts. Tony Dangerfield & the Thrills do a weird collision of '50s rock and freakbeat on "She's Too Way Out," and a pop ballad, "I've Seen Such Things," that was largely written by Paul Jones and Tom McGuinness of Manfred Mann. The Blue Rondos offer nicely chunky pop-R&B with Meek's trademark ghostly organ and oddly treated percussion. Bobby Rio & the Revelles do average pop songs that, again, sound better than such material should due to Meek's facility for producing unique blends of stinging guitar, thudding percussion, and disembodied-sounding vocals.

 

Tracklist:

 

1 - THE SYNDICATS - Maybelline

2 - THE SYNDICATS - True to me

3 - THE SYNDICATS - Howling for my baby

4 - THE SYNDICATS - What to do

5 - THE SYNDICATS - Leave my kitten alone

6 - THE SYNDICATS - Don't know what to do

7 - THE SYNDICATS - On the horizon

8 - THE SYNDICATS - Crawdaddy simone

9 - THE PUPPETS - Everybody's talking

10 - THE PUPPETS - Poison ivy

11 - THE PUPPETS - Baby don't cry

12 - THE PUPPETS - Shake with me

13 - TONY DANGERFIELD & THE THRILLS - I've seen such things

14 - TONY DANGERFIELD & THE THRILLS - She's too way out

15 - THE BLUE RONDOS - Little baby

16 - THE BLUE RONDOS - Baby i go for you

17 - THE BLUE RONDOS - Don't want your lovin' no more

18 - THE BLUE RONDOS - What can i do

19 - BOBBY RIO AND THE REVELLES - Boy meets girl

20 - BOBBY RIO AND THE REVELLES - Everything in the garden

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