Died On This Date (February 3, 1967) Joe Meek / Successful Producer and Songwriter
themusicsover Robert “Joe” Meek
April 5, 1929 – February 3, 1967
Joe Meek was a legendary English record producer who played a key role in the development of British rock ‘n roll during the early ’60s. Many of his records are considered the foundation of the punk and garage movements of later years. His earliest claim to fame was 1962’s “Telstar” by the Tornados. It was the first record by a British group to top the U.S. singles chart. The seemingly endless list of artists that Meek produced during those early years includes Screaming Lord Sutch, Gene Vincent, Billy Fury, Tom Jones, the Honeycombs and Shirley Bassey. Perhaps more famous than the bands he worked with, were those on whom he passed. That list includes the Beatles, Rod Stewart and David Bowie. During the final years of Meek’s life, he suffered from severe depression and paranoia. Perhaps because of that, he was not getting much work and his finances were drying up because of it. He was also the victim of at least one blackmail plot and had been accused of plagiarism. On February 3, 1967, Joe Meek unexplicably shot and killed his landlady and then turned the shotgun on himself. He was dead at 37 years old. It should be noted that he died on the eighth anniversary of the death of Buddy Holly, Meek’s biggest hero.
What You Should Own
Cornelius Bumpus is best remembered as the saxophonist for the Doobie Brothers and later, Steely Dan. In 2000, he won the Best Album Grammy for his work on Steely Dan’s Two Against Nature. As an in-demand session player, Bumpus has performed or recorded with the likes of Michael McDonald, Jeff Lorber, Lacy J. Dalton, Patrick Simmons, Phoebe Snow, Ambrosia and Boz Scaggs. While flying from New York to Los Angeles for a gig, Bumpus suffered a fatal heart attack. He was 58.
Sid Vicious is best remembered as the bassist for the enormously influential and equally notorious punk rock band, the Sex Pistols. Vicious’ music career began in 1976 with a band called The Flowers of Romance in which he sang and played the saxophone. He also played drums for Siouxsie & the Banshees at their first ever gig, 1976’s 100 Club Punk Festival. It has alson been reported that Vicious was once considered to be the lead singer of the Damned. He was asked to join the Sex Pistols in early 1977, not necessarily because of his bass skills – he didn’t have any – but because of his punk attitude. Besides, he had been to every one of the band’s shows thus far. He played his first gig with the band on April 3, 1977, but what many don’t realize, he did not play on Never Mind the Bullocks. It was Steve Jones playing the bass parts. In November of 1977, Vicious met American music lover, 
