Reel-to-reel: Unreleased Joe Meek Studio Tape - a piece of recording history! Jackie Davies and his Quartet Olympic session

This tape came from the estate of Angus McKenzie, the original owner of Olympic Studios - then known as Olympic Sound, located in North End Parade, Fulham. The writing on the box reads " Copy of Joe Meek's session ending with Land of Make Believe" in McKenzie's handwriting, with "Recorded at Olympic Sound, North End Road" added in another hand, probably that of his wife, who annotated his tapes after he lost his sight.

It is a contemporaneous copy of a Joe Meek session with Jackie Davies and his Quartet, which yielded the Pye/Nixa single, "Land of Make Believe" (N15115). The format is full track, 15ips, and the tape stock is Agfa FR4, one of the staple types of the period. It is wound onto an 8 1/4" Ferrograph metal reel. It is of full studio quality - were it not so labelled, it would be virtually impossible to say with certainty that it was a copy.

The content is as follows:

Tammy - 3'18"

Nice Work If You Can Get It - 1"49" (intro missing)

Imagination - 3'53"

I Concentrate On You - 2'30"

Take The "A" Train - 1'55"

Is You Is Or Is You Ain't My Baby? - 1'51"

Land Of Make Believe - 3'45"

All tracks feature Davies on vocals. Meek enthusiasts will note that the B side of the single, "Over The Rainbow" is missing. The session has Meek's fingerprints all over it - close-miking, equalization, over-driving, echo with pre-delay, multi-tracking - all advanced techniques for the time, affording a rare glimpse of the boy wonder between his first hit (Bad Penny Blues) and his subsequent notoriety.

It is fair to assume that this tape is unique - Pye Records has all but evaporated and most of the old Olympic Studios tape vault notoriously ended up in a skip after the Virgin takeover. And unlike most surviving Meek tapes, this one is actually available for purchase!

A correspondent tells me that Jackie Davies achieved subsequent fame as Chico Arnez - I haven't been able to confirm this, but if Geoff Love can become Manuel and Bob Ingles Roberto Inglez, why not?

Any postage rates given in the listing should be regared as for guidance only. Shipping and packaging will be at cost, fully insured and with value declared. I have lost too much stuff to do otherwise. A top quality 24/96 transfer of the content is available to the winning bidder only. No exploitation rights, express or implied, change hands with the tape. And before you ask, copies are not available without the tape - the intention is solely to aid preservation of the artefact.