Wow. I just got round to reading this (I'm an infrequent visitor to these shores these days). Thank you so much for linking it, Rocker.
I used to sneer at Meek at the time -- I guess I was too into US music and regarded Spector and Motown as the last word in record production. I rediscovered Joe in the early 2000s, bought his biography and the
Bold Techniques book (which includes some fascinating and often hilarious anecdotes) and joined his appreciation society (until it began making unreasonable demands).
The Tea Chest Tapes... I remember the Meek society regarded Cliff Cooper as a cheapskate who wanted to keep all these tapes to himself until they crumbled to dust. How wrong could they be?! Even more mind-boggling -- if that were possible -- is the discovery by Cherry Red Records of mono recordings buried between the two stereo tracks, where Joe reused the tapes. Ye gods...
This is fantastic news. Thanks once again!