The White Tornado - The Holloway Road Sessions 1963-1966 Clamshell Box

Its not surprising that one of the first collections of music to come out of the restoration of the nearly 2,000 tapes rescued from producer Joe Meeks archive would be from his first big star, Heinz. The former bassist of the Tornados was prepped and pushed for stardom, and both the effort behind this and the results are to be found in exhaustive detail on the five-CD collection titled White Tornado: Holloway Road Sessions 1963-1966. It gathers up his official singles, his one album, and a wealth of demos, rehearsals, alternate takes, and speed-corrected versions while presenting a clear picture of the way Meek worked in the studio. Its exciting to hear the different takes of songs and how various elements were added and subtracted before the final perfectly compressed and arranged songs took shape. Heinz may not be the greatest vocalist, but he puts the songs over with winning charm, and the backing band -- who often included a very young Richie Blackmore -- werent afraid to rock a little, especially near the end of Heinzs short career when he moved away from pop songs in favor a more beat group-oriented approach. The collection is definitely aimed at Meek obsessives, and in that regard its a resounding success, letting people see clearly into his working methods to the point of unearthing some Meek-sung demos that are barely listenable yet truly fascinating. Hearing the way he would build songs up, play with the speeds, and experiment is so interesting it wouldnt even matter if the tracks werent that great. Luckily most of them are, especially those that allow Heinz to break out of his crooner mode just a bit, like the rollicking "Diggin My Potatoes" or the rip-roaring rocker "Movin In." Its moments like that where he comes close to capturing the spirit of his idol Eddie Cochran, and they help to make this more than just a celebration of Joe Meek. Their musical partnership created some real sparks, and while most people would be satisfied with just a single-disc collection of Heinzs music, anyone willing to take a deep -- very deep -- dive into the goings-on at Holloway Road as presented on this set will discover some real magic. ~ Tim Sendra