A Life in the Death of Joe Meek

A Life in the Death of Joe Meek is a 2013 American independent documentary film about the British record producer Joe Meek. The film is produced and directed by Howard S. Berger and Susan Stahman.

Joe Meek was one of Britain's premier independent record producers of the late fifties and early sixties, renowned for his pioneering recording techniques and for the futuristic sound of the records he produced, but notorious for his eccentric personality. His biggest success was the production of the Tornados' 1962 worldwide #1 hit "Telstar". After a long struggle with debt, paranoia and depression, he killed his landlady Violet Shenton and shot himself on February 3, 1967.

The documentary was shown as a work-in-progress on the opening night of the 2008 Sensoria Music & Film Festival in Sheffield, on April 12, 2008.[ 1] Later in 2008 it was shown at the Cambridge Film Festival[ 2] and the Raindance Film Festival in London.[ 3] A North American premiere of the film opened the Chattanooga Film Festival on April 3, 2014.[ 4]

The documentary contains over 60 interviews with Meek's family, close friends, associates, musicians and pop culture movers and shakers.