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| Blue Horizon | |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1965 |
| Founder | Mike Vernon, Neil Slaven |
| Defunct | 1971 |
| Status | Defunct |
| Genre | Blues, independent record label |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
Blue Horizon Records was a British blues independent record label, founded by Mike Vernon and Neil Slaven in 1965, as an adjunct to their fanzine, R&B Monthly, [1] [2] and was the foremost label at the time of the British blues boom in the mid to late 1960s. [3]
Blue Horizon's first release was a 45 rpm single by Hubert Sumlin, then working as Howlin' Wolf's guitarist. [4] Other releases soon followed on the Outasite and Purdah labels, the latter of which released just four 7" singles; including "Flapjacks" by Stone's Masonry (featuring Martin Stone, later to join Savoy Brown and Mighty Baby); and the John Mayall and Eric Clapton release "Lonely Years", featuring the B-side, "Bernard Jenkins". [5] Pressings were limited to avoid purchase tax, with estimates for the number of copies of each single issued varying from 99 to 1000. [6]
45 rpm releases continued on the Blue Horizon label, generally reissues of rare and hard-to-find singles from a handful of American blues musicians, although two releases – one by guitarist J.B. Lenoir, and another, by Champion Jack Dupree and British guitarist Tony McPhee – presented new material. Blue Horizon's first album was by one-man band Doctor Ross, recorded in a London hotel room while he was on tour with the 1965 American Folk Blues Festival. [7] A worldwide licensing and distribution deal with CBS, reached late in 1967, heralded the glory years of the label. [4] Starting with two 7" singles with combined CBS/Blue Horizon stamps featuring Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac and Aynsley Dunbar's band, Retaliation, there followed a string of singles and albums by both British and American blues artists, both licensed and newly recorded. The label's second LP, a compilation entitled Let Me Tell You About the Blues, continues to rank among the most collectible vinyls. [8] Some releases featured Mike Vernon produced recordings of US artists, such as Otis Spann and Champion Jack Dupree, backed by British blues players including Peter Green, Paul Kossoff, Stan Webb, Pete Wingfield and Ireland's Rory Gallagher. Other UK artists signed to the label included Chicken Shack, Duster Bennett, Key Largo, Gordon Smith, Jellybread and Christine Perfect (later to be Christine McVie). [4]
The label produced Chicken Shack's 1969 release "I'd Rather Go Blind" and several chart hit singles for Fleetwood Mac, including "Need Your Love So Bad", "Black Magic Woman" and the UK number one hit "Albatross". In the same year, the label linked up with Sire Records in the US. [9] Albums were often housed in imaginative sleeves, mostly designed by Terence Ibbott. [4] The distinctive blue label singles eventually gave way to red and then no-centre white labels as the blues boom died away, although further chart success was realised when "Hocus Pocus" by Dutch band Focus climbed into the UK top 20. [10] The label ceased production in 1972, and while vinyl re-releases by Sire Records in the US kept interest alive, CD reissues were limited until Vernon himself re-emerged in the 21st century to remaster some of the material. [11] The Fleetwood Mac's sessions for the label were released in 1999 as a box set.
In 2010, it was reported that the label would be reactivated by Seymour Stein and Richard Gottehrer, whom with Mike and Richard Vernon were the US and UK directors of Blue Horizon Records, although it would not have access to the original catalogue. [12] In 2012, Tank Full of Blues by Dion was issued. [13]
On 12 June 2012, BBC Radio 4 broadcast Cerys Matthews' Blue Horizon, a documentary about Blue Horizon Records. [14]
The label was lampooned by The Liverpool Scene with their song, "I've Got These Fleetwood Mac, Chicken Shack, John Mayall Can't Fail Blues". [15] [16]
John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers were an English blues rock band led by multi-instrumentalist, singer and songwriter John Mayall. The band has been influential as an incubator for British rock and blues musicians. Many of the best known bands to come out of Britain in the 1960s and 1970s had members that came through the Bluesbreakers at one time, forming the foundation of British blues music that is still played heavily on classic rock radio. Among those with a tenure in the Bluesbreakers are guitarists Eric Clapton, Peter Green and Mick Taylor, bassists John McVie, Jack Bruce and Tony Reeves, drummers Hughie Flint, Aynsley Dunbar, Mick Fleetwood and Jon Hiseman, and numerous others.
John Brumwell Mayall was an English blues and rock musician, songwriter and producer. In the 1960s, he formed John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers, a band that has counted among its members some of the most famous blues and blues rock musicians. A singer, guitarist, harmonica player, and keyboardist, he had a career that spanned nearly seven decades, remaining an active musician until his death aged 90. Mayall has often been referred to as the "godfather of the British blues", and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in the musical influence category in 2024.
British blues is a form of music derived from American blues that originated in the late 1950s, and reached its height of mainstream popularity in the 1960s. In Britain, blues developed a distinctive and influential style dominated by electric guitar, and made international stars of several proponents of the genre, including the Rolling Stones, the Animals, the Yardbirds, Eric Clapton, Fleetwood Mac and Led Zeppelin.
Peter Allen Greenbaum, known professionally as Peter Green, was an English blues rock singer-songwriter and guitarist. Green founded Fleetwood Mac in 1967 after a stint in John Mayall's Bluesbreakers and quickly established the new band as a popular live act in addition to a successful recording act, before departing in 1970. Green's songs, such as "Albatross", "Black Magic Woman", "Oh Well", "The Green Manalishi " and "Man of the World", appeared on singles charts, and several have been adapted by a variety of musicians.
John Graham McVie is a British bass guitarist. He is best known as a member of the rock bands John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers from 1964 to 1967 and Fleetwood Mac since 1967. His surname, combined with that of drummer Mick Fleetwood, was the source for the band's name.
Fleetwood Mac, also known as Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac, is the debut studio album by British blues rock band Fleetwood Mac, released in February 1968. The album is a mixture of blues covers and originals penned by guitarists Peter Green and Jeremy Spencer, who also share the vocal duties. It is the only album by the band without any involvement of keyboardist/vocalist Christine McVie.
Mr. Wonderful is the second studio album by British blues rock band Fleetwood Mac, released on 23 August 1968. This all-blues album was broadly similar to their debut album, albeit with some changes to personnel and recording method. The album was recorded live in the studio with miked amplifiers and PA system, rather than plugged into the board. A horn section was introduced and Christine Perfect of Chicken Shack was featured on keyboards. The album took a total of four days to record. In the US, the album was not released, though around half of the tracks appeared on English Rose.
Stanley Frederick Webb is an English musician who is the frontman and lead guitarist with the blues band Chicken Shack.
Savoy Brown were a British blues rock band formed in Battersea, southwest London, in 1965. Part of the late 1960s blues rock movement, Savoy Brown primarily achieved success in the United States, where they promoted their albums with non-stop touring. Founder, guitarist and primary songwriter Kim Simmonds was the sole constant member of the band from its formation in 1965 until his death in 2022.
Blues Breakers, colloquially known as The Beano Album, is the debut studio album by the English blues rock band John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers, originally credited to John Mayall with Eric Clapton. Produced by Mike Vernon and released in 1966 by Decca Records (UK) and London Records (US), it pioneered a guitar-dominated blues-rock sound.
Chicken Shack are a British blues band, founded in the mid-1960s by Stan Webb, Andy Silvester, and Alan Morley (drums), who were later joined by Christine Perfect in 1967. Chicken Shack has performed with various line-ups, Stan Webb being the only constant member.
Anthony "Top" Topham was an English musician and visual artist who was best known as a blues guitarist and also for being the first lead guitarist of The Yardbirds. Topham left the band before they achieved mainstream popularity and was replaced by Eric Clapton, the first of three lead guitarists from the Yardbirds to gain an international reputation.
Michael William Hugh Vernon is an English music executive studio owner, and record producer from Harrow, Middlesex. He produced albums for British blues artists and groups in the 1960s, working with the Bluesbreakers, David Bowie, Duster Bennett, Savoy Brown, Chicken Shack, Climax Blues Band, Eric Clapton, Fleetwood Mac, Peter Green, Danny Kirwan, John Mayall, Christine McVie and Ten Years After amongst others.
Christine Perfect is the 1970 debut solo album by English keyboardist and singer Christine Perfect, later known as Christine McVie. The album was released just after Perfect had left British blues band Chicken Shack, but before she joined Fleetwood Mac. Released in 1970, the album was originally meant to be titled I'm on My Way as evidenced on copies of the pre-LP single release "I'm Too Far Gone ". The album was re-released in 1976 as The Legendary Christine Perfect Album, and in 2008 as Christine Perfect - The Complete Blue Horizon Sessions. Ironically, its name notwithstanding, the 2008 reissue is missing one song, her cover of "I'd Rather Go Blind", although it does also include several bonus tracks.
Duffy Power was an English blues and rock and roll singer, who achieved some success in the 1960s and continued to perform and record intermittently later.
"Stop Messin' Round" is a song first recorded by English blues rock group Fleetwood Mac in 1968. It was written by the group's principal guitarist and singer Peter Green, with an additional credit for manager C.G. Adams. The song is an upbeat 12-bar blues shuffle and is representative of the group's early repertoire of conventional electric blues. The lyrics deal with the common blues theme of the unfaithful lover and share elements with earlier songs.
Johnny Almond was a British saxophonist, who is best known for his recordings with the Alan Price Set, Fleetwood Mac, John Mayall and Mark-Almond.
"Need Your Love So Bad", sometimes known as "I Need Your Love So Bad", is a song first recorded by Little Willie John in 1955. Called a "unique amalgam of gospel, blues and rhythm & blues", it was John's second single as well as his second record to reach the US charts.
O.K. Ken? is the second studio album by the blues band Chicken Shack, released in February 1969. O.K Ken? reached number 9 in the UK Albums Chart, three places higher than its predecessor, 40 Blue Fingers, Freshly Packed and Ready to Serve.
40 Blue Fingers, Freshly Packed and Ready to Serve is the debut studio album by the blues band Chicken Shack, released in 1968. The album reached number 12 in the UK Albums Chart.
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