Blue Horizon (record label)
| Company type | Independent record label |
|---|---|
| Industry | Music |
| Founded | 1965 |
| Founder | Mike Vernon, Neil Slaven |
| Defunct | 1972 |
| Fate | Production ceased; label revived in 2010 without original catalogue rights |
| Headquarters | United Kingdom , United Kingdom |
Area served | United Kingdom, International |
Key people | Mike Vernon, Neil Slaven, Seymour Stein, Richard Gottehrer |
| Products | Blues music records (singles and albums) |
Blue Horizon Records was an independent British blues record label established in 1965 by Mike Vernon and Neil Slaven. It originated as a spin-off from their fanzine, R&B Monthly, and quickly rose to prominence as the foremost label during the British blues surge of the mid-to-late 1960s.
History
The inaugural release from Blue Horizon was a 45 rpm single by Hubert Sumlin, known at the time as the guitarist for Howlin' Wolf. Following this, additional records were issued under the Outasite and Purdah imprints, including Stone's Masonry's "Flapjacks" and John Mayall and Eric Clapton's "Lonely Years". To circumvent purchase tax, production runs were kept small, typically between 99 and 1,000 copies.
While the label mainly specialized in reissuing rare American blues singles on 45 rpm, it also introduced new recordings from artists such as guitarist J.B. Lenoir and Champion Jack Dupree, who collaborated with British guitarist Tony McPhee. Blue Horizon’s first full-length album featured one-man band Doctor Ross, recorded during the 1965 American Folk Blues Festival tour. The label reached its zenith following a global licensing and distribution agreement with CBS in late 1967. Early releases under this partnership included singles by Peter Green’s Fleetwood Mac and Aynsley Dunbar's Retaliation, succeeded by a variety of singles and albums showcasing both British and American blues musicians, either licensed or newly recorded.
The label’s second LP, Let Me Tell You About the Blues, remains a prized collector’s item. Several releases showcased sessions produced by Mike Vernon with American artists like Otis Spann and Champion Jack Dupree, supported by British players such as Peter Green, Paul Kossoff, Stan Webb, Pete Wingfield, and Rory Gallagher. British signings on Blue Horizon included groups and artists like Chicken Shack, Duster Bennett, Key Largo, Gordon Smith, Jellybread, and Christine Perfect (who later became Christine McVie).
Blue Horizon was behind Chicken Shack’s 1969 hit "I'd Rather Go Blind" along with numerous charting tracks for Fleetwood Mac, including "Need Your Love So Bad", "Black Magic Woman", and the UK chart-topper "Albatross". That same year saw a collaboration with Sire Records in the United States. Album packaging often featured creative designs by Terence Ibbott. The label’s iconic blue-centered singles eventually shifted to red labels and later to white no-center labels as interest in blues declined. Additional commercial success came when Dutch band Focus scored a UK top 20 hit with "Hocus Pocus".
Production activities halted in 1972; although Sire Records reissued vinyl editions in the US, CD releases remained scarce until Mike Vernon undertook remastering work in the early 2000s. A comprehensive box set of Fleetwood Mac’s Blue Horizon recordings was released in 1999.
In 2010, it was announced that Seymour Stein and Richard Gottehrer would revive Blue Horizon Records alongside Mike and Richard Vernon; however, this relaunch did not include rights to the original catalogue. In 2012, Dion issued Tank Full of Blues through the reactivated label.
On 12 June 2012, BBC Radio 4 broadcasted Cerys Matthews' Blue Horizon, a documentary dedicated to the history of the label.
The Liverpool Scene humorously referenced Blue Horizon in their song "I've Got These Fleetwood Mac, Chicken Shack, John Mayall Can't Fail Blues".
See also
Bibliography
- Bob Brunning, Blues: The British Connection, Helter Skelter Publishing, London 2002 – originally published 1986, updated edition 1995 titled Blues in Britain
- Bob Brunning, The Fleetwood Mac Story: Rumours and Lies, Omnibus Press, London, editions from 1990 and 1998
- Martin Celmins, Peter Green – Founder of Fleetwood Mac, Sanctuary, London, 1995, with a foreword by B. B. King
- Dick Heckstall-Smith, The safest place in the world: A personal history of British Rhythm and blues, Quartet Books Limited, 1989 – Revised edition titled Blowing The Blues – Fifty Years Playing The British Blues, Clear Books, 2004
- Christopher Hjort, Strange brew: Eric Clapton and the British blues boom, 1965-1970, Jawbone, 2007, including a foreword by John Mayall
- Paul Myers, Long John Baldry and the Birth of the British Blues, GreyStone Books, Vancouver, 2007
- Harry Shapiro, Alexis Korner: The Biography, Bloomsbury Publishing PLC, London, 1997; discography compiled by Mark Troster
- Mike Vernon, The Blue Horizon story 1965-1970 vol.1, liner notes from the Box Set (60 pages)