Blue Horizon
Encyclopedia
Blue Horizon was a British
blues
record label
founded by Mike Vernon
in the mid 1960s.
Its roots lay in Vernon's mail order
label Purdah Records, which released just four 7" singles
; including "Flapjacks" by Stone's Masonry (featuring Martin Stone
, later to join Savoy Brown
and Mighty Baby
); and another by John Mayall
and Eric Clapton
"Bernard Jenkins", and "Lonely Years". Only 99 copies of each are thought to have been pressed - limited originally to avoid purchase tax - although it has also been said that the number was as high as 500.
After briefly forming the Outasite label, Vernon switched to Blue Horizon in 1966, issuing singles and a small number of now-unobtainable album
s by U.S.
blues
artists
, including Doctor Ross
. A licensing and distribution deal with CBS
heralded the glory years of the label. Starting with two 7" singles with combined CBS/Blue Horizon stamps featuring Fleetwood Mac
and Aynsley Dunbar
there followed a string of singles and albums by both British and U.S. blues artists, both licenced and newly recorded. Some releases featured Mike Vernon-produced recordings of U.S. artists like Otis Spann
and Champion Jack Dupree
, backed by British Blues
players such as Peter Green
, Rory Gallagher
, Paul Kossoff
, Stan Webb
, Pete Wingfield
and Duster Bennett
.
The label produced chart
hit single
s for Fleetwood Mac
and Chicken Shack
and a string of albums in imaginative sleeves. The distinctive blue label singles eventually gave way to red and then no-centre white labels as the blues boom died away. The label ceased production around 1971, and all its titles are highly collectible today. Later vinyl re-releases by both Sire Records
in the US and Line Records
kept interest alive, but CD reissues were very limited until Vernon himself re-emerged in the 21st Century to remaster the best material and do justice to the Blue Horizon legacy.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
record label
Record label
In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...
founded by Mike Vernon
Mike Vernon (producer)
Mike Vernon is an English record producer. He produced albums for British blues artists and groups during the late 1960s, working with the Bluesbreakers, David Bowie, Duster Bennett, Savoy Brown, Chicken Shack, Eric Clapton, Fleetwood Mac, Peter Green, Danny Kirwan, John Mayall, Christine McVie and...
in the mid 1960s.
Its roots lay in Vernon's mail order
Mail order
Mail order is a term which describes the buying of goods or services by mail delivery. The buyer places an order for the desired products with the merchant through some remote method such as through a telephone call or web site. Then, the products are delivered to the customer...
label Purdah Records, which released just four 7" singles
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
; including "Flapjacks" by Stone's Masonry (featuring Martin Stone
Martin Stone (guitarist)
Martin Stone is an English guitarist and book antiquarian. A longtime resident of Fingest in Buckinghamshire, he currently lives in Paris.-Musical career:...
, later to join Savoy Brown
Savoy Brown
Savoy Brown, originally known as the Savoy Brown Blues Band, are a British blues rock band, formed in 1965, in Battersea, South West London...
and Mighty Baby
Mighty Baby
Mighty Baby were formed in 1968 from the ashes of The Action. They released two albums, Mighty Baby and A Jug Of Love . Their debut, a collection of psychedelic rock, appeared on the tiny Head record label in the UK, and on Chess in the United States...
); and another by John Mayall
John Mayall
John Mayall, OBE is an English blues singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist, whose musical career spans over fifty years...
and Eric Clapton
Eric Clapton
Eric Patrick Clapton, CBE, is an English guitarist and singer-songwriter. Clapton is the only three-time inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: once as a solo artist, and separately as a member of The Yardbirds and Cream. Clapton has been referred to as one of the most important and...
"Bernard Jenkins", and "Lonely Years". Only 99 copies of each are thought to have been pressed - limited originally to avoid purchase tax - although it has also been said that the number was as high as 500.
After briefly forming the Outasite label, Vernon switched to Blue Horizon in 1966, issuing singles and a small number of now-unobtainable album
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
s by U.S.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
artists
Musician
A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....
, including Doctor Ross
Doctor Ross
Doctor Ross , aka Doctor Ross, the harmonica boss, was an American blues singer, guitarist, harmonica player and drummer — a one-man band— who was born Charles Isaiah Ross, in Tunica, Mississippi....
. A licensing and distribution deal with CBS
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
heralded the glory years of the label. Starting with two 7" singles with combined CBS/Blue Horizon stamps featuring Fleetwood Mac
Fleetwood Mac
Fleetwood Mac are a British–American rock band formed in 1967 in London.The only original member present in the band is its eponymous drummer, Mick Fleetwood...
and Aynsley Dunbar
Aynsley Dunbar
Aynsley Thomas Dunbar is an English drummer. He has worked with some of the top names in rock, including Eric Burdon, John Mayall, Frank Zappa, Ian Hunter, Lou Reed, Jefferson Starship, Jeff Beck, David Bowie, Whitesnake, Sammy Hagar, UFO, and Journey...
there followed a string of singles and albums by both British and U.S. blues artists, both licenced and newly recorded. Some releases featured Mike Vernon-produced recordings of U.S. artists like Otis Spann
Otis Spann
Otis Spann was an American blues musician, who many consider the leading postwar Chicago blues pianist.-Career:Born in Jackson, Mississippi, United States, Spann became known for his distinct piano style....
and Champion Jack Dupree
Champion Jack Dupree
William Thomas Dupree, best known as Champion Jack Dupree, was an American blues pianist. His birth date is disputed, given as July 4, July 10, and July 23, in the years 1908, 1909, or 1910. He died on January 21, 1992.-Biography:...
, backed by British Blues
British blues
British blues is a form of music derived from American blues that originated in the late 1950s and which reached its height of mainstream popularity in the 1960s, when it developed a distinctive and influential style dominated by electric guitar and made international stars of several proponents of...
players such as Peter Green
Peter Green (musician)
Peter Green is a British blues-rock guitarist and the founder of the band Fleetwood Mac...
, Rory Gallagher
Rory Gallagher
William Rory Gallagher, ; 2 March 1948 – 14 June 1995, was an Irish blues-rock multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and bandleader. Born in Ballyshannon, County Donegal, Ireland, and raised in Cork, Gallagher recorded solo albums throughout the 1970s and 1980s, after forming the band Taste...
, Paul Kossoff
Paul Kossoff
Paul Francis Kossoff was an English rock guitarist best known as a member of the band Free.Kossoff was ranked 51st in Rolling Stone magazine list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time" -Early days:...
, Stan Webb
Stan Webb
Stan Webb is the frontman and lead guitarist with the blues band, Chicken Shack.-Career:...
, Pete Wingfield
Pete Wingfield
Pete Wingfield is an English record producer, keyboard player, songwriter, singer and music journalist.-Career:...
and Duster Bennett
Duster Bennett
Anthony "Duster" Bennett was a British blues singer and musician. Based around London, his first album Smiling Like I'm Happy saw him playing as a one-man band, playing a bass drum with his foot and blowing a harmonica on a rack while strumming a 1952 Les Paul Goldtop guitar given to him in 1968...
.
The label produced chart
Record chart
A record chart is a ranking of recorded music according to popularity during a given period of time. Examples of music charts are the Hit parade, Hot 100 or Top 40....
hit single
Hit single
A hit single is a recorded song or instrumental released as a single that has become very popular. Although it is sometimes used to describe any widely-played or big-selling song, the term "hit" is usually reserved for a single that has appeared in an official music chart through repeated radio...
s for Fleetwood Mac
Fleetwood Mac
Fleetwood Mac are a British–American rock band formed in 1967 in London.The only original member present in the band is its eponymous drummer, Mick Fleetwood...
and Chicken Shack
Chicken Shack
Chicken Shack are a British blues band, founded in the mid-1960s by Stan Webb , Andy Silvester , and Alan Morley , who were later joined by Christine Perfect in 1968.-Career:...
and a string of albums in imaginative sleeves. The distinctive blue label singles eventually gave way to red and then no-centre white labels as the blues boom died away. The label ceased production around 1971, and all its titles are highly collectible today. Later vinyl re-releases by both Sire Records
Sire Records
Sire Records is an American record label, owned by Warner Music Group and distributed through Warner Bros. Records.-Beginnings:The label was founded in 1966 as Sire Productions by Seymour Stein and Richard Gottehrer, each investing ten thousand dollars into the new company. Its early releases as a...
in the US and Line Records
Line Records
Line Records is a Brazilian gospel record label and it belongs to Universal Church of the Kingdom of God. Was founded in Rio de Janeiro, in 1992 with the intent to tend the gospel music demand.-Artists:*Adilson Silva*Adriana Ferreira*Adriana Marques...
kept interest alive, but CD reissues were very limited until Vernon himself re-emerged in the 21st Century to remaster the best material and do justice to the Blue Horizon legacy.