Chris Blackwell
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| Chris Blackwell | |
|---|---|
| Born | June 22, 1937 |
| Origin | London, England |
| Genre(s) | Rock music, Reggae |
| Occupation(s) | Record label founder and owner |
| Years active | 1959 onwards |
| Label(s) | Island Records |
| Website | http://www.islandrecords.com |
Chris Blackwell (born June 22, 1937) is the founder of Island Records. Born in London to an Irish father and a Costa Rican-born Sephardic Jewish mother. Blackwell spent his childhood in Jamaica. He was sent to England to continue his education at Harrow School.[1] Deciding not to go to university, he returned to Jamaica to become ADC to the Governor of Jamaica Sir Hugh Foot. After Sir Hugh Foot was transferred to Cyprus, he left Kings House and pursued a career in real estate and other businesses which brought him into contact with the Jamaican music community. He formed Island Records in 1959 and was one of the first to record the Jamaican popular music that eventually became known as ska music. In 1962, he returned to England and sold records from the back of his car to the Jamaican community. His business grew substantially, culminating in recognition as one of the most influential persons in the British music industry.
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[edit] Career
From this beginning, Blackwell progressed to bringing in licenced master tapes and one of these contained a performance of Millie Small who he brought over to England at 15 years of age and produced "My Boy Lollipop" in 1964, which sold six million records worldwide and launched Island Records into mainstream popular music.
After discovering The Spencer Davis Group, featuring Steve Winwood, Chris mainly concentrated on the rock acts that Island had signed. Island became one of the most successful independent labels of the 1960s and 1970s with bands like Traffic, Spooky Tooth, Fairport Convention, King Crimson, Free, John Martyn, Nick Drake, Sparks, Vinegar Joe (featuring Elkie Brooks and Robert Palmer) and Emerson Lake and Palmer.
Island Records was also the first home for Trojan Records, Chrysalis Records and Virgin Records and the American Label Sue Records who produced Jimmy McGriff, The Soul Sisters and Ike and Tina Turner.
Eventually Island moved into movies and released in England The Harder They Come featuring Jimmy Cliff. This film, produced and directed by fellow Jamaican Perry Henzell, was the first time Jamaican themes impacted on mainstream cinema.
One of Blackwell's notable achievements was to bring Bob Marley and the Wailers to the attention of international audiences. The trust Chris created in advancing money to The Wailers for their first Island album without a signed contract came from his 1958 beach rescue by Rastas and led to the longterm success of both the band and label.
Blackwell also formed Mango Records that featured Jamaican and other artists from the third world. This label introduced Burning Spear, Black Uhuru, Third World, Salif Keita, Baaba Maal, Angelique Kidjo, King Sunny Ade and many others.
Each of his companies was eventually sold to Polygram, and are as of 1998 part of the Universal Music Group conglomerate, but Blackwell left with a reputation for looking after artists as diverse as Bob Marley, U2, Cat Stevens, Grace Jones, Steve Winwood, Melissa Etheridge, Tom Waits, The Cranberries, Richard Thompson and PJ Harvey.
Since selling those companies, he has gone on to found Palm Pictures, a media entertainment company with music, film and DVD releases.
Blackwell is currently associated with Island Outpost, which operates or markets a group of high-end resorts in Jamaica and the Bahamas. Goldeneye, the previous home of Ian Fleming where he wrote all the James Bond books is among the most exclusive of these resorts. (Fleming was the longtime lover of Chris Blackwell's mother, Blanche, until his death.) Blackwell is currently concentrating on developing this property into a community of villas and beach cottages each with their own private access to the sea.
Blackwell was also employed as the location scout for the 1961 James Bond film, Dr. No.
In April 2009, the UK magazine Music Week named Blackwell the most influential figure in the last 50 years of the British music industry.[2][3][4]
[edit] References
- ^ Island Records' Chris Blackwell Interview, Repeating Islands, 2009
- ^ Ben Cardew, Blackwell saluted as best of last 50 years, Music Week, 9 April 2009.
- ^ Gordon Masson, No man is an Island: Chris Blackwell, Music Week, 18 April 2009.
- ^ Marley's mentor gets music honour, BBC News, 9 April 2009.
[edit] Bibliography
- Baugh, Edward (1998). Chancellor, I Present. Mona: Canoe Press.
- Bradley, Lloyd (2001). This is Reggae Music. London: Grove.
- Childs, Peter and Mike Storry, eds. (1999). Encyclopedia of Contemporary British Culture. London: Routledge.
- (2001). "Chris Blackwell." Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
