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Born on this day, June 22, 1937: Chris Blackwell
Chris Blackwell
Website: islandoutpost.com
Christopher Percy Gordon Blackwell (born 22 June 1937) is an English businessman and former record producer, and the founder of Island Records, which has been called "one of Britain's great independent labels". According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, to which Blackwell was inducted in 2001, he is “the single person most responsible for turning the world on to reggae music."
Forming Island Records in Jamaica on 22 May 1959, not quite aged 22, Blackwell was among the first to record the Jamaican popular music that eventually became known as ska. Returning to Britain in 1962, he sold records from the back of his car to the Jamaican community.
Backed by Stanley Borden from RKO, Blackwell's business and reach grew substantially, and he went on to forge the careers of Bob Marley, Grace Jones and U2 among many other diverse high-profile acts. He has produced many seminal albums, including Marley's Catch A Fire and Uprising, and The B-52's' self-titled debut album in 1979.
Childhood
Blackwell was born in Westminster on 22 June 1937, the son of Joseph Blackwell, a member of the family responsible for the Crosse & Blackwell brand, and Blanche Lindo Blackwell, a Costa-Rica-born Jamaican heiress. The family moved to Jamaica soon after his birth where his father became a major in the Jamaica Regiment. Though his mother's family, the Lindos, were of Sephardic Jewish heritage, originally from Spain, the family adopted Christianity and became New Christians. His parents divorced when he was 12 years old.
Blackwell spent his childhood in Jamaica, and was sent to Britain to continue his education at Harrow. Deciding not to attend university, he returned to Jamaica to become aide-de-camp to Jamaica's Governor, Sir Hugh Foot. After Foot was transferred to Cyprus, Blackwell left King's House to pursue a career in real estate and other businesses, including managing jukeboxes up and down the country, which brought him into contact with the Jamaican music community.
In 1958, Blackwell was sailing off Hellshire Beach when his boat ran aground on a coral reef. The twenty-one-year-old swam to the coast and attempted to find help along the shore in searing temperatures. Collapsing on the beach, Blackwell was rescued by Rasta fishermen who tended his wounds and restored him back to health with traditional Ital food. The experience gave Blackwell a spiritual introduction to Rastafarianism, and was a key to his connection to the culture and its music.
Career
Only in his early 20s, Blackwell formed Island Records in 1958 with a start-up investment of $10,000 provided by his parents. The business took its name from Alec Waugh's novel Island in the Sun. Radio personality Graeme Goodall was his initial business partner. Blackwell received an allowance of £2,000 per year from his mother, which enabled him to have his own apartment at a young age and build on the low revenue that the business was bringing in. Island's debut release was a piano and vocal album by Bermudian jazz pianist Lance Hayward. Blackwell began recording Jamaican popular music in 1959, achieving a number one hit there with Laurel Aitken's "Boogie in my Bones/Little Sheila".
In 1961, Blackwell acted as a location scout and production assistant for the Bond film Dr No (1962). After the film wrapped, producer Harry Saltzman offered him a full-time position. Conflicted between music and film, Blackwell visited a psychic, who told him that he would be successful if he stayed in the music industry.
By 1962, the fledgling record producer had released 26 singles and two albums on Island. Blackwell returned to England that year and continued to grow his business. He began having success with the niche market of Jamaican music, and progressed to bringing in licensed master tapes. One of these contained a performance by fifteen-year-old Millie Small, who Blackwell brought over to England. In 1964, he produced Small's cover of a 1956 Barbie Gaye song "My Boy Lollypop" which was one of the first songs recorded in the ska style. Millie Small's version was a smash hit, selling over six million records worldwide. It launched Island Records into mainstream popular music, and is acknowledged as the first international ska hit.
{snip}
Website: islandoutpost.com
Christopher Percy Gordon Blackwell (born 22 June 1937) is an English businessman and former record producer, and the founder of Island Records, which has been called "one of Britain's great independent labels". According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, to which Blackwell was inducted in 2001, he is “the single person most responsible for turning the world on to reggae music."
Forming Island Records in Jamaica on 22 May 1959, not quite aged 22, Blackwell was among the first to record the Jamaican popular music that eventually became known as ska. Returning to Britain in 1962, he sold records from the back of his car to the Jamaican community.
Backed by Stanley Borden from RKO, Blackwell's business and reach grew substantially, and he went on to forge the careers of Bob Marley, Grace Jones and U2 among many other diverse high-profile acts. He has produced many seminal albums, including Marley's Catch A Fire and Uprising, and The B-52's' self-titled debut album in 1979.
Childhood
Blackwell was born in Westminster on 22 June 1937, the son of Joseph Blackwell, a member of the family responsible for the Crosse & Blackwell brand, and Blanche Lindo Blackwell, a Costa-Rica-born Jamaican heiress. The family moved to Jamaica soon after his birth where his father became a major in the Jamaica Regiment. Though his mother's family, the Lindos, were of Sephardic Jewish heritage, originally from Spain, the family adopted Christianity and became New Christians. His parents divorced when he was 12 years old.
Blackwell spent his childhood in Jamaica, and was sent to Britain to continue his education at Harrow. Deciding not to attend university, he returned to Jamaica to become aide-de-camp to Jamaica's Governor, Sir Hugh Foot. After Foot was transferred to Cyprus, Blackwell left King's House to pursue a career in real estate and other businesses, including managing jukeboxes up and down the country, which brought him into contact with the Jamaican music community.
In 1958, Blackwell was sailing off Hellshire Beach when his boat ran aground on a coral reef. The twenty-one-year-old swam to the coast and attempted to find help along the shore in searing temperatures. Collapsing on the beach, Blackwell was rescued by Rasta fishermen who tended his wounds and restored him back to health with traditional Ital food. The experience gave Blackwell a spiritual introduction to Rastafarianism, and was a key to his connection to the culture and its music.
Career
Only in his early 20s, Blackwell formed Island Records in 1958 with a start-up investment of $10,000 provided by his parents. The business took its name from Alec Waugh's novel Island in the Sun. Radio personality Graeme Goodall was his initial business partner. Blackwell received an allowance of £2,000 per year from his mother, which enabled him to have his own apartment at a young age and build on the low revenue that the business was bringing in. Island's debut release was a piano and vocal album by Bermudian jazz pianist Lance Hayward. Blackwell began recording Jamaican popular music in 1959, achieving a number one hit there with Laurel Aitken's "Boogie in my Bones/Little Sheila".
In 1961, Blackwell acted as a location scout and production assistant for the Bond film Dr No (1962). After the film wrapped, producer Harry Saltzman offered him a full-time position. Conflicted between music and film, Blackwell visited a psychic, who told him that he would be successful if he stayed in the music industry.
By 1962, the fledgling record producer had released 26 singles and two albums on Island. Blackwell returned to England that year and continued to grow his business. He began having success with the niche market of Jamaican music, and progressed to bringing in licensed master tapes. One of these contained a performance by fifteen-year-old Millie Small, who Blackwell brought over to England. In 1964, he produced Small's cover of a 1956 Barbie Gaye song "My Boy Lollypop" which was one of the first songs recorded in the ska style. Millie Small's version was a smash hit, selling over six million records worldwide. It launched Island Records into mainstream popular music, and is acknowledged as the first international ska hit.
{snip}
His mom died a few years ago:
Sat Aug 12, 2017: Mistress and muse of James Bond's creator, Ian Fleming, dies at 104
Source: Washington Post
By Matt Schudel August 12 at 3:44 PM
Blanche Blackwell's romantic life inspired one of Nol Cowards plays about an upper-crust love triangle, and swashbuckling Hollywood star Errol Flynn wanted to marry her. She was a member of one of Jamaicas richest families but was best known as the mistress and muse of Ian Fleming, the rakish author who was the creator of James Bond. ... Mrs. Blackwell died Aug. 8 in London at 104. Her death was confirmed by Andrew Lycett, Flemings biographer. Other details were not available.
{snip}
Source: Washington Post
By Matt Schudel August 12 at 3:44 PM
Blanche Blackwell's romantic life inspired one of Nol Cowards plays about an upper-crust love triangle, and swashbuckling Hollywood star Errol Flynn wanted to marry her. She was a member of one of Jamaicas richest families but was best known as the mistress and muse of Ian Fleming, the rakish author who was the creator of James Bond. ... Mrs. Blackwell died Aug. 8 in London at 104. Her death was confirmed by Andrew Lycett, Flemings biographer. Other details were not available.
{snip}
Millie Small died just a few weeks ago.
Fri Oct 6, 2017: Happy 71st birthday, Millie Small
Okay, let's have something from Island:
Sailing Shoes
42,068 views•Oct 26, 2018
RPO Nation
73.7K subscribers
Provided to YouTube by Universal Music Group
Sailing Shoes · Robert Palmer
Sneakin' Sally Through The Alley
℗ 1974 Island Records, a division of Universal Music Operations Limited
