A Reggae label; a subsidiary of Bamboo (q.v.). Banana was set up by Joe 'Junior' Lincoln, who had formerly been a promotions man with Coxsone and Studio One; as was its parent label, it was devoted to Clement 'Coxsone' Dodd productions. It lasted from 1970-72, and issued approximately seventy singles using a BAN-300 numerical series. The same label design was used throughout, but it came in two different colour schemes: white to begin with, then fawn (sometimes yellowish) from BA-326 onwards. BA-321 can be found in both colours. The only Bamboo single I have had a chance to inspect in the vinyl - the Carey Johnson record shown above - was pressed by Pye. Bamboo didn't receive many mentions in the mainstream trade press, but a note in 'Record Retailer' for the 19th of February 1972 revealed that it was being distributed by CBS at the time, along with its stablemates Ackee, Bamboo and Sphere (q.v. all). For another Junior Lincoln label of the '70s see Vulcan.
Copyright 2006 Robert Lyons.