A British independent label, started by brothers Mike and Richard Vernon. Blue Horizon was dedicated to Blues and R'n'B; its output was a mixture of material by British and American artists. For the first two years of its existence, 1965-66, the label was operated as a mail-order business. The numbers of records pressed during that period were tiny, and singles from it tend to go for three-figure sums on the rare occasions when they become available. They were numbered in a 45-1000 series, starting at 45-1000. The first five had rather plain white labels, with three stripes down the left-hand side and the words BLUE HORIZON at the top in a bold unadorned font, all of which was in blue print. The next five had slightly more ambitious labels of the kind shown in the first scan.
Things got more serious in 1967. According to a retrospective article in 'Billboard' of the 14th of June 1997, Mike Vernon, who was a staff producer with Decca at the time, recorded four demos and tried to interest his employers in them. Decca weren't prepared to grant Blue Horizon a label of its own, so he took the demos to CBS. CBS proved more open to the idea of Blue Horizon having its own identity, and as a result 'BB' of the 7th of October 1967 was able to report that the CBS / Blue Horizon label was to be launched on the 1st of January 1968. According to the article it was to become the responsibility of Mike and Richard Vernon and was to put out R&B records regularly; until the new label was launched Blue Horizon was to 'remain part of CBS'. Accordingly before the end of 1967 a couple of singles were put out on CBS with a Blue Horizon logo in the centre (2), and the new Blue Horizon label as such made its appearance in January of the following year. 'Record Retailer' of the 10th of January noted the development and said that the new label was to debut on the 19th with Chicken Shack's 'It's Okay With Me Baby'. Mike Vernon was the 'chief', with Richard, who was on the staff of CBS, providing 'unofficial help'.
Blue Horizon had its eyes on the United States - unsurprisingly perhaps, with that country being the home of the Blues. 'BB' of the 20th of January 1968 revealed that the Chicken Shack single was being released there, on CBS's Epic label, and then towards the end of the year 'BB' of the 2nd of November broke the news that the company was to open an office in New York. Seymour Stein and Richard Gottehrer of Sire Records were to be Blue Horizon's representatives in America, and Blue Horizon's records would be released on its own label instead of Epic from January 1969. The USA office swung into action pretty quickly, and 'BB' of the 15th of March 1969 revealed that it had signed three artists: Bobby Parker, Guitar Crusher and Garfield. Other US signings followed, including Pete Brown & Piblokto from EMI, and the John Dummer Band from Philips ('BB', 30th October 1971). The relationship between the Vernons and Sire was reported differently in subsequent issues of 'BB'. That of the 25th of May 1969 described them as 'joint owners', while that of the 20th of February 1970 has the Vernons as owners and Stein as director. The article which carried that description revealed that Blue Horizon had recently split from CBS in the USA and that Polydor was to take over distribution there.
In early 1970 there was word that Blue Horizon was thinking of ceasing to issue singles in the UK ('RR', 28th February) - it was always primarily album-orientated in the States. The threat passed, however, and 'BB' of the 4th of June was able to announce that the company's singles were henceforth to come in two colours of label and sleeve: red for Blues Rock and blue for Blues. To return to the States, a month or so later 'BB' of the 1st of August told its readers that work had begun on a new home for the 'Blue Horizon / Sire group' in New York. The new building, 'Blue Horizon House', was to include offices, rehearsal rooms, a recording studio and a record shop, and it was to serve as the headquarters of both Blue Horizon and Sire. Seymour Stein continued to play a prominent part in Blue Horizon's affairs. 'RR' of the 12th of September 1970 observed that the company's four-year deal with CBS only had one year left to run in Britain; some five months later 'BB' of the 27th of February revealed that following negotiations between Stein and Polydor's John Fruin Polydor would be handling Blue Horizon here with effect from April 1st - CBS was given a ten-year sell-off period for existing material, which explains why pre-1971 Blue Horizon tracks could be found repackaged and reissued on the CBS label into 1980.
Blue Horizon had plans to develop its UK operation, not just its American one. 'BB' of the 12th of September 1970 said that, subject to planning permissions being granted, the company intended to move into premises in Camden Town which would include a studio and a record shop. It maybe that the required permissions were not given, as nothing further was heard for eighteen months or so. Then 'BB' of the 22nd of April 1972 carried the news that work was starting on the company's new headquarters, in Chipping Norton rather than Camden Town. Completion was expected in August, and the development would include a studio, offices and accommodation. Seymour Stein and Richard Gottehrer were closely involved in the project, as directors of Sire / Blue Horizon in the USA. Work on the studio complex was duly completed, but it had unexpected consequences for the Blue Horizon record label. The Vernons decided to drop the label and concentrate on the studio, expanding their scope to include independent productions ('Music Week', 29th June 1972). 'BB' of the 5th of August confirmed that the Vernons had changed direction and that the Blue Horizon label had been discontinued. It appears that the rights to much of the company's catalogue went to Seymour Stein. Working from the new studio, Richard Vernon made a brief return to label ownership in the mid '70s via the Chipping Norton label (q.v.).
As described above, the first UK singles on the familiar light-blue Blue Horizon label came out at the start of 1968, through CBS. They were given a '57' prefix and were allotted a batch of numbers, 3135 into the 3180s, from the main CBS series. One label design was used during this CBS era, with minor variations: the words 'Made in England' moved from the bottom of the label (3) to the top (5) in the late spring of 1969. The first red-labelled Blues Rock singles (6) came out in July 1970. Manufacture was generally by CBS but some custom pressings of hits can be found, as the third and fourth scans above show: the third was a normal CBS pressing, the fourth was pressed by Polydor. Demo copies were marked with the release date and with a solid 'A' on the appropriate side (8, 9). The relationship between Blue Horizon and CBS seems to have been harmonious enough, though 'BB' of the 28th of November 1970 noted that from the 1st of December Transatlantic was to share the jobs of sales and distribution. The agreement with Transatlantic must have been short-lived, if indeed it was ever acted upon: again as stated above, 'BB' of the 27th of February 1971 revealed that Blue Horizon was moving to Polydor. The change in manufacturers / distributors was marked by a change in numbering, to the 2096-000s, and in label design (7).
Blue Horizon released approximately sixty singles and one hundred albums in the UK. Perhaps unexpectedly it enjoyed a measure of success in the Singles Chart, with Fleetwood Mac scoring three hits including a surprise No.1 with the instrumental 'Albatross' b/w 'Jigsaw Puzzle Blues' (57-3145; 11/68). Another British Blues band, Chicken Shack, registered twice in the charts the following year, with 'I'd Rather Go Blind' b/w 'Night Life' (57-3153; 4/69) and 'Tears In The Wind' b/w 'The Things You Put Me Through' (57-3160; 8/69). That's a decent number of hits for a fairly 'minority interest' company.
Copyright 2006 Robert Lyons.