The Harvest label was launched in 1969 as a Progressive offshoot of EMI. Under its manager Malcolm Jones it recorded some interesting and innovative music, resulting in a series of albums which are becoming very collectable today. A wide spectrum of styles was covered, from the ragas of the Third Ear Band, via the whimsy of Kevin Ayers and the explorations of Pink Floyd, to the orchestral Rock 'n Roll of the Electric Light Orchestra and the heavy Rock of Deep Purple. As the 70s went by, Harvest's distinctive image blurred, and by the end of the decade there was little to differentiate its releases - Punk, Disco and Pop singles, for example - from those of any other company. There were still successes - Be Bop Deluxe, on the album front, and Top 5 singles by both La Belle Epoque and Marshall, Hain - but despite these the label was put into hibernation in the early'80s. The familiar two-tone-green label (1) remained basically the same throughout the '60s and '70s, though there were some minor changes. A boxed EMI logo appeared at nine o'clock (2) in June 1971, on issues from HAR-5040 (later pressings of HAR-5038 also have it), while September 1973 saw two changes in the perimeter text: 'The Gramophone Co' at ten o'clock was replaced by 'EMI Records', and the 'Made in Great Britain' at the bottom of the label moved to the outside and migrated to four o'clock (3). The first single to be affected was HAR-5077, though later pressings of HAR-5076 also show the changes. A red-and-black coloured label made a brief appearance on several Reggae singles in 1978-79 (4). The white label was used for at least one promo-only single - the 'PSR' prefix was employed by EMI for such things. Thanks to Robert Bowes for that scan and for the scans of the black label; the fifth scan appears by courtesy of Bob Mayhead. As for the company sleeves, the classic one (10) lasted from the start until some point in 1975, when the pale sleeve with the large logos (11) replaced it. The colours altered and the logos became smaller and more plentiful (12) a couple of years later, and that design saw out the decade. The discography below only covers the years up to and including 1979.
Copyright 2006 Robert Lyons.