Fairport, Nick Drake, Traffic and why Island Records was a sumptuous visual delight

Word In Your Ear

Neil Storey worked in the Island press office in the ‘70s and ‘80s and has set out on mammoth undertaking, to compile a series of gorgeous, album-sleeve-sized books telling the story of virtually every record the label released in its pioneering history and talking to all involved - musicians, producers, designers, photographers, label staff – and collecting old music press ads and ephemera from the time. This latest edition, ‘the Island Book Of Records 1969-1970’, has transported us back to our teenage selves when albums by Fairport, Nick Drake, Jethro Tull, Free, King Crimson etc were unmissable. We talked to Neil at his home in France which happily involved …

… the extraordinary story of the Unhalfbricking album shoot.

… when album sleeves were assembled by hand.

… how Island pioneered the ‘underground’ aesthetic and the cheap sampler album.

… the mystery of Ian Anderson’s 11 fingers.

… the “worst sleeve” in the label’s history (which involved a trip to the butchers).

.. the day the Island roster met in Hyde Park at six in the morning.

... the curious marketing of Nick Drake – “who doesn’t have a telephone and will disappear for four days at a time”.

… and Roxy Music, Sparks, Head Hands & Feet and what else to expect in Volume 3.

Order the Island Book Of Records Volume 2 here:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Island-Book-Records-II-1969-70/dp/1526182246

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