Chris Blackwell: The Islander (book)

To be more precise, the book is called, The Islander: My Life In Music And Beyond - and this was a great library find (so make sure you keep using your local one, as you never know what you will discover). This time it is a musical book review from the other side of the business.

Chris Blackwell is an oddity, one of life's eccentrics, you could say. He was definitely one of the silver spoon brigade but in such a laid back way, he was able to twist and turn his life until he found his calling... and his passion.

He is a distant descendant of the condiment kings at Crosse & Blackwell, and he grew up in Jamaica. His mother's clan also came from the right side of the tracks, making good money from bananas, then sugar, and naturally following that... with rum!

He had a real mixed childhood; mismatched efforts to give him a British public school education, including a less than successful stint at Harrow - but also a life back in Jamaica surrounded by entertainment elite. There was the depraved former movie icon Errol Flynn constantly trying it on with his mother, the erudite Noel Coward often stopping by, and his mother's friendship with another famous island dweller - Ian Fleming. At least two characters in his Bond novels are said to be modelled on his mother (including the character Ursula Andress would play in Dr No).

The decision that propelled him towards the music business was taking on a Wurlitzer jukebox franchise, supplying a number of bars around the island. He prided himself on trying to track down the most unique and best releases he could find (largely from trips to the States). It was this tenaciousness and ear for a good tune that would serve him well in future years.

When it seemed the island was ready to take its own stride into the serious music industry, he was ready, if a little young and naive - to jump in... Island Records was born.

Boogie In My Bones, his first single release by Laurel Aitken, had a distinctly Jamaican vibe. But Aitken was about the only Jamaican thing about it all, as the musicians were Australian (the Caribs).

Laurel Aitken: Boogie In My Bones (audio only)

Relocating to London in the early 60s just ahead of the blues-rock and beat waves about to take over, he focused on trying to find exciting new ska talent from amongst the Jamaican diaspora shacked up in various inner city ghettos, shunned by the people who had invited them over! But his first taste of chart success though was with the Caravelles a white English girl duo who broke the Top 20 in both the UK and US.

It was a chance encounter in a backstreet Birmingham pub that really changed the course of Island. The night Blackwell attended that dingy hostelry, it was being torn up by some seventeen year old white blues prodigy, with the voice of a Stax veteran. That lad was Steve Winwood, and in months there was the Spencer Davis Group and a number one hit.

Blackwell gives the impression of a man who has never been afraid of going down musical side streets and working with alternative sounds. Island became known for seeking out the best of the up and coming talent.

The Spencer Davis Group: Keep On Running (live on Beat Club, 1966 - what a voice)

I like the way, in the book, that he had laid it all out; while the opening sections broadly follow a chronological narrative, he then breaks what could be quite a crammed timeline into individual chapters - each one focusing on key artists he has worked with over the years. There is a particular focus on Bob Marley, and he becomes a recurring theme, which is not surprising, as in many ways he became the artist that defined Island. There is also much in there on Nick Drake, Robert Palmer, Grace Jones and of course, U2. There is cross-referencing across chapters, as people who pop up multiple times - but we never lose the overall thread of who he is, and what has motivated and interested him all this time.

Bob Marley & The Wailers: I Shot The Sheriff (live at the Rainbow, 1977)

The end inevitably comes, as Island gets swallowed up by PolyGram, and despite clinging to the Island raft on the inside - working for 'the man' eventually becomes too much. So there are changes, and his impulsive desire to explore new possible avenues keeps him going, but also leading to more than one dead end. He could, for example, see that the world wide web was the future, but he couldn't quite find the right formula... perhaps he is an uncredited pioneer.

U2: A Day Without Me (audio only)

Photo: Island Outpost Images / David Yellan

He has spent much of the last few decades dabbling in many streams - hotels, rum distilleries, films, more music and other property bits and pieces. There is one line in the closing pages that really grabbed me though, as a music obsessive, reading the thoughts and experiences of another music obsessive, as he mused on changes to the music business - "The music was once the reason for it all. Eventually it was hardly part of the equation."

A great book - if only there had been more Chris Blackwell's and more Island Records over the years...