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John Peel Wiki
in: Record Labels, Compilations

Harvest Records

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Harvest Records is a British-American record label belonging to Capitol Music Group, originally created by EMI in 1969 to market progressive rock music, and to compete with Philips' Vertigo and Decca's Deram labels, and the independent Island label. Harvest was initially under the direction of Malcolm Jones.

In the 1970s, the label primarily released progressive rock recordings by British acts including Pink Floyd, Syd Barrett, Kevin Ayers, The Move, Roy Wood, Barclay James Harvest, Be Bop Deluxe and Deep Purple. Most acts on the Harvest roster were British; two notable exceptions were Australian progressive band Spectrum (whose first two LPs were issued on Harvest) and Spectrum's successor Ariel, whose first two LPs also came out on the label.

The focus of the label changed slightly as the 1970s drew to a close, with the signing of post-punk groups Wire, Australian band the Saints and the Banned.

(Read more at Wikipedia.)

Links To Peel[]

"I take heart from ... the continuing excellence of the releases from Island and Virgin Records, and from the spirited revival of EMI's once floudering Harvest label. This latter has brought us two magnificent albums from Japan's Sadistic Mika Band in 1975, and one apiece from Roy Harper and Be-Bop Deluxe. And I did like the Floyd's 'Wish You Were Here', which was also on Harvest. In fact, 'Wish You Were Here' must be my own Record of the Year ..."
(JP, Olivetti Chronicles, p278-279 "1975", republished from The Listener, 1975-12-25 / 1976-01-01)[1]

"All the Harvest sleeves are good, in fact, all being gatefolds or whatever you call them..."
(JP, Disc & Music Echo, 1969-06-07)[2]

With the growth of LP sales in the late 1960s, much of it due to the "underground" audience who listened to Peel's shows on Radio 1, the major record companies responded by starting new labels devoted to so-called "progressive" artists. EMI's Harvest Records was one of the more successful ones, recording not just prog rock but a wide range of performers, from the poetry and jazz of Pete Brown & His Battered Ornaments to various folk-influenced artists (Shirley & Dolly Collins, Michael Chapman, Forest, Roy Harper) and the Eastern-influenced Third Ear Band. Along with existing EMI artists like Pink Floyd, Barclay James Harvest and Deep Purple, Harvest signed many new artists, not all of whom were successful. However, even the most obscure LPs on the label became sought-after collectors' items due to their luxury packaging (influenced perhaps by Elektra Records) in the gatefold sleeves Peel refers to in the Disc column quoted above.

Harvest's new signings included Peel favourites like the Edgar Broughton Band and Kevin Ayers, and show playlists reveal that the DJ played tracks from all of the 1969 and 1970 LPs in the list of releases provided in Wikipedia's article on the label.[3] Most of the artists listed also did sessions for Peel during that time. But in the first half of the 1970s Harvest seemed to narrow its focus, with its releases mostly being by established artists and the label's newer signings having little commercial impact or lasting appeal to Peel - with the exceptions of Be Bop Deluxe and the Sadistic Mika Band. By the middle of the decade, much of Harvest's output was compilations and reissues of earlier material.

Shunned by the Sex Pistols,[4] Harvest was an awkward fit for a new generation of punk bands, although the label did release the 'Roxy WC2' album of assorted live tracks from the London venue, as well as a trio of acclaimed LPs by Peel session band Wire. Long-time JP favourite Bill Nelson switched from Be Bop Deluxe to "new wave" Red Noise (with little success), but the Harvest roster generally failed to move with the times and pre-punk hopefuls were swept aside in the new era.

Despite the 1978 release of Ivor Cutler's 'Life In A Scotch Sitting Room, Vol 2', Harvest releases largely disappeared from Peel's show, although Pink Floyd lingered in the Festive Fifty until the turn of the new decade.

Sessions[]

(Harvest artists who recorded Peel sessions. List includes sessions when the artists were not on Harvest).

Festive Fifty[]

(Festive Fifty entries during Peel's lifetime that were released by Harvest.)

Compilations[]

(Plays by Peel of various artist (v/a) releases on Harvest, including the Harvest Heritage reissue imprint.)

(LP – The Harvest Bag)

(LP – The Rare Stuff ?) Harvest Heritage

(LP -  The Roxy London WC2 Jan-Apr 77)

See Also[]

Links[]

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