Keith & Enid

I've had this in my collection for many years but can't remember where I bought it for 35p - probably a junk shop in Limehouse. One of the very first releases on Chris Blackwell's Island label in 1963. Director of music - Ernest Ranglin, who probably plays guitar on some tracks here. Excuse the very bad surface noise.

"Island records was founded in Jamaica in 1959 by Chris Blackwel, the son of a white plantation owner. The label took its name from the Alec Waugh novel 'Island In The Sun'. The early releases on the label were by West Indians and in the music styles that were later to be known as Ska, Bluebeat and Rock Steady. It looked a very good investment when one of Blackwell's first productions, "Boogie In My Bones" by the Cuban-born singer Laurel Aitken, stayed at number one on the Jamaican radio chart for eleven weeks. Blackwell opened an office at South Odeon Parade in central Kingston, Jamaica, where he expanded his artistes with recordings by Wilfred 'Jackie' Edwards and Owen Gray. Both singers were already stars on the talent show circuit; so popular that eager youths fought among themselves for the honor of carrying Jackie Edwards' sharp stage-clothes to the dressing room. By 1962 Chris Blackwell was operating from premises in Notting Hill Gate, London. He catered for the large West Indian community in London by releasing records from Jamaica on his Island label. Blackwell also reckoned that, by switching to London, he could not only continue his own productions but also provide an international platform for Island's Jamaican rivals. The company could, therefore, potentially have the pick of Jamaica's hottest records, and hopefully becoming Britain's leading Ska label."


Keith & Enid - What Have I Done

Keith & Enid - Cottonfields

Keith & Enid - Send Me

Keith & Enid - It's Only A Pity

Keith & Enid - Worried Over You