Harvest Records

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Harvest
Parent company	EMI
Founded	1969
Founder	Malcolm Jones, Norman Smith
Status	Defunct
Country of origin	England

Harvest Records was a record label created by EMI in 1969 to promote progressive rock music and to compete with Philips' Vertigo and Decca's Deram labels, initially under the direction of Malcolm Jones and Norman Smith.^[1] Harvest was distributed in North America by EMI's US arm, Capitol Records. With a launch release by The Edgar Broughton Band, it was home to such classic artists as Deep Purple, Pink Floyd, The Move, Electric Light Orchestra, Kevin Ayers and Little River Band; Harvest also promoted more experimental styles of music.

Harvest Records' focus changed slightly as the 1970s drew to a close, beginning with the signing of post-punk groups Wire, The Saints and The Banned. New Wave artists Thomas Dolby and Duran Duran released their debut albums on the label in North America. Iron Maiden's first three albums were also released in the US by Harvest Records. Pink Floyd switched to EMI after the release of The Final Cut in 1983.

Harvest Records no longer operates as a separate label, however the brand is sometimes reactivated when an artist fits into the label's culture. Since 1984, the Harvest imprint has very rarely been used for new releases.^[1] Since 2001, a number of reissues, compilations and re-releases by acts from the label's early 1970s heyday have appeared.

For a list of Harvest releases, see the Harvest Records Discography.

• 1970 - "Picnic - A Breath of Fresh Air" (double-album sampler)

[edit] Harvest Records Artists

The Albion Band	Kevin Ayers	Ayshea	Bakerloo	The Banned
Barclay James Harvest	Syd Barrett	Battered Ornaments	Be-Bop Deluxe	La Belle Epoque
The Beyond	Richard Brautigan	The Edgar Broughton Band	Pete Brown & Piblokto	Buddy and the Juniors
Kate Bush	Michael Chapman	Clifton Chenier	Climax Blues Band	Shirley & Dolly Collins
Dark Star	Deep Purple	Thomas Dolby	Duran Duran	East of Eden
Electric Light Orchestra	Eloy	The Flying Circus	Focus	Forest
Formerly Fat Harry	The Fourth Way	The Grease Band	The Greatest Show on Earth	Roy Harper
Iron Maiden	Kayak	King Harry	Little River Band	Love
Machiavel	Maneige	Mark-Almond	Marshall Hain	The Monks
The Move	Nine Days Wonder	Panama Limited Jug Band	Pink Floyd	The Pretty Things
Professor Longhair	Pyx Lax (Greek Band)	Quatermass	The Saints	Soft Machine
Scorpions	Alan Sorrenti	Chris Spedding	Spontaneous Combustion	Strapps
Tanned Leather	Tea & Symphony	Third Ear Band	Tom Robinson Band	Ike & Tina Turner
The Undertones	Wire	Wizzard	Roy Wood

[edit] References