Harvest Records

Harvest
The current Harvest Records logo
Parent company	EMI (1969–2012) Capitol Music Group (2012–present)
Founded	1969
Founder	Malcolm Jones Norman Smith
Status	Active
Distributor(s)	Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group (Syd Barrett catalog)
Genre	Progressive rock indie
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Official website	harvestrecords.com

Harvest Records is a major record label belonging to Capitol Music Group, originally created by EMI, active from 1969 to present.

History

Harvest Records was 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, initially under the direction of Malcolm Jones. Harvest was distributed in North America by EMI's US arm, Capitol Records. They were the European licensee for the American label Blue Thumb Records from 1969 to 1971.

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. Nearly all the 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. 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 the label. Pink Floyd switched to Columbia Records after the release of The Dark Side of the Moon in 1973.

In the United States, Capitol initially treated Harvest as a separate label that they expected big sales from. After only a few issues, they had few sales to show for their effort and consequently only issued a few releases and numbered them within their standard Capitol LP series (mostly using Harvest for Pink Floyd releases). After this initial short-lived series, Capitol passed on most of the UK Harvest artists.

In 1975, a reissue sub-label was launched called Harvest Heritage. This new label largely compiled material that had been previously released on Harvest from 1969 onward. However, Harvest Heritage also reissued music from late 1960s EMI bands that had never recorded for the label, such as the Gods, Love Sculpture and Tomorrow. Heritage also occasionally released new music, such as Four Rock 'n' Roll Legends, a recording of a 1977 concert by rockabilly veterans Charlie Feathers, Buddy Knox, Jack Scott and Warren Smith.

Much of Harvest's European back catalogue (including Pink Floyd, Deep Purple, Duran Duran, and Iron Maiden) was divested by Universal after its takeover of EMI, as part of the Parlophone Label Group. Warner Music Group would buy the catalogue in February 2013.^[1]

Capitol Music Group announced its relaunch of the label on 25 February 2013, with former Warner Bros. Records and Dangerbird Records executive Piero Giramonti at the helm.^[2] Giramonti is tasked with running the label as an independent label, with the support of Capitol Music Group and Caroline Distribution for distribution, radio promotion and licensing. As of 2013, the Harvest roster consists of TV on the Radio, Arthur Beatrice, Babes, Banks, Death Grips, the Olms, together PANGEA, White Lies and Young & Sick.^[3]

On January 15, 2014 it was announced that Morrissey^[4] and Charlotte OC^[5] had signed to Harvest Records.

Discography

1969 Deep Purple – The Book of Taliesyn Pete Brown and His Battered Ornaments – A Meal You Can Shake Hands with in the Dark Panama Limited Jug Band – Panama Limited Jug Band Shirley and Dolly Collins – Anthems in Eden Michael Chapman – Rainmaker Third Ear Band – Alchemy Edgar Broughton Band – Wasa Wasa The Battered Ornaments – Mantle-Piece Deep Purple – Deep Purple Forest – Forest Tea & Symphony – An Asylum for the Musically Insane Bakerloo – Bakerloo Kevin Ayers – Joy of a Toy Pink Floyd – Ummagumma 1970 Various Artists – Picnic – A Breath of Fresh Air (Sampler) Michael Chapman – Fully Qualified Survivor Syd Barrett – The Madcap Laughs Roy Harper – Flat Baroque and Berserk Ron Geesin & Roger Waters - Music from The Body Deep Purple – Concerto for Group and Orchestra Pete Brown & Piblokto! – Things May Come and Things May Go but the Art School Dance Goes on Forever Greatest Show on Earth – Horizons Barclay James Harvest – Barclay James Harvest Shirley and Dolly Collins – Love, Death and the Lady Edgar Broughton Band – Sing Brother Sing Third Ear Band – Third Ear Band The Pretty Things – Parachute Quatermass – Quatermass Kevin Ayers and the Whole World – Shooting at the Moon Deep Purple – In Rock Panama Limited – Indian Summer Pink Floyd – Atom Heart Mother Syd Barrett – Barrett Pete Brown & Piblokto! – Thousands on a Raft The Greatest Show on Earth – The Going's Easy Love – Out Here Forest – Full Circle Tea & Symphony – Jo Sago A Play on Music Michael Chapman – Window Dave Mason – Alone Together Chris Spedding- Backwood Progression 1971 Various Artists - The Harvest Bag (Special Budget Sampler) Love – False Start Barclay James Harvest – Once Again Roy Harper – Stormcock The Grease Band – The Grease Band Edgar Broughton Band – Edgar Broughton Band East of Eden – East of Eden The Move - Message From the Country Deep Purple – Fireball Barclay James Harvest – Barclay James Harvest & Other Short Stories Pink Floyd – Meddle East of Eden – New Leaf Electric Light Orchestra – The Electric Light Orchestra Michael Chapman – Wrecked Again Southern Comfort – Southern Comfort 1972 Babe Ruth - First Base Janus - Gravedigger[6] Kevin Ayers – Whatevershebringswesing Pink Floyd – Obscured by Clouds Spontaneous Combustion – Spontaneous Combustion Edgar Broughton Band – Inside Out Spontaneous Combustion – Triad Barclay James Harvest – Baby James Harvest 1973 Kayak – See See the Sun Roy Wood – Boulders Pink Floyd – The Dark Side of the Moon Electric Light Orchestra – ELO 2 Kevin Ayers – Bananamour Roy Harper – Lifemask Mark-Almond – Rising Edgar Broughton Band – Oora Pink Floyd – Atom Heart Mother (Quadrophonic release) Barclay James Harvest – Once Again (Quadrophonic release) Ariel – A Strange Fantastic Dream Sadistic Mika Band – Sadistic Mika Band Corben Simpson – Get Up With The Sun HSD 1030 Wizzard – Wizzard Brew 1974 Babe Ruth – Amar Caballero Be-Bop Deluxe – Axe Victim Syd Barrett – Syd Barrett (Double reissue of The Madcap Laughs and Barrett) Pink Floyd – A Nice Pair (Double reissue of The Piper at the Gates of Dawn and A Saucerful of Secrets) Roy Harper – Flashes from the Archives of Oblivion Sadistic Mika Band – Black Ship Triumvirat – Illusions on a Double Dimple Kayak – Kayak II Wizzard – See My Baby Jive (compilation) The Move – California Man (compilation) Electric Light Orchestra – Showdown (compilation) 1975 Pink Floyd – Wish You Were Here Roy Harper – HQ Be-Bop Deluxe – Futurama Ariel – Rock 'n' Roll Scars Edgar Broughton Band – A Bunch of 45s (Harvest Heritage compilation) Quatermass – Quatermass (Harvest Heritage reissue) Climax Blues Band – 1969 – 1972 (Harvest Heritage compilation) Greatest Show on Earth – Greatest Show on Earth (Harvest Heritage compilation) The Pretty Things – S.F. Sorrow/Parachute (Harvest Heritage double reissue) Kevin Ayers – Joy of a Toy/Shooting at the Moon - (Harvest Heritage double reissue) 1976 Kevin Ayers – Odd Ditties (compilation) Be-Bop Deluxe – Sunburst Finish Third Ear Band – Experiences Shirley Collins – Amaranth Southern Comfort – Distilled Tomorrow – Tomorrow (reissue) The Gods – The Gods Be-Bop Deluxe – Modern Music Ashley Hutchings – Son of Morris On Roy Wood – The Roy Wood Story (Double reissue)

1977 The Albion Dance Band – The Prospect Before Us Pink Floyd – Animals Be-Bop Deluxe – Live! In the Air Age Barclay James Harvest – The Best of Barclay James Harvest Electric Light Orchestra – The Light Shines On Deep Purple – Shades of Deep Purple (Reissue) Pete Brown & Piblokto!/Battered Ornaments – My Last Band John Lees – A Major Fancy Babe Ruth – The Best of Babe Ruth Various Artists – Harvest Heritage 20 Greats (Sampler album) Roy Wood – Boulders (Reissue) The Pretty Things – Singles A's & B's Soft Machine – Triple Echo Wire – Pink Flag 1978 The Albion Band – Rise Up Like the Sun Be-Bop Deluxe – Drastic Plastic David Gilmour – David Gilmour (Europe only) Richard Wright – Wet Dream Jack Scott/Charlie Feathers/Buddy Knox/Warren Smith – Four Rock 'n' Roll Legends Recorded in London Roy Harper – 1970 – 1975 Deep Purple – The Deep Purple Singles A's and B's Be-Bop Deluxe – The Best of and the Rest of Be-Bop Deluxe Can – Out of Reach Barclay James Harvest – The Best of Barclay James Harvest Volume 2 Wire – Chairs Missing Kate Bush - The Kick Inside (US and Canada only) 1979 Morrissey–Mullen – Cape Wrath Electric Light Orchestra – The Light Shines On Vol 2 Various Artists – The Rare Stuff Red Noise Sound-on-Sound The Move – Shines On Eberhard Schoener – Video Flashback Pink Floyd – The Wall (Europe only) Kate Bush - Lionheart (Canada only) Scorpions – Lovedrive SHSP 4097 Wire – 154 1980 Iron Maiden – Iron Maiden (US and Canada only) Roy Harper – The Unknown Soldier Dave Edmunds & Love Sculpture – Singles A's & B's Deep Purple – Deep Purple in Concert Scorpions – Animal Magnetism SHSP 4113 Kate Bush - Never for Ever (Canada only) 1981 Be-Bop Deluxe – Singles A's & B's Nick Mason's Fictitious Sports Iron Maiden – Killers (US and Canada only) Duran Duran – Duran Duran (US and Canada only) Pink Floyd – A Collection of Great Dance Songs (Europe only) Barclay James Harvest – The Best of Barclay James Harvest Volume 3 1982 Scorpions – Blackout (the world outside the US and Canada) Duran Duran – Rio (US and Canada only) Iron Maiden – The Number of the Beast (US and Canada only) Thomas Dolby - Blinded by Science Thomas Dolby - The Golden Age of Wireless Jon Lord - Before I Forget 1983 Pink Floyd – The Final Cut 1984 David Gilmour – About Face (re-released by EMI in 2006) Scorpions - Love at First Sting Pallas – The Sentinel (outside North America) Roger Waters – The Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking[7] Zee – Identity 1985 Scorpions - World Wide Live Nick Mason and Rick Fenn – Profiles 1986 Pallas – The Wedge 1988 Scorpions - Savage Amusement Syd Barrett – Opel 1989 Jeff Lynne – A Message From The Country 1968-1973[8] Kevin Ayers – Banana Productions: The Best Of 1990's 1990 – Be-Bop Deluxe – Raiding the Divine Archive 1991 – The Beyond – Crawl 1994 – Motorpsycho – Timothy's Monster' (3-album box set) 1999 – Various Artists – Harvest Festival (5-CD Book) 1999 – Dark Star – Twenty Twenty Sound 2000's 2001 – Syd Barrett – Wouldn't You Miss Me 2005 – Patrick Duff – Luxury Problems 2005 – Amorphous Androgynous – Alice in Ultraland 2005 – The Move's Message From The Country[9] 2005 – Various Artists – Harvest Showdown Electric Light Orchestra/The Move/Roy Wood/Wizzard 2006 – Various Artists – It Wasn't My Idea to Dance - A Harvest Sampler 2006 – Pete Brown – Living Life Backwards – The Best of Pete Brown 2007 – Various Artists – A Breath of Fresh Air – A Harvest Records Anthology / 1969 – 1974 2008 – Kevin Ayers – Songs for Insane Times: Anthology 1969 – 1980 2011 Be-Bop Deluxe – Futurist Manifesto (2011) 5-CD set, fifth disc comprises previously unreleased material 2012 Red Noise Sound-on-Sound Remastered and expanded 2013 The Olms - "The Olms" White Lies - Big TV D.A. Wallach - "Glowing (Music video directed by Wolf Haley)" Beady Eye - BE (North America) Death Grips - No Love Deep Web 2014 Kasabian - 48:13 Morrissey - World Peace Is None Of Your Business Syd Arthur - Sound Mirror (US & UK Release) Babes - Die (single)[10] Babes - Untitled EP[11] Banks - Goddess TV On The Radio - Seeds Death Grips - Government Plates (Record Store Day limited-edition vinyl) 2015 Death Grips - The Powers That B Best Coast - California Nights Wynter Gordon - Five Needle (EP) The Libertines - Anthems for Doomed Youth (US release) The Greeting Committee - It's Not All That Bad[12] 2016 Death Grips - Bottomless Pit Beaty Heart - Till The Tomb (US Release) Banks - The Altar

References

1. "Warner Music Group | News". Wmg.com. Retrieved 2014-06-30.
2. "Piero Giramonti Named GM of Harvest Records". Billboard.com. Retrieved 2016-01-14.
3. "Harvest Records homepage". Harvestrecords.com. Retrieved 2014-06-30.
4. "MORRISSEY SIGNS WORLDWIDE RECORDING AGREEMENT WITH HARVEST RECORDS - HOLLYWOOD, Calif., Jan. 15, 2014 /PRNewswire/". Prnewswire.com. Retrieved 2014-06-30.
5. "Charlotte OC To Release New 'Strange' EP September 2 On Harvest Records; Confirms First NYC Show At | Shore Fire Media". Shorefire.com. Retrieved 2016-01-14.
6. Janus: Gravedigger at Discogs
7. With Waters' move to Sony Music subsequent releases of this album were on CBS (originally outside Europe) and Columbia Records
8. featuring tracks by Idle Race, The Move and Electric Light Orchestra
9. Remastered and expanded edition of the 1971 album
10. "Die - Single by Babes on iTunes". Itunes.apple.com. 2014-04-22. Retrieved 2016-01-14.
11. "Babes - EP by Babes on iTunes". Itunes.apple.com. 2014-05-27. Retrieved 2016-01-14.
12. "It's Not All That Bad by The Greeting Committee on iTunes". Itunes.apple.com. Retrieved 2016-04-01.

External links

• Harvest Label 1969 - 1980 Harvest Records collectors guide ISBN 978-5-9622-0021-7
• HarvestRecords.com Harvest Records Official Website