The musician, producer and label head, who has died aged 81, turned his boyhood passion for blues into a hugely impactful career Mike Vernon, who has died aged 81, was the ultimate schoolboy blues nut. First he published a blues fanzine, next he persuaded Decca Records to hire him to produce British blues bands, then he started his own indie label issuing 45s of African American blues artists, before CBS agreed to finance his Blue Horizon label. From the 1970s on, he would record and perform as a solo artist and band member; he was a producer for David Bowie, Fleetwood Mac, Eric Clapton and more. His was a life determined by his love for music, and he served his muse generously for more than 60 years. Vernon’s upbringing in Surrey was typical of many children born in the mid-1940s: he sang in his church choir, listened to the jazz and show tune LPs his parents owned and was bowled over by the arrival of rock’n’roll, responding most strongly to the likes of Little Richard, Fats Domino and Larry Williams. Inquisitive and determined, he sought out records by older African American blues and R&B artists then, while studying at Croydon Art College, started following the fledgling British blues bands led by Cyril Davies and Alexis Korner. Continue reading...