COLUMBIA BLUE BEAT

    
As the name indicates, Columbia Blue Beat was a division of EMI's Columbia label and was dedicated to Blue Beat / Reggae.  It started out in 1967, was initially run by Siggy Jackson of the original Blue Beat (q.v.) records, and featured home-grown Reggae artists.  Numbering was in a DB-100 series; it reached DB-119 before the label expired, which it did in 1970.  In its first incarnation, from 1967-68, the label was coloured yellow instead of black and it had the words 'Blue Beat' under the 'Columbia' at the top.  It also lacked the usual EMI '45 R.P.M.' marking (1, 3).  There was a lull from April 1968, after the release of DB-111; when the series resumed, in December 1979, Rita and Benny King of R&B Records had replaced Jackson as suppliers of material for it ('Record Retailer', 13th December 1969).  In its reborn form it lost the 'Blue Beat' legend, gained a close resemblance to the standard Columbia label, and turned red (2); instead of the usual Columbia big white 'A' markings of the time its demo labels now just had overprints (4).  Thanks to Charlie Chalk of the 45cat site for the first two scans, and to Robert Bowes for the third.  The discography below only covers the 1970s.

Copyright 2007 Robert Lyons.