The first 'Luggage' label of two to appear in the 1970s was a DIY effort. A five-track EP shown above, by Friendship League, appears to have been its only release. In addition to the tracks shown above it offered three more originals, 'Redcloud', 'Tunesmith' and 'Hi-Fly', and it was made through custom recording firm County Recording Service (q.v.). According to Jason Mills, who was kind enough to bring the record to my attention and supply the first scan, members of the group altered a standard County Recording Service label to make it more personal. Presumably the addition of the words 'LUGGAGE LABEL' and the number '0001' were among the alterations. Jason says that the matrix number of the EP was COUN-219. The number is one from the series used by County, and, as COUN-215 is reported to date from 1972, it suggests that the EP came out in or around that same year. Some copies have the details hand-written on them rather than printed. Recently I happened upon a copy of the EP which had an actual printed Luggage label (2), which suggests that a second pressing was done at some point. Both types of EP had a fold-over picture cover with information about the release - which it called a 'Mini Album' - on the rear. Apparently after fruitlessly doing the rounds of the major record companies group member Dave Loveland built his own studio and produced these tracks with the aim of making some of the Friendship League's material available to the public.
Copyright 2013 Robert Lyons.