A label from North of the border, owned by David Silver. Bluebell seems to have specialized in Scottish music, issuing albums by the likes of the Golden Fiddle Orchestra and the Scottish Tenors. It appears to have gone through two phases. In the first it was handled by S.M.D. (see 'Scotia'); numbering was in the BBR-100s, with an 'EP' added to the prefix for EPs, and the label design had bluebells on it (1, 2). The only records I have heard of in the BBR-100s have been undated, but as Scotia seems to have gone in for large-font catalogue numbers around 1970 I would guess that they are from there or thereabouts. In 1978 the company seems to have been given a new lease of life. Numbering was still in the BBR-100s, but this time extra characters were included according to whether the record was a single, an album or a cassette. Singles had a BBR/SP prefix, albums a BBR/LP one, and cassettes a BBR/C. Records of all sizes and formats seem to have shared the same 100-up numbers; I haven't found any number lower than 101, so I suppose that the numbers started there. Labels were of a plainer design (3), which can be found in different colours. David Solley's single, 'The Sky Is Bluer In Scotland' (BBR/SP-101; 1978) was presumably the first release of this second phase. BBR/LP-143, 'The Golden Fiddle Awards, Volume Two', came out in 1981, which suggests that the revived Bluebell survived into the '80s and issued more than forty records; releases after 1981 seem to have been scanty. The majority of the company's products that I have managed to track down have been albums; the few 7" ones that turned up are listed below. Any additions, or indeed any other information, would be welcome. Thanks to Robert Bowes for the fourth scan and for drawing the label to my attention; to Fokeman of the 45cat site for permission to use the first three scans here; and to Stephen Small for discographical information.
Copyright 2008 Robert Lyons.