Friday, March 24, 2017

Lucky Gordon and Island Records

Chris Salewicz has written a terrific obituary of Aloysius 'Lucky' Gordon, a minor player in the Profumo affair, in the Guardian.

In there is something quite unexpected:
On his release, Gordon discovered that the founder of Island Records in Jamaica, Chris Blackwell, had issued a comedy album about the Profumo affair. 
Gordon tried to hustle money from Blackwell and, while the entrepreneur was immune to his efforts, he did offer Gordon a job as a cook at the Island Records studio in Notting Hill. 
Spirited, witty, but never without an air of menace – or a bag of ganja – Gordon proved an asset to Blackwell, who noted that “Lucky’s energy was very important in helping to establish the right vibe at the studio”.
Given that the Spencer Davis Group and Traffic were signed to Island, and that this blog's hero Steve Winwood was known for his consumption of 'wacky backy' in those days, I suspect I am not putting two and two together and making five.

Whatever the truth of that, when Bob Marley settled in London in 1977, Gordon moved into his Chelsea house to prepare the food.

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