DJTees Classic Rock Blog

History of Track Records

Johnny's History Of Rock

Authored By Johnny Blogger May 19, 2015

The public school rebel, the streetwise East End scenester and the guitar hero: the three men who put together Track Records were a diverse and complicated trio. But their label was to become perhaps the great indie of the 1960s, a showcase for a stable of great acts including Jimi Hendrix. The three men were [...]

History of Blue Horizon label

Johnny's History Of Rock

Authored By Johnny Blogger May 18, 2015

The British blues boom that started around 1963 and ran for the rest of the decade was initially a cultish, non-mainstream movement largely fed by merchant seaman bringing blues records back from American to the great industrial ports of the UK, Liverpool, Newcastle, Glasgow and London. Blues guys like John Lee Hooker, Sonny Boy Williamson [...]

The Strange Case of Jeff Baxter

Johnny's History Of Rock

Authored By Johnny Blogger May 17, 2015

You'd think playing in a band with Jimi Hendrix would be the pinnacle of most careers. Or maybe being in Steely Dan for their early Seventies holy trinity of Can't Buy A Thrill, Countdown To Ecstasy and Pretzel Logic. Or maybe 8 Platinum Records and two Grammys. Or being in the Doobie Brothers. Or even [...]

Knebworth Festival 1985

Authored By Johnny Blogger May 16, 2015

1985. Deep Purple are back - and so is rock at Knebworth. 1980 had seen Santana and the Beach Boys play at the Hertfordshire pile, then came two years of jazz / blues - including Ella, BB and Dizzy - before a couple of years of the Christian Greenbelt Festival including, erm, Cliff Richard. Fortunately, [...]

The History of Dawn Records

Authored By Johnny Blogger May 15, 2015

From making televisions and the unexciting beginnings of Petula Clark and Lonnie Doneghan to the freaked out acid folk of Paul Brett's Sage, the story of Pye Records and its Dawn Records offshoot is a peculiar one. Pye was a television and radio manufacturer in the Fifties but diversified into record label ownership with the [...]

History of Immediate Records

Johnny's History Of Rock

Authored By Johnny Blogger May 12, 2015

Set up during maybe the single most inventive and groundbreaking year in the history of rock music, Immediate Records was dead by the end of the 1960s as rows over money and dodgy dealings killed the dream. The label's rise and fall (1965 - 1970) was a snapshot of London in the second half of [...]

Dawn and John - The DJTees Originators

About DJTees

Authored By Johnny Blogger May 12, 2015

DJTees was established in 2002 by combining the DNA-deep knowledge and belief in classic rock of John Nicholson (known to customers and fans alike as 'The Boss') with his partner, Dawn Rossiter's talent as an artist and designer. Together they revolutionised the world of t-shirts. Working alongside some of rock n roll's finest and most [...]

Swan Song Records

Johnny's History Of Rock

Authored By Johnny Blogger May 11, 2015

Swan Song Records (1974 - 1983) So what do you get for the rock band who has everything? In 1974, Peter Green had the answer: a record label for Led Zeppelin. Swan Song records had two aims: to give Led Zep even more freedom in their own releases, and to put out records by quality [...]

Jorgen Angel

Authored By Johnny Blogger May 05, 2015

A true legend of rock photography. There is simply no over-stating his importance in the iconography of rock 'n' roll. He photographed the very first ever Led Zeppelin gig and subsequently worked with them on many other occasions. Jimmy Page chose the legendary 'swoosh' photo that Jorgen took of him as one of his favourite [...]

Atlanta Pop Festival 1970

Authored By Johnny Blogger April 05, 2015

2015 is the 45th anniversary of 1970's legendary Atlanta Pop Festival. The 1969 festival held at Atlanta Speedway track had been a huge success but this time 200,000 people flocked to Middle Georgia Raceway, Byron, Georgia for a huge line-up of top rock bands. Why was it called a pop festival? There was nothing pop [...]