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Neil Slaven

Neil Slaven, who has died aged 79, came to prominence
in the music business during the 1960s British
blues boom.

In 1965, Neil and his friend Mike Vernon, who both
worked for the Decca record label, founded their own
independent label, Blue Horizon Records (Neil
suggested the name). Their debut release was a 45
by Hubert Sumlin, Howlin’ Wolf’s guitarist, with
Neil playing second guitar. They also published

the magazine R&B Monthly.

Neil was an academic of the blues. He wrote the
definitive biography of Frank Zappa, Electric Don
Quixote: The Definitive Story Of Frank Zappa

(ISBN 978-0-7119-9436-2) Softcover, Omnibus
Press, 2003, and was co-author with Mike
Leadbitter, of ‘The Blues Bible’: Blues Records,
January 1943 to December 1966 ISBN 978-0-
8256-0110 Softcover, Oak Publications, 1968.
That volume was later enlarged by the

publication, by the same authors, of Blues Records
1943-1970: A Selective Discography Volume 1 A-K.
ISBN 978 0 9078 7207 8. A second volume does
not give him any name check credit.

Neil came to be known more widely to blues fans
when he wrote the album notes to John Mayall’s
bestselling 1966 album “Blues Breakers with Eric
Clapton” (aka: The Beano album; so called,
because Clapton is reading a copy of the Beano
comic in the cover photograph).

He compiled and wrote the sleeve notes for countless LP, CD and reissue box sets from
the vaults of US blues and R&B labels, including RCA’s Bluebird label, Sun, Chess,
Minit/Instant, King and Ace, for UK reissue companies including Charly, Westside, Indigo,
JSP, Sequel and Jasmine.

Neil Slaven was a true academic of the blues, doing the eyestraining and backbreaking
labour that is required in such intense bibliographic work, for the benefit of all of us.

Ian K McKenzie

Constructed from various sources