The Islander

 

The Islander: My Life in Music and Beyond by Chris Blackwell 334 pp.

Winner of the 2023 Polar Music Prize, Chris Blackwell was born in England and grew up in both England and Jamaica. His young life was filled with family friends like Noel Coward, Ian Fleming, and Errol Flynn. Fleming and Blackwell's mother became a couple after his parents divorced. After being expelled from an elite school in England, Blackwell returned to Jamaica. He attempted several jobs before finding himself in the music industry, culminating in the creation of Island Records. Island gave young Steve Winwood and Bob Marley and others their big starts along with many others. Marley stayed with Island for his entire (but too brief) career and became one of Blackwell's closest friends. Blackwell championed Ska, Reggae, New Wave and more marginal styles of music. It was his intent to give little known and underdog musicians of great talent their chance to shine in the music world, sometimes succeeding, other times not. His passion was for getting the best out of the musicians without focusing on monetary success, often to the detriment of the business. In later years he produced Grace Jones (who became another great friend), U2, Tom Waits, Robert Palmer, and many others. After sixty years in the music business he went on to produce films. His later life has been that of a hotelier, creating and renovating properties into unique and boutique hotels with the first being on the property of Ian Fleming's Goldeneye estate where the James Bond books were written. Now in his eighties, Blackwell is still active and, while in his 70s introduced his own brand of rum, Blackwell's Black Gold. The audiobook was narrated by actor Bill Nighy.