Producer, musician and record label executive who worked with artists such as John Mayall, Eric Clapton and Fleetwood Mac

For the young generation that grew up in Britain in the 1940s and 50s, a country of grey skies and mostly grey music, to hear the voices of original African-American R&B artists such as Chuck Berry , Bo Diddley , Little Richard and James Brown was to be shown a land of gold. From Bolton to Bexhill-on-Sea, teenagers went prospecting for it: haunting specialist record shops, starting fanzines and creating fly-by-night record labels for illicit reissues.

That was exactly how the record producer and music executive Mike Vernon, who has died aged 81, began a lengthy career that helped to introduce the world to artists such as John Mayall , Eric Clapton and Fleetwood Mac.

Producer, musician and record label executive who worked with artists such as John Mayall, Eric Clapton and Fleetwood Mac

For the young generation that grew up in Britain in the 1940s and 50s, a country of grey skies and mostly grey music, to hear the voices of original African-American R&B artists such as Chuck Berry , Bo Diddley , Little Richard and James Brown was to be shown a land of gold. From Bolton to Bexhill-on-Sea, teenagers went prospecting for it: haunting specialist record shops, starting fanzines and creating fly-by-night record labels for illicit reissues.

That was exactly how the record producer and music executive Mike Vernon, who has died aged 81, began a lengthy career that helped to introduce the world to artists such as John Mayall , Eric Clapton and Fleetwood Mac.

Producer, musician and record label executive who worked with artists such as John Mayall, Eric Clapton and Fleetwood Mac

For the young generation that grew up in Britain in the 1940s and 50s, a country of grey skies and mostly grey music, to hear the voices of original African-American R&B artists such as Chuck Berry , Bo Diddley , Little Richard and James Brown was to be shown a land of gold. From Bolton to Bexhill-on-Sea, teenagers went prospecting for it: haunting specialist record shops, starting fanzines and creating fly-by-night record labels for illicit reissues.

That was exactly how the record producer and music executive Mike Vernon, who has died aged 81, began a lengthy career that helped to introduce the world to artists such as John Mayall , Eric Clapton and Fleetwood Mac.