the Classic Album series highlights essential '60s and '70s albums that stand the test of time
Bumpers is a 1970 double-LP budget sampler album (catalogue number IDP 1) released by Island Records in Europe and Australasia. It showcased the label's diverse progressive rock, folk, and blues roster of the era, retailing at an affordable price to introduce buyers to full-length LPs. For 90 minutes and 20 tracks of the best music from that period the retail price for the double LP set in heavy gate-fold sleeves was a mere £3.50 in the UK and $3.99 in Australia.
For decades copies of the album, distinctive for its striking cover artwork by artist Tony Wright featuring of a pair of basketball-style gym shoes known as "Bumpers", red on a lurid yellow background, could be found for next to nothing relegated to the vinyl bargain bin in 2nd hand shops. If you find a good copy you should grab it!
As for the music itself it well and truly stands the test of time. The track selection is exemplary - including more obscure jazzier acts such as Alan Bown and If, though to mainstream rockers such as Free, Traffic and Spooky Tooth. Plus there's the inclusion of several superb Folkier acts such as Fairport, Nick Drake, Fotheringay, and Cat Stevens, which are all gems from Chris Blackwell's Island Records stable in the late Sixties. The strength of the sets is shown in the track selection: all of which is top-shelf material, including many Singles, rather than the type of "filler" found on many other Samplers and "Dynamic Hits" compilations. Looking at the differences between the two versions, the Australian release has no fewer than eight A-side singles, although both versions have strong points with only one track in common (Spooky Tooth's magnificent "I am the Walrus") so it's perhaps best to consider the sets as two halves of a 38 track 4xLP mega-compilation.
Despite there being a degree of snobbery towards compilation albums on the part of some collectors, Samplers such as this gave a first taste for many budding music lovers, of the music and bands they would seek out and buy for their collections. Remember this was before CD's and Internet - no music streaming, no Spotify, no playlists etc. and mainstream radio wouldn't touch this music until much later. So it was impossible to hear unless you could find the LPs, most of which weren't even available outside of the UK except on import!
UK Track Listing:
A1 Traffic – Every Mother's Son 7:08
A2 Bronco - Love 4:42
A3 Spooky Tooth – I Am The Walrus 6:20
A4 Quintessence – Jesus, Buddha, Moses, Gauranga 5:15
B1 Mott The Hoople – Thunderbuck Ram 4:50
B2 Jethro Tull – Nothing To Say 5:10
B3 Jimmy Cliff – Going Back West 5:32
B4 Blodwyn Pig – Send Your Son To Die 5:35
B5 Dave Mason – Little Woman 2:30
C1 John & Beverley Martyn – Go Out And Get It 3:15
C2 King Crimson – Cadence & Cascade 3:30
C3 If – Reaching Out On All Sides 5:35
C4 Free – Oh I Wept 4:25
C5 Nick Drake – Hazey Jane 4:28
D1 Fairport Convention – Walk Awhile 4:00
D2 Cat Stevens – Maybe You're Right 3:00
D3 Renaissance – Island 5:57
D4 Fotheringay – The Sea 5:25
D5 Clouds – Take Me To Your Leader 2:55
Australian Track Listing:
A1 Free – All Right Now 4:13
A2 Quintessence – Notting Hill Gate 2:29
A3 Traffic – Empty Pages 4:40
A4 The Spencer Davis Group – I'm A Man 3:06
A5 John And Beverley Martyn – Primrose Hill 2:53
B1 Cat Stevens – Mona Bone Jakon 1:42
B2 Mott The Hoople – You Really Got Me 2:13
B3 Cat Stevens – Lady D'Arbanville 3:45
B4 Jimmy Cliff – Wonderful World Beautiful People 3:15
B5 Fotheringay – Peace In The End 4:03
C1 Spooky Tooth – I Am The Walrus 6.20
C2 If – The Promised Land 3:45
C3 Tramline – Somewhere Down The Line 3:30
C4 Alan Bown – Loosen Up 3:25
C5 Fairport Convention – Crazy Man Michael 4:41
D1 Jimmy Cliff – Wild World 3:52
D2 Spooky Tooth – Love Really Changed Me 3:33
D3 Traffic – Dear Mr. Fantasy 5:34
D4 Quintessence – Shiva's Chant 2:14
D5 The Amazing Blondel – Anthem 2:59
As well as the Bumpers sampler, Island Records produced other gems such as Nice Enough to Eat (1969), You Can All Join In (1969), and El Pea (1971). Other progressive labels such as Vertigo and Harvest Records also released excellent sampler compilations around the same time.
Artrockstore has has curated a comprehensive gallery of Sampler albums which can be viewed via the following link: Samplers