There has been a decent obituary in The Guardian newspaper which can be read online, the link is below:
https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2026/jan/04/brian-smith-obituary
Written by Tony Burke, editor of Blues & Rhythm magazine (apologies for mixing this up in our post), it includes a nice photo of Brian which I had not seen before. Funeral details are in the post following.
Frustratingly we must warn that two of our titles are close to selling out. The second edition of our best selling Deep Purple biography Wait For The Ricochet has just been hit with a “low stock” notice by our distributors, while The Art Of The Bizarre Vinyl Sleeve has now almost sold out the initial print run. We have just a handful of copies left in our online shop. We will attempt to republish both in the new year but cannot say when this might be.
We had to suspend shipping to the USA in August when they slapped an $80 tariff duty on ALL small parcels, which clearly we could not impose on our customers. It then changed to a blanket 10% tariff on parcels from the UK, plus a per parcel customs handling charge. It now seems somebody pointed out that books are protected in U.S. law (though for how long…) and will be exempted from tariffs though the customs handling charge remains, albeit payable in the UK. We are reading up on the rules on the Royal Mail site, and if we think we understand it all, we will reinstate a USA delivery option next week. And then go for a lie down.
The stupidity of Donald Trump knows no bounds but, because of it, today, like thousand’s of other small traders around the world, we have had to take the sad decision to stop all sales to the USA due to his imposition of an $80 surcharge on regular parcels from outside the country. Most European postal services have in any case already suspended shipping to the USA. We apologise for the people who placed orders this week, and have refunded them in full.
Boom Boom Boom Boom – American Rhythm & Blues In England 1962 – 1966 – The photographs of Brian Smith
It has been a mad couple of weeks as we undertake media on this book, trying to spread the word and reach writers and journalists who might be able to review or publicise the title. But the reaction from all quarters so far has been really positive, and thanks to people who bought the book direct and have emailed Ann and myself with their reaction. Easy On The Eye Books’ main aim is to produce books which we would wish to purchase, and it’s great when others get what we are about.
To quote from just two reviews in the press: “The book is an exhaustive chronicle of the times, an archive of intimate yet historic moments when a culture was in flux. These photos are truly the minutes of a revolution”. (Bob Bell, former producer at Island Records, Blues & Rhythm magazine). “The book is a treasure trove of magnificent moments caught in time. The stage shots are exhilarating, but the candid behind the scenes snaps are equally fascinating. An absorbing look back at a singular musical era.” (Chris Wheatley, Vintage Rock).
And wait until Brian sees what the Dutch have made of the book in a two page preview due next month; they’ve given over half the spread to a shot of him! We’ll show this here when we have permission. From the publishers AND Brian.
Still time to order a copy direct from us for a discount and a free bookmark, though stock of those are fast disappearing!
Excellent to find comedian Stewart Lee indulging in a bit of crate digging at The Big Difference venue in Leicester on the 14th, as he dropped by to look and chuckle at Steve’s worst album covers which are currently decorating the place for the duration of the Leicester Comedy Festival. Stewart was playing that evening at the De Montfort Hall so it was really good of him to spare the time, and after a few words from Steve the collector, Stewart read aloud from his book introduction and had invited guests chuckling away. Always great to be chatting with vinyl fans and thanks to Fern who organised this for us. There is still time to catch author Simon’s illustrated talk on the worst album covers which will be at lunchtime on Saturday 22nd February but while this is free you MUST book a seat in advance through the Leicester Comedy Festival website as numbers are restricted.
Our book The Art Of The Bizarre Vinyl Sleeve can be found on the site.
Thanks to everyone who has placed a pre-order on Boom Boom / The Blues Photographs of Brian Smith. There is still time to do so and we will be sending another newsletter out about this to everyone next week, but wanted to wish everyone who looks in on this site all the best for the New Year. We managed to put some time in on another upcoming title in between eating home made mince pies and watching Wallace & Gromit, and the fruits of that work will figure here shortly. Right now it’s time to get the snow shovel out; the printer has some proofs for me to look at and it’s a steep drive!
Couple of new spreads from the as yet still unscheduled Go Home On A Postcard book. The pages above show a pair of young women, likely sisters, enjoying themselves in Great Yarmouth in the Fifties, along with three young women on a break in Blackpool actually during World War Two. The trendy white rimmed sunglasses influenced by Hollywood publicity photos give this quite a spooky look. Below is a spread of these commercial street portraits taken in and around Skegness in the 1950s, family groups – up to eight people in one shot – heading for the beach judging by the tin buckets visible in most of the shots!
With our next title (Boom Boom) heading for the printers any day, this book has now become a priority, especially with an exhibition in the offing. However frustratingly the software has gone and corrupted all the image links in the artwork, so I have first got to relink all 350+ scans before moving on to final production work! This seems to be something to do with me having updated the InDesign software a couple of times since starting the project, and there seem to be no easy work rounds, so I best get on with it… You can sign up for a newsletter using the link above to get the latest news.
More page spreads on the site.
The Art Of The Bizarre Vinyl Sleeve is now lodged in the archives of the British Library, so future mad album art researchers can peruse it at their leisure! These days publishers have to send the library six copies of each new title, the rest are then shipped on to the national libraries in Scotland, Wales and Ireland, with two more going to Cambridge University (my Mum would be proud, that’s where she went!) and the Bodleian in Oxford. It’s a clever scheme though it often takes a prompt from their legal deposit department for us to remember to do it! Sadly donating books like this does not give us any sort of a discount if we wish to use the British Library resources in turn; it’s still £31 (pre-covid prices) for them to send me one snap of an album sleeve from their collection…
So, for one of our upcoming titles we’re hoping to get over to the storage library at Boston Spa (above) and take some photos ourselves, now the dreaded cyber attack closures appear to be under control. And I am more than excited about plans to open extra facilities in Leeds at the utterly marvellous Temple Works, abandoned for decades by the thickies at the council. Let’s hope this doesn’t go under Rachel Reeves mad austerity mk 2 agenda.
As we are nearing publication we have revoiced our first promotion video about Brian Smith’s Blues Photo Book “Boom Boom Boom Boom on the Easy On The Eye Books YouTube channel. I say “we” but in fact the new voice-over was done by Nate Goodwyn, who adds an authentic feel to the piece. The video should show here on most browser but if not you can check this out using the link below. Do feel free to pass the word or share the video!
easy on the eye books 