Background
Track was among the first British owned independent record labels. It was originally intended to provide more creative freedom for the Who. But Chris Stamp also says that at the end of 1966 he and Kit were spurred to set up Track in order to get involved with new arrival Jimi Hendrix. Hendrix was not in need of management from Lambert and Stamp as he had already signed an agreement with Chas Chandler.
Lambert and Stamp had already grappled with the rigid confines of the established record companies. In 1966 they were involved in a court battle to release the Who from an onerous contract with producer Shel Talmy and the Decca (US) and Brunswick (UK) labels. At this time Lambert and Stamp started releasing the Who's records in the UK on Robert Stigwood's Reaction Records label. Both Track and Reaction were very much reliant upon distribution support in the UK from the large Polydor Records label based in Germany. Polydor's involvement with these two small labels can be seen as learning process about the rock music market. Polydor was interested in expanding its base beyond easy listening and ballads. Its best known artist at the time was Bert Kaempfert.
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