If you haven’t already had a listen of Amchitka: the 1970 concert that launched Greenpeace, it’s now yours to purchase.  Not only will you buy a little piece of Greenpeace history (there’s a great story in the liner notes!) and great music, but your dollars will also be going directly to support Greenpeace campaigns.

The album was released this week, and it’s been great to see the positive reviews pour in.  A lot of people I talk to are just blown away by the sound quality of this “forgotten” recording.  Aside from the amazing mastering and restoration by Peter J. Moore, we can thank the late Irving Stowe for that. During the concert he spied a tape recorder under the stage, and found out that the sound engineer was recording the show.  With permission from the artists, he obtained a copy of the recording for personal use.  This recording became part of the Stowe family collection, brought out on special occasions.  The sound engineer had captured the concert on a high-quality tube Revox tape recorder, and the recording was kept at the Stowe home on pristine reel-to-reel until 2003.  Irving’s son, Bob Stowe, decided to transfer the tape to CD that year as a present for his family.  He lovingly made a “CD prototype” complete with artist photos, liner notes and a mini-history of the concert.  The Stowes were so impressed with the final package that they approached Greenpeace to look into getting permissions to release the music – an archival snapshot of a pivotal time.

The core of the 1970/71 "Don't Make A Wave Committee", which later formed Greenpeace: Jim Bohlen, Paul Cote and Irving Stowe.

What was a labour of love for the Stowe family (all of whom pitched in) became a labour of love for me, and for Greenpeace, as we began work on this project.  We’re really happy with the result, and really inspired by the dedication of the many people who worked on making our dream a reality. Please check out the acknowledgements (in the CD booklet) for their names. There was not one naysayer in the bunch and no push back at all. Everyone from the artists to their management and even the record company execs and publishers seem to know the value of this project intuitively and encouraged us with great enthusiasm to move ahead. Recognizing the fundraising potential for Greenpeace, many worked for nothing and gave us gratis deals and generous discounts. For me personally, seeing this sort of recognition and respect for Greenpeace and the work we’ve being doing since those early days has been really uplifting. Makes ya want to pay it forward!