Photo: wenn.com
Chris Stamp, co-founder of Track Records and the former manager of The Who, has died aged 70.
The record label legend passed away on Saturday, November 24th, at New York's Mount Sinai Hospital after a battle with cancer.
Stamp, originally from London's East End, began his career as a film maker, and worked with the late Kim Lambert on various projects.
The pair met The Who when they played at the Railway Hotel, while the duo were making a film about the growing British rock scene in 1963.
Stamp and Lambert then bought out The Who and their manager at the time, Peter Meaden.
Track Records was originally set up as a way of giving The Who more creative freedom than they had previously enjoyed, but the pair were also spurred on by the prospect of working with new arrival Jimi Hendrix in 1966.
Stamp produced most of Track's films and records from 1968.
The Who left Track in 1975, with Stamp and Lambert moving Track Records to New York.
Stamp ceases operations in 1978, and Lambert died aged 45 in 1981.
Roger Daltry and Pete Townsend on stage at Glastonbury
But a revived track opened its doors in 1999, run by former Stranglers, Cult and Big Country manager Ian Grant. It is unclear how much connection the new Track has with the original set-up run by Stamp and Lambert.
The Who posted a message on their site this weekend saying Stamp's passing was hard to bare and promising that a tribute would follow.
At a show on Saturday night, Who frontman Roger Daltry honoured Stamp as 'a man without whom we wouldn't be the band we were'.
Photos: Roger Daltry live in 2011
