Allen Klein died in 2009, but his legacy was cemented decades earlier when he seized control of the Rolling Stones and the Beatles through aggressive business maneuvers that would become the stuff of rock and roll legend. Born in 1931, Klein was not a musician or a producer, but a business manager who specialized in turning struggling artists into financial empires. He founded Allen Klein & Co. in 1961, initially managing clients like Bobby Darin and Sam Cooke, but his true ambition lay in the upper echelons of the music industry. By 1968, he had established ABKCO Industries, an umbrella company that would eventually own and administer the rights to music by the Rolling Stones, the Animals, Herman's Hermits, and the Kinks, alongside the historic Cameo Parkway label. The acronym ABKCO stood for Allen and Betty Klein and Company, though Klein often joked it meant A Better Kind of Company, a quip that belied the ruthless nature of his business practices. His acquisition of the Cameo-Parkway Records catalog and its manufacturing facility in 1968 gave him a foothold in the oldies market, but it was his management of the Beatles and the Rolling Stones that would define his career and generate the lawsuits that would plague him until his death.
The Silence Of The Oldies
For decades, fans of 1960s pop music were left in the dark regarding the original recordings of artists like Chubby Checker and Bobby Rydell, simply because Allen Klein refused to release them. ABKCO sat on the entire catalog of music from these artists, preventing the release of original versions for compilations and forcing the artists to re-record their hits for inclusion on bargain-basement oldies LPs. Chubby Checker was forced to re-record his hit The Twist, and other original artists found themselves unable to profit from their own early work. This policy of keeping the Cameo-Parkway material unavailable until 2005 drew heavy criticism from fans and critics alike, who viewed it as a deliberate attempt to suppress the music for financial gain. The label's licensing policy was so restrictive that it prevented the release of the original versions of songs for compilations, effectively erasing the authentic sound of the era from the market. It was not until Jody Klein, Allen's son and president of ABKCO, took over that the tide began to turn, with Jody credited in liner notes for finally releasing the Cameo-Parkway recordings and overseeing an extensive remastering of the Rolling Stones, the Animals, and Sam Cooke's 1960s recordings. The silence was finally broken, but the damage to the artists' legacies had already been done.The Beatles And The Bill
In January 1970, the Beatles signed a music publishing management contract with ABKCO Industries, a decision that would lead to a legal battle lasting over a decade and costing the band millions. The contract was terminated at some point, but ABKCO sued the group, a suit resolved in 1977 when the Beatles paid ABKCO $4.2 million. Other ABKCO Beatles-related lawsuits continued for at least a decade, creating a shadow of litigation that followed the band's legacy. One such case involved ABKCO Music, Inc. v. Harrisongs Music, Ltd., where former Beatle George Harrison was sued by Bright Tunes Music Corporation over the similarities between his song My Sweet Lord and He's So Fine by the Chiffons. ABKCO, which was managing Harrison's work and other material by the Beatles, became defendants in the case until they made a successful motion to acquire Bright Tunes and all of their copyrights after years of negotiation. Another lawsuit was then initiated by ABKCO against Harrison Interests over the similarities between the two songs. The case was ruled as copyright infringement on the part of Harrison, which resulted in him paying damages, but ABKCO was also found guilty of breaching their fiduciary duty by purchasing Bright Tunes with intimate knowledge of the defendant's defense. The decision was appealed by both parties, but the district court's decision was upheld by the appellate court, leaving a legacy of legal entanglement that would haunt the band's history.