Ken Khouri
Kenneth Lloyd Khouri (1917 – 20 September 2003) was a pioneering Jamaican record producer and founder of Federal Records, the first recording studio in Jamaica, which was sold to Bob Marley's Tuff Gong record label in 1981.[1] He is credited by reggae historians for the birth of rocksteady in the 1960s.[2] Rocksteady later mixed with Jamaican mento, a genre in which Khouri also had a pioneering role, leading to the creation of reggae music.[citation needed]
American singer
Biography
He was born in
When his father required specialist hospital treatment, he flew with him to
Realising the commercial possibilities, he decided to set up a music recording business and traveled to
Times Record Limited
In the early 1950s, he set up the Times Record Limited label with Alec Durie, owner of the Times store in Kingston, and began producing Mento records by local musicians, the first time this had been done in Jamaica. One of his earliest recordings was Lord Flea's "Naughty Little Flea". The records pressed by Khouri and others such Stanley Motta helped created the golden age of mento music and brought it to a new audience.[12]
Times Records Limited was renamed as Federal Records in the early 1960s.
Federal Records
The company was a powerhouse during the 1960s and 1970s. Ken Lazarus,
In 1965, singer Hopeton Lewis recorded his rocksteady hit "Take It Easy" at Federal Records usually recognized as the first rocksteady single recorded.[18] The slower and bassier beat style of this new rocksteady genre became the choice of partygoers in Jamaica over the previous jazz-based Ska. This led Khouri to the creation of Merritone Label in 1966 within the Federal Records roster. Merritone was successful as well as influential, although short-lived.[19]
Khouri signed American singer Johnny Nash to record Jamaican music, producing his first international hit "Hold Me Tight" in 1968, which went on to sell six million copies globally and placed reggae in the American listener charts.[5]
Bob Marley recorded his first single "Judge Not" in 1962 at Federal Records. Jimmy Cliff also cut his first track in 1962 at Federal studios for Count Boysie's sound system, who, in turn, would air the track at dances, although the single was never released.[20]
Jamaican artist Ken Boothe's reggae version of the song "Everything I Own" was released in 1974 by Federal Records and reached Number One in the UK Singles charts on 26 October 1974, and stayed at the top of the charts for three weeks
Some scenes in the 1972 film The Harder They Come, were shot at Federal Studios.[2]
In 1981, Khouri sold the studio and his business interests to Bob Marley's Tuff Gong Record Label, owned then by Marley's wife Rita, who changed the name from Federal Studios to Tuff Gong Recording Studios.
Legacy
Khouri has been described as a pioneer and visionary.[8][9] According to Lloyd Bradley (in his Bass Culture book), without Khouri the "...new [Jamaican record producing] industry would probably have been stillborn. Ken Khouri was always going to be a central figure: Anyone who had a tune in his head could come to Ken to record it.. ..and get pressed up what ever he thought he could sell."[21]
Recording engineer and founder of Island Records, Graeme Goodall said: "If there's one common denominator in the whole thing, not as far as the musical content but as far as the whole process [of developing the Jamaican recording industry], that was Ken Khouri, Papa Khouri. Because he was the one who had the foresight to develop the industry, y'know, build the studio, build the pressing plant. He was a very successful Lebanese businessman, but I mean he was the lynchpin of the whole thing."[22]
In an interview he commented on his lack of recognition in the Jamaican music industry, stating that apart from some non-Jamaicans and a few old associates like Prince Buster or Pluto Shervington: "No one ever says thanks... I would rather that you do not say it but I am disappointed, especially with the Government, for not recognizing my contribution."[4]
In 2001, he was inducted into the Hall of Fame of the Caribbean Development for the Arts and Culture Foundation, and before his death he was the recipient of the silver Musgrave Medal for his contributions to the music industry. He died in Kingston in 2003, at the age of 86.[4]
References
- ^ "The Most Important Studios in the History of Reggae". RateYourMusic.com.
- ^ a b Campbell, Howard (30 September 2003). "Producer Pioneered Reggae Forerunner, 'Rocksteady'". IPS News Agency. Retrieved 7 April 2018.
- ISBN 978-1-4107-8062-1– via Google Books.
- ^ a b c Balford Henry, "Ken Khouri: pioneer of Jamaican recording industry", Jamaica Gleaner, 28 September 2003. Retrieved 17 April 2013
- ^ ISBN 978-1-4107-8062-1. Retrieved 5 May 2013.
- ISBN 978-1-56639-629-5. Retrieved 5 May 2005.
ken khouri.
- ^ "Ken Khouri". Discogs.com. Retrieved 7 April 2018.
- ^ a b Michael Garnice (11 March 2012). "Mento Music Lord Flea". Mentomusic.com. Retrieved 14 April 2013.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-4107-8062-1.
- ISBN 978-0-8108-8450-2– via Google Books.
- ^ Balford, Henry. "Ken Khouri: pioneer of Jamaican recording industry". Jamaica Gleaner.
- ISBN 978-1-317-00237-6.
- ^ "Ken Khouri: The man behind Federal Records". Jamaican Observer.
- ^ "Dub Store Sound Inc. | story of FEDERAL RECORDS / Tribute to KENNITH L.KHOURI". Dubstore.co.jp.
- ^ Matty, Daddy. "The Definitive Collection of Federal Records (1964-1982) Review (VP/17 North Parade)". Thereggaereview.com. Retrieved 30 October 2019.
- ISBN 978-0-313-33158-9– via Google Books.
- ISBN 978-1-317-00237-6– via Google Books.
- ^ Harry, Wise (2016). "Take It Easy: The Roots of Jamaican Rocksteady". Medium.
- ^ "Merritone". Discogs.com. Retrieved 30 October 2019.
- ^ "Jimmy CLIFF biography". Thegreatrockbible.com. Retrieved 30 October 2019.
- ISBN 0-14-192817-4.
- ^ Peter I, "Interview with Graeme Goodall, 'Mr. Goody'", Reggae-Vibes.com. Retrieved 19 April 2013.