View source for Allen Klein

{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2021}}
{{Infobox musical artist
|Name = Allen Klein
|Img  =
|Img_capt =
|Background = non_performing_personnel
|Birth_name = Allen Klein
|birth_date = {{Birth date|1931|12|18|mf=yes}}
|birth_place = [[Newark, New Jersey]], [[United States]]
|death_date = {{Death date and age|2009|7|4|1931|12|18|mf=yes}}
|death_place = [[New York City]], United States
|Origin =
|Instrument =
|Genre = [[Rock music]]
|Occupation = [[Accountant]], [[record label|Record Label Owner]], [[Business manager|Business Manager]]
|Years_active = 1956–2009
|Label = [[ABKCO Records]]
|Associated_acts = [[The Rolling Stones]], [[The Beatles]], [[The Verve]]
}}
'''Allen Klein''' (December 18, 1931 - July 4, 2009) was an [[Americans|American]] [[businessman]]. He studied to become an [[:wikt:accountant|accountant]], and made his living as the [[business man]]ager of many [[celebrity|celebrities]], [[musician]]s in particular.

== Early life ==
Klein was born in [[Newark, New Jersey]] and was of [[Hungary|Hungarian]] [[Jew]]ish descent.<ref>[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/celebrity-obituaries/5751356/Allen-Klein.html Telegraph obituary]</ref> He married a woman named Betty, after he graduated from college. He first became well known when he helped a singer, [[Bobby Darin]], to recover money owed to him by his [[record label]]. Darin received a $100,000 check for unpaid [[royalties]], and split it with Klein. Klein was called the "[[Robin Hood]]" of [[popular music]], liked by artists but hated by the companies they worked for.

== Career ==
Klein bought a struggling record label, Cameo-Parkway, and tried to make it more profitable. When he got into legal trouble for "talking up" the value of shares in the company, he changed his plans. He merged Cameo-Parkway with his own accounting firm, creating a company called ABKCO (for Allen and Betty Klein and Company).

Among Klein's clients were pop singers [[Connie Francis]], [[Steve Lawrence]] and [[Eydie Gormé]], R&B singer [[Sam Cooke]], folk musician [[Donovan]], [[record producer]] [[Phil Spector]], and rock bands [[Herman's Hermits]], [[The Animals]], [[The Rolling Stones]] and [[The Beatles]]. While he helped his clients with money matters, and to make new [[contract]]s that paid them better, not all his business choices were the best for his clients. Klein ended up owning much of the music of the Rolling Stones, the Animals and other artists, which cut into their long-term earnings. The artists also sometimes lost the [[wikt:goodwill|goodwill]] of the businesses they dealt with, because of Klein's work for them.

Klein played a role in the breakup of the Beatles. He impressed [[John Lennon]] enough to sign up with him overnight, and Lennon persuaded [[George Harrison]] and [[Ringo Starr]] to go along. [[Paul McCartney]], though, decided to let his wife [[Linda McCartney|Linda]]'s father Lee Eastman become his manager. Eastman and Klein did not get along, and Eastman treated Lennon and his wife [[Yoko Ono]] poorly. Disagreements on what the Beatles should be doing with their company [[Apple Corps]], and their own business interests, helped to tear the band apart.

After the Beatles broke up, Lennon, Harrison and Starr liked the things Klein did for them less and less, and eventually split with him, giving Klein a final payment of about £3.5 million for his services. Later, Klein got into tax trouble, and served a two-month jail sentence for [[wikt:income tax|income tax]] [[tax evasion|evasion]].<ref name="NYT">[https://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/05/arts/music/05klein.html Allen Klein dies]</ref>

Klein continued his career, and ABKCO continued to issue records from the old Cameo-Parkway label, and the artists Klein had managed. Nearly all the records were taken off the market for many years, making [[:wikt:classic|classic]] songs like "96 Tears" (by ? and the Mysterians), "So Much In Love" by the Tymes, and "Bristol Stomp" by the Dovells impossible to buy.

Klein's son Jody became the controller of ABKCO, when Klein's health became poor. In 2005, ABKCO finally began to issue [[digital remastering|digitally remastered]] [[compact disc]]s of the music owned by the company. Klein died in [[Manhattan]]<ref name="NYT"/> of complications from [[Alzheimer's disease]] in July 2009.

== Sources ==
<references/>

{{The Beatles}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Klein, Allen}}
[[Category:1931 births]]
[[Category:2009 deaths]]
[[Category:American fraudsters]]
[[Category:American Jews]]
[[Category:Deaths from Alzheimer's disease]]
[[Category:Disease-related deaths in New York City]]
[[Category:Jewish businesspeople]]
[[Category:Businesspeople from Newark, New Jersey]]
[[Category:The Beatles]]