Former Beatles and Rolling Stones manager Allen Klein dies

The conic and infamous music business entrepreneur, who also was one time manager of the Rolling Stones, and the Beatles, has passed on Saturday, July 4, 2009, at his New York City home after battling Alzheimer's disease, ABKCO Music & Records’ publicist Bob Merlis said.

Klein’s blunt negotiating style

Klein was one of the most powerful figures in the music business in the 1960s, extracting lucrative deals from music labels for his clients. During his career spanning over 50 years, Klein enjoyed a reputation as a dogged businessman with a take-no-prisoners negotiating style. With his tenacious and often blunt style, Klein helped his clients earn record label deals. His clients included Sam Cooke, the Rolling Stones, and the Beatles.

"Don't talk to me about ethics," Klein told Playboy magazine in 1971. "Every man makes his own. It's like a war. You choose your side early and from then on, you're being shot at. The man you beat is likely to call you unethical. So what?"

Manager to Cooke and Rolling Stones

The New Jersey born accountant known for his temper and brashness shot to fame in 1963 when he helped Cooke land a lucrative recording deal. In 1965, Klein became the co-manager of the Rolling Stones, but their relationship eventually ended with a legal agreement giving Klein the rights to most of their songs the band recorded before 1971, including tracks like “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” and “Jumpin’ Jack Flash.”

Manager to Beatles

Klein subsequently moved to manage the Beatles. In 1969, John Lennon persuaded the other Beatles that Klein should take over the group's business affairs, but Paul McCartney resisted the move and favored Lee Eastman, father of his wife, Linda, as the man for the job. Some Beatles fans say Klein’s appointment as band’s manager contributed to the band's 1970 breakup.

Klein, who was born the son of Jewish immigrants from Budapest, Hungary, founded his firm Allen Klein & Co. in the late 1950s before the label evolved into ABKCO Music & Records in New York. Today, ABKCO is one of the world's leading independent music companies, holding the copyrights to music by the Rolling Stones, Sam Cooke, the Animals, the Kinks, Chubby Checker, Bobby Womack and hundreds of others.

Klein’s Tax fraud

In 1979, Klein was convicted of tax fraud and was sentenced to two months in prison for failing to report income from sales of promotional records by the Beatles and other groups.

Klein is survived by his wife Betty, their three children, four grandchildren, a sister and his longtime girlfriend Iris Keitel, an ABKCO executive.