Bob Keane

Bob Keane (born Robert Verrill Kuhn - January 5, 1922, Manhattan Beach, California, died November 28, 2009) was a musician, record producer, record label founder. He released Zappa's early recordings and is listed on the cover of Freak Out! as Bob Keene.

As a teenager his band's school concert was broadcast as a last minute replacement for a cancelled show. This was heard by an agent; signing him to MCA who marketed him as the worlds youngest band leader. He was dropped from the label as they feared he would be called up for active service. After being retired from the military with a lung infection he returned to band work. After a TV announcer pronounced his name as "coon" it was suggested he change his name to Keen. An 'e' was added to become Keene which later evolved into Keane.

Whilst playing clarinet in clubs around Los Angeles he was approached by John Siamas to set up a record label and find talent to record. The first release on Keen Records was Sam Cooke's "You Send Me". By the end of 1957 this had become a national hit and had earned the record label a great deal of money but as Keane only had an informal verbal contract with Siamas he was not enjoying the success. It became apparent that he had been tricked and found himself manoeuvred out of his own record company.

Del-Fi

Close to bankruptcy his wife suggested finding others who Siamas had conned to get them to fund setting up a new record label. Having found such a backer Del-Fi Records was established in 1958 taking its name from the Oracle of Delphi but modified to Fi to reflect the new Hi Fi audio recordings and equipment which were becoming popular. The first release was the standard Caravan by Henri Rose.. This was successful enough that Warner Brothers purchased Rose's contract from Keane allowing him to pay off his original backer.

On December 16, 1958, Keane led a group of session musicians (including Carol Kaye) to record the hit Donna with Ritchie Valens whom Keane had discovered earlier that year and had worked alongside developing songs in his home studio. After the untimely death of Valens Keane set up a subsidiary label called Donna alongside Del-Fi. Unlike most record companies at the time Keane adopted an 'open door' policy - "I'll listen to anyone, even if they bring 'em in on a stretcher" he once quipped.

In early 1963 an individual looking like a 'skinny little high-school kid' wandered into the office and introduced himself as Frank Zappa. He had a pile of tapes he had made with Paul Buff at a small studio in Cucamonga. Zappa described some of the recordings as "oddball, textured weirdo stuff" that Keane later realised had eventually become part of the Hot Rats album. Keane took a gamble and purchased several of the tapes for $500 to release as singles. The first was Paul Buffs Slow Bird/Blind Man's Buff (Donna 1376 - January 1963) followed by Baby Ray & The Ferns How's Your Bird/World's Greatest Sinner (Donna 1378 March 1963), Bob Guy Letter From Jeepers/Dear Jeepers (Donna 1380 April 1963), The Heartbreakers Cradle Rock/Every Time I See You (Donna 1381 April 1964).

Keane went on to set up further subsidiary labels such as Bronco and Mustang but with the demise of his most successful act The Bobby Fuller Four. The company was closed down in 1967 and Keane took to selling burglar alarms.

See also

Bob Keane - Wikipedia

The Oracle of Del-Fi (My life in music) by Bob Keane (ISBN 0-9768105-1-4) - Chapter 11 Frank Zappa/Paul Bluff