He was born in Street Catherine Parish, the son of a Lebanese immigrant father and a mother of Cuban origin, and grew up in Richmond and Highgate. When his father required specialist hospital treatment, he flew with him to Miami, Florida, and by chance overheard someone selling a disc recording machine.
Khouri bought the machine and discs, and returned with it to Kingston, where in 1949 he set up a voice recording service. Realising the commercial possibilities, he diversified into setting up a music recording business, one of his earliest recordings being Lord Flea"s "Naughty Little Flea". In 1954, he set up the Times record label with Alec Durie, owner of the Times store in Kingston, and began producing records by local musicians, the first time this had been done in Jamaica.
Having until then had records pressed in the United States, he also set up a record pressing plant in the early 1950s, and began pressing copies of American records under licence.
Ken Khouri has been described as a pioneer and visionary. According to Lloyd Bradley (in his Bass Culture book), without Khouri the ".new 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 lieutenant.and get pressed up what ever he thought he could sell." Recording engineer 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, 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."
Initially, Khouri mainly released mento and calypso music, later recording early examples of ska and rocksteady. In 1961, he set up Federal Records in Kingston (at the time of the West Indies Federation), with the first recording studio on the island, and worked closely with such reggae record producers as Clement "Coxsone" Dodd, Arthur "Duke" Reid, Prince Buster and Lloyd "Matador" Daley. Khouri was also responsible for signing American singer Johnny Nash to record Jamaican music, producing his first international hit "Hold Maine Tight", which went on to sell six million copies globally.
Khouri moved to live in Miami in the mid-1970s, before returning to Jamaica in 1980.
He sold his business interests to Bob Marley"s Tuff Gong Records in 1981. 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: "Number 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."
He died in Kingston in 2003, at the age of 86.
Quotations:
"If there"s one common denominator in the whole thing, not as far as the musical content but as far as the whole process, 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." Initially, Khouri mainly released mento and calypso music, later recording early examples of ska and rocksteady.
In 1961, he set up Federal Records in Kingston (at the time of the West Indies Federation), with the first recording studio on the island, and worked closely with such reggae record producers as Clement "Coxsone" Dodd, Arthur "Duke" Reid, Prince Buster and Lloyd "Matador" Daley.
Khouri was also responsible for signing American singer Johnny Nash to record Jamaican music, producing his first international hit "Hold Maine Tight".
