1. Robert Verrill Kuhn, professionally known as Bob Keane, and sometimes known as Bob Keene, was an American musician, producer and the founder and owner of the record label Del-Fi Records.
18 Facts About Bob Keane
1. 2.
Bob Keane was the producer and manager of Ritchie Valens and Pinoy star Josephine Roberto, aka Banig.
3.
Bob Keane was born Robert Verrill Kuhn in Manhattan Beach, California, in 1922.
4.
Bob Keane was a clarinet player, and his ambition was to front a big band like his idol, Benny Goodman.
5.
Bob Keane did so and in 1938, he was setting up to play his first show at Glendale Junior College and was approached by an employee of KFWB, a Los Angeles radio station, who wanted to broadcast the concert on air to replace a canceled scheduled show.
6.
The next day Keane received a phone call from an agent at MCA who had heard the broadcast on KFWB, and who wanted to sign Keane.
7.
Bob Keane decided to enlist in the Army Air Force, and was retired from active service due to a lung infection.
8.
Bob Keane returned to Los Angeles and continued to play clarinet in several bands.
9.
Bob Keane was given an acetate of two songs by Sam Cooke, who at the time using his original surname, Cook, and singing in a gospel group called The Soul Stirrers.
10.
Sam Cook was signed to a three-year contract with Keen, his surname changed just as Bob Keane's had been, and the songs were subsequently pressed and released as the first single on Keen Records.
11.
At this point, despite Keen Records having earned over $1,000,000 from sales of "You Send Me," Bob Keane had only an oral contract with Siamas.
12.
Bob Keane realized that he had been tricked into finding a hit record and then pushed out of the company.
13.
In March 1958, Bob Keane discovered Ritchie Valens performing a Saturday matinee show in a movie theatre in Pacoima and invited Valens to audition in the basement of his home, where he had set up a small recording studio.
14.
Bob Keane was portrayed by actor Joe Pantoliano In the 1987 biopic La Bamba, the story of Ritchie Valens.
15.
In late 1966, Bob Keane released an album titled An Afternoon Affair, under the pseudonym "Verrill Keene," which showcases his talent as an accomplished clarinet player.
16.
Bob Keane embarked upon a career selling burglar alarm systems, mainly to celebrities, and oversaw the music career of his two sons, known professionally as The Bob Keane Brothers.
17.
In September 2003, Bob Keane sold the Del-Fi catalog to the Warner Music Group.
18.
Bob Keane was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma when he was 87, and died of kidney failure on November 28,2009.