KENNETH LLOYD Khouri, Jamaican businessman who died peacefully on Saturday at the age of 86, will always be remembered as the pioneer of the Jamaican music industry.
Retired and a homely man in his later years, it was his adventurousness which actually gave birth to the record manufacturing sector in Kingston. He started with a second-hand recording machine he bought from a hustler in Miami, and went on to build Federal Records, which he eventually sold to the late Bob Marley and which has since become Tuff Gong International.
A native of St. Mary, where he grew up in the Richmond/ Highgate area, Mr. Khouri moved to Kingston as a young man and joined the firm of E.A. Issa and Brothers Limited, where he was eventually elevated to a managerial post handling incoming goods before going into the furniture business.
VOICE RECORDINGS
It was in Miami where he had taken his father for medical treatment that Mr. Khourie met a young man hustling a disc recording machine. When his father improved enough to return, he came home with the machine and started cutting voice recordings. This started the whole Jamaican recording business.
In 1961, he set up a studio and factory at Marcus Garvey Drive which became Federal Records Manufacturing Company Limited, now Tuff Gong International. His early associates included Edward Seaga and Alec Durie of Times Store Limited
Over the next decade he played an important role in the success some of the greatest names in local music including Clement 'Coxsone' Dodd, Prince Buster, Byron Lee, Ernie Smith, Bob Andy and Derrick Harriott.
Mr. Khouri is survived by his wife, Gloria, daughters Jennifer, Pat and Gina and sons Richard, Paul and Robert. A thanksgiving service will be held at the Stella Maris Church on Monday morning at 10 a.m.
See a full story of Mr. Khouri's life and achievement in The Sunday Gleaner.
