Gary Kurfirst

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Gary Kurfirst (8 July 1947 – 13 January 2009) was an influential figure in late 20th and early 21st century pop music as a promoter, producer, manager, and record label executive.[1]

Early years

Kurfirst was born in Forest Hills, Queens.[2] He started promoting dances while he was still a student at Forest Hills High School in Queens. He rapidly moved on to organizing and promoting shows at the tennis stadium at the West Side Tennis Club in Forest Hills and moving across the East River to promoting gigs in Manhattan. Kurfirst helped arrange the first East Coast performances of acts including Jimi Hendrix and The Who.[1]

Career

He established the Village Theater in the East Village at Second Avenue at Sixth Street in 1967, which a year later became the Fillmore East under the management of promoter Bill Graham. In August 1968, Kurfist organized the New York Rock Festival at the Singer Bowl in Flushing Meadow Park, an open-air concert with 18,000 in attendance that featured performances by The Chambers Brothers, The Doors, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, and the Soft Machine.[1][3] In his obituary, The New York Times credited Kurfirst's success at the New York Rock Festival with inspiring the creation of the Woodstock Festival in Bethel, New York in August 1969.[1]

While negotiating a contract for the group Mountain in the late 1960s, Kurfirst developed a close relationship with Chris Blackwell, his counterpart at Island Records. Blackwell, quoted in Kurfirst's obituary in The New York Times, described him as "one of the first managers who basically built the rock business", stating that Kurfirst "stayed below the radar and once refused the cover of Rolling Stone because he felt it was not the right time for his band".[1]

Kurfirst managed reggae artists The Wailers founder Peter Tosh and Toots & the Maytals.[1] His reach spanned new wave, reggae, punk, rock, and pop. His client list as manager included the Ramones, Blondie, Talking Heads, Tom Tom Club, the B-52's, Eurythmics, and Jane's Addiction.[4]

Controversy

According to the book The B-52's Universe, Kurfirst had the band sign a deal that said he would be entitled to royalties from all recordings they released, even if he no longer managed them. This is said to be part of the reason why they changed their name (without the apostrophe) for Funplex, so that they would not have to pay him.

Films

Kurfirst also produced four films, including Siesta, Stop Making Sense, True Stories, and a documentary about the Ramones.

Death

He died at age 61 on January 13, 2009 while he was vacationing in the Bahamas. He was buried in Sharon Gardens Cemetery in Valhalla, New York.[1]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 Goldman, Vivien (16 January 2009). "Gary Kurfirst, Rock Promoter and Manager of the Talking Heads, Dies at 61". The New York Times. Retrieved 16 January 2009. 
  2. ↑ Bowman, David. "This Must Be the Place", HarperCollins, 2002, p. 109. ISBN 0-06-050731-4. Accessed June 18, 2009. "The man was Gary Kurfirst. He was born in Forest Hills, Queens, in 1947. He was a manager."
  3. ↑ Shelton, Robert (25 August 1968). "Rock Fete With Jimi Hendrix Draws 18,000 to Singer Bowl"". The New York Times. Retrieved 20 January 2009. 
  4. ↑ http://garykurfirst.com/
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