Father and Son – THE formidable pair

Jeffrey Kruger is arguably the most overlooked, but influential figure in popular music of the last 60 years.

His strength of character, determination and hard work can be seen in the success of various music ventures over the decades.  Promoting concerts, owning his own independent record label and running one of the most celebrated and iconic nightclubs in history are but a few of his achievements.

When the Flamingo Club opened in 1952, few could have imagined what would happen during the next 25 years. From that night onwards, Jeffrey Kruger built a reputation for the club as ‘the place to be’.

Kruger formed the very first truly British Independent Record Production and Record Distribution Company when in 1957 he formed Ember Records.   An innovation in its day, he paved the way for the Independent labels, independent distribution and promotion; fighting the monopoly of the five major labels that dominated the British Industry at that period.   He formed the first Budget line and broke new ground in selling records outside of established record stores.  via his Ember label, Kruger has given a British debut outlet to countless classic recordings by such stars as James Brown; B B King; King Curtis; Ray Charles; Elmore James; Howling Wolf; Etta James; Charles Aznavour; Jimi Hendrix and released many more current stars including Glen Campbell; Dionne Warwick; Gene Pitney; Waylon Jennings; Erroll Garner; Tony Martin; Isley Bros; Frank Sinatra; Eric Burdon; Chuck Berry; Carl Perkins; Roy  Orbison; John Barry;  Woody Herman; Neil Sedaka and Ember, even prior to the Beatles success in the USA hit the top of the U S Charts with recordings by Chad and Jeremy, a rare feat in the early sixties.

One of Ember’s biggest UK successes came in 1963 with a satirical album about the Profumo affair, Fool Britannia, starring Peter Sellers, Anthony Newley and Joan Collins. The album had been rejected by Newley’s label, Decca, as being too hot to handle and had then been offered to Ember. A single on the same subject, “Christine”, was recorded by Miss X (Joyce Blair) and featured 29 words, two giggles and a deep sigh. It was banned by both the BBC and Radio Luxembourg and yet still made the charts.

The prestigious London “Sunday Times” journalist Derek Jewell, in an in depth article on the British Music scene, said “Kruger, more than any other individual, has done more for the British Music Scene than anyone else”.

Ember Records brought English music fans the sounds of Desmond Dekker with his hit ‘Israelites’ and the first UK releases by such diverse talents as James Brown & his Famous Flames; Howling Wolf; John Lee Hooker; Etta James; B B King; George Jones; there were hits by the Harry Simeone Chorale and then John Barry joined the company and waved his magic talented wand and there were world wide hits by Chad & Jeremy & John himself .

Through the 70’s Ember has continued to have an impressive number of soul releases by artists such as Ed Robinson, Tony and the Tyrones and golden oldies such as Gladys Knight, as well as new albums by PJ Proby and Johnny Otis.

The Flamingo club, meanwhile, continued to prove its popularity with all manner of musicians. During the 1960s, Kruger dropped his jazz only policy for the Flamingo, taking the line, “If they’re good enough, they can play it at the Flamingo.” The Flamingo became the home base for Georgie Fame and the Blue Flames as well as Geno Washington, Zoot Money and Chris Farlowe with their bands. Jimi Hendrix made an early UK appearance at the Flamingo and among its regular patrons were members of the Beatles, the Who and the Rolling Stones. Most of the key chart acts of the 60s played at the Flamingo and the Moody Blues effectively presented Kruger with a double whammy as he published their No.1 song, “Go Now”. He continued the Flamingo offering period entertainment that included such stellar acts as Jimi Hendrix, Black Sabbath, Yes, the Moody Blues and Genesis.

The new decade saw him introduce Glen Campbell to the UK market for the first time, and he also organized his first tour in the territory. He signed to Ember and within a few weeks Campbell had recorded “By The Time I Get To Phoenix” and soon followed it with “Wichita Lineman”. Capitol soon realised their error, but Kruger promoted Campbell’s sell-out UK tours.

This paved the way for other tours by Marvin Gaye, Barry White, the Jacksons, featuring Michael, Temptations, Supremes, Isaac Hayes and he also invited Gladys Knight and the Pips to perform before they had made their name in the USA.

Through Glen Campbell, his involvement with country music increased throughout the 70s and 80s. This period saw him working with Johnny Cash, Charlie Pride, Nanci Griffiths, Kris Kristofferson and Tammy Wynette, as well as the promotion of festivals including the Country Music Festival in Peterborough.

He started a music Publishing division as well and Kruger published many hundreds of songs including many that are associated with Frank Sinatra and Glen Campbell. He published Martin Carthy’s interpretation of the traditional song, “Scarborough Fair” (1965)

The Film, Video and Television world has also felt his mark through his operation of one of Britain’s most successful independent movie and video distribution companies. Kruger was among the very first to see a future in Video and in the early seventies started to record and film Concerts he was promoting  for the Home Video and Television markets.

By this stage Jeffery’s business interests had grown to include Music and Video Production, Music publishing, Artist management and major concert promotions, such as the Cannes Jazz Festival and the Peterborough Country Music Festival. He also acquired Film & TV rights; under the new TKO Banner, the company had acquired the Danziger catalogue and that of the producer Nat Wachberger; it had also produced, filmed and recorded video recordings of many live shows and TV programmes. As the company grew Jeffery would come to increasingly rely on his son Howard, eventually handing over the reins and making him MD of TKO.

For his services to Music, Mr Kruger has twice been made an Honorary Citizen of the State of Tennessee by two different Governors of Tennessee and also been given a lifetime Citizenship in the State of Kansas as well as numerous Merit and Proclamations and letters of commendations from President Jimmy Carter for his contribution to Music.   Both the City of Los Angeles and the City of Beverly Hills have honoured him – the former with a proclamation and the latter by declaring ‘A Jeffrey Kruger Day’ in his honour.

For his contributions to the independent British film industry he is one of very few Englishmen to have been invited to join the very prestigious Executive section of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Science [The body responsible for the ‘Oscars’]. To those that know him JSK is a very private and special individual who created the many changes in the British Jazz world of the 50’s and 60’s.

For his 50 years’ service to the World of Entertainment and his services to the British Entertainment Industry, Jeffrey Kruger was awarded the MBE in a recent honours list from Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth.

Jeffrey Sonny Kruger (Jeff Kruger), music business executive: MBE: born London 19 April 1931 died may 14th 2013 aged 83.

Together with his father and as MD of TKO Howard Kruger continued to promote and present concert tours both in the UK and Europe. The combination of “Jeffrey and Howard Kruger presents”, became synonymous in many concert halls, such as the London Palladium, The Royal Albert Hall and the Royal Festival Hall as well as many other UK venues. The duo promoted and presented such diverse artists and events as the European tours of stars of the Kirov and Bolshoi Ballet Companies, the Farewell tour of the legendary Rudolf Nureyev, and international tours of artists including, The Jacksons featuring Michael, Tony Bennet and Lena Horne, Andy Williams, Marvin Gaye, Placido Domingo, Nigel Kennedy, Iron Maiden, Kenny Rogers, Glen Campbell, Johnny Cash and Julio Iglesias as well as The Harlem Globetrotters, The Chinese State Circus and the Peterborough Country Music Festival and Michael Jackson’s first ever concert in Bombay, India.

Howard and Jeffrey promoted the Glen Campbell Goodbye Tour, in 2011 – his last ever tour of the UK; bringing to a close and enormously successful relationship that started in 1969 when Jeffrey Kruger discovered Glen in the USA and signed him to Ember Records.

Howard added other divisions to the company. The extensive Music and DVD catalogue of large independent distributor Pegasus Entertainment and a production company was created to produce visual media content for exploitation by the Group as well as creating new format programming for UK and international TV, digital and internet platforms.

Howard also purchased one of ITV’s vast music archives, of classic live in concert recordings including rare and previously unavailable footage of some of the most influential and iconic artists from the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s.

The H Entertainment Group has brought together, for the first time, the full Music and Visual rights from both Howard and his father Jeffery. This extraordinary archive of material represents a wonderful Legacy of the Kruger family and their many successful and prolific years in the entertainment industries.