Ron Kass

From Wikipedia:

Ron Kass (March 30, 1935 – October 17, 1986) was an American businessman, recording executive, manager of The Beatles, and film producer. Kass worked with at least four recording companies: Liberty, MGM, Warner Brothers, and Apple Records.

Early life

Born Ronald Stanley Kashinoff in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, his family changed the name to Kass when they moved to California. He attended Fairfax High School in Los Angeles where he played in a band that became Tijuana Brass and then got a degree in accounting from UCLA.

Career

Kass married his UCLA sweetheart, Anita, and started working for Liberty Records which was directly across from Hollywood High School. He was promoted to overseas manager and eventually president of Liberty. He started working for Apple Records, the label set up by The Beatles, in 1968 and 1969 which was when he divorced Anita.

He was effectively forced from his position at Apple by the Beatles’ new manager Allen Klein after he was falsely accused of “financial impropriety” (he was succeeded in the position by his former deputy Jack Oliver).

Kass’s film producing credits included Melody (1971), The Optimists (1973) starring Peter Sellers, Naked Yoga (1974) nominated for an Oscar for Best Documentary Short Subject, The Stud (1978) and The Bitch (1979) both based on novels by Jackie Collins, and starring her sister Joan Collins. […]

Paul said, ‘Okay, let’s make a record label.’ They had heard of an American named Ron Kass, who was a major figure in the record business, and Paul learned that on his way to Los Angeles, he would have a stop in London, at the London airport. And so Paul called him and offered to stay late and have lunch with him. So Paul and I drove to the airport to meet this guy at the exit of the plane and went to lunch. And then, at the dinner table, Paul offered him the position of head of Apple Records.

Alistair Taylor – From beatles-chronology.ru

Peter Asher brought James Taylor in one day. He played me a couple songs on the guitar, including “Carolina in My Mind,” and I thought to myself, I don’t know if this guy’s ever going to sell a record, but he’s such high quality. This is the kind of person that Beatles should be associated with, people like James Taylor. So I encouraged Peter Asher to sign him up and do an album. James was only eighteen or nineteen, so we had to have his father sign the contract. I signed him to a five-year contract at 5 percent of the retail sales, a fair rate for new artists. But there was no front money, there was no advances, there was no bullshit. I also signed James to a publishing contract for five years, which was, of course, worth a fortune. James got out of it, because Allen Klein technically breached his contract by not bothering to send anybody accountings. Incidentally, the four Beatles weren’t interested in James Taylor at all.

Ron Kass – From “All You Need Is Love: The Beatles in Their Own Words: Unpublished, Unvarnished, and Told by The Beatles and Their Inner Circle” by Peter Brown and Steven Gaines, 2024

One of the first things I was asked to do at Apple was to fire Peter Asher. Paul asked me to fire him because he said, “I’m breaking up with Jane, and it’s embarrassing having her brother [Peter] around.” I stalled him. I said, “You know, Peter really has a good ear. He’s a musician, and I’d like to have him.” Paul grumped a little bit and said he really preferred getting rid of him. He thought I had fired him, and Paul started to see Francie Schwartz, and enough time went that Paul forgot all about Peter. One day, Paul said to me, “Did you sack Peter Asher?” I said, “No.” Paul just grumbled and walked away and that was the end of it.

Ron Kass – From “All You Need Is Love: The Beatles in Their Own Words: Unpublished, Unvarnished, and Told by The Beatles and Their Inner Circle” by Peter Brown and Steven Gaines, 2024

Allen Klein wanted me out because I would tell the truth about him. […] Brian Epstein did a seven-year contract, which, I think, showed his insecurity at the time. It was 17 percent of the wholesale price. It should have been somewhere around 20 to 22 percent. When Allen renegotiated, it turned out that in actual figures, it was no more than 1 or 2 percent higher. And Klein took more than that as his part. He was supposed to only take 10 percent of the increase. He always said, “I am only going to take a percentage on the things I get for you.” But, of course, when he did the contracts, he was taking 10 percent of everything. Of everything. So, in other words, whatever he did renegotiate, they ended up with less than they had before. It was all based on a lie.

Ron Kass – From “All You Need Is Love: The Beatles in Their Own Words: Unpublished, Unvarnished, and Told by The Beatles and Their Inner Circle” by Peter Brown and Steven Gaines, 2024

KASS QUITS APPLE, PLATZ TO NORTHERN

APPLE RECORDS chief Ron Kass is leaving the company and Essex music managing director David Platz has been invited to join the board of Northern Songs if the Beatles’ bid against ATV proves successful. Platz is also believed to be joining the new board of Apple which includes the company’s managing director Neil Aspinall, Peter Brown, and George Harrison.

Platz will however act in an advisory capacity for all of Apple’s record and publishing interests.

Ron Kass who was formerly director of international operations with Liberty joined Apple early last year to run its record division. Kass has been unavailable for comment for the past few weeks. However Neil Aspinall told RR on Monday that Kass would be leaving Apple at a time convenient to Apple and himself. Aspinall added that as yet there were no plans to replace Kass.

Kass’s resignation follows the exit recently from Apple of its administration manager Alistair Taylor who has been with the Beatles for six years, American Mike O’Connor who has been running Apple publishing, and its plugger Wayne Bardell who is now running a Liberty act High Tide.

The appointment of Platz was announced by Allen Klein at an Apple press conference on Monday, who claimed that this ‘answers effectively the City’s constant question whether the Beatles could find sufficiently experienced and strong management to operate the music publishing company successfully’.

He was referring to the Beatles’ battle with ATV for control of Northern Songs. Klein also said that he would personally have no financial or management interest in Northern Songs — but some stock in his American music company Abcko was being put up as guarantee for the loan from the Ansbacher bank.

From Record Retailer – April 30, 1969