Beautifully engraved certificate from the ABKCO Industries, Inc. issued in 1978. This historic document was printed by the Security-Columbian Banknote Company and has an ornate border around it with a vignette of the company logo. This item has the printed signatures of the Company's President ( Allen Klein ) and Secretary and is over 43 years old. The certificate was issued to Drexel, Burnham, Lambert Incorporated ( Michael Milken's former Employer who went out of business due to Milken related activities).

Certificate Vignette

Allen Klein (December 18, 1931 – July 4, 2009) was an American businessman, music publisher, writers' representative and record label executive. He was known for his tough persona and aggressive negotiation tactics, many of which affected industry standards for compensating recording artists. He founded ABKCO Music & Records Incorporated. Klein increased profits for his musician clients, who previously had been receiving less lucrative record company contracts.  He first scored monetary and contractual gains for Buddy Knox and Jimmy Bowen, one-hit rockabillies of the late 1950s, then parlayed his early successes into a position managing Sam Cooke, and eventually managed the Beatles and the Rolling Stones simultaneously, along with many other artists, becoming one of the most powerful individuals in the music industry during his era.[2] Rather than offering financial advice and maximizing his clients' income, as a business manager normally would, Klein set up what he called "buy/sell agreements" where a company that Klein owned became an intermediary between his client and the record label, owning the rights to the music, manufacturing the records, selling them to the record label, and paying royalties and cash advances to the client. Although Klein greatly increased his clients' incomes, he also enriched himself, sometimes without his clients' knowledge. (The Rolling Stones' $1.25 million advance from the Decca Records label in 1965, for example, was deposited into a company that Klein had established, and the fine print of the contract did not require Klein to release it for 20 years.)[4] Klein's involvement with both the Beatles and Rolling Stones would lead to years of litigation and, specifically for the Rolling Stones, accusations from the group that Klein had withheld royalty payments, stolen the publishing rights to their songs, and neglected to pay their taxes for five years; this last had necessitated their French "exile" in 1971. After years of pursuit by the IRS, Klein was convicted of a misdemeanor charge of making a false statement on his 1972 tax return, for which he spent two months of 1980 in jail. In 1967 the record label Cameo-Parkway, was having serious financial troubles and was looking to be rescued. As a result, Allen Klein acquired a controlling interest in the corporation. Following his acquisition, the price of the stock of Cameo-Parkway rose considerably. On 16th September 1968 a special meeting of the stockholders of Cameo-Parkway approved the acquisition by Cameo-Parkway of the assets and liabilities of Allen Klein & Co.,Inc. In February 1969, the name of Cameo-Parkway was changed to ABKCO Industries Inc. (Allen B. Klein Co.) with Mr. Klein being president and director of the new company. The Company owned the Record Label " Epic " . ABKCO Industries managed the Beatles Apple Corps. Ltd. and The Rolling Stones. Their record company also produced records from the Beatles, Rolling Stones, Kinks, Ronettes, ? and the Mysterians, Donovan, Herman's Hermits, Phil Spector, Sam Cooke, Herman's Hermits, Darlene Love, The Crystals, Marianne Faithfull, The Animals, Chubby Checker, Terry Knight, and many others. Beatles' History with Allen Klein: 28 Jan 1969 John makes Allen Klein his personal adviser on the spot after a meeting in the Dorchester Hotel, London. 30 Jan 1969 The Beatles perform live on the Apple rooftop in Savile Row, with Billy Preston, for around 40 minutes. 31 Jan 1969 The last day of filming on the Get Back project. 3 Feb 1969 Allen Klein is appointed the Beatles' business manager. 4 Feb 1969 Linda Eastman's father and brother, Eastman and Eastman, are appointed as Apple's General Council to watch over Allen Klein's activities. Paul does not agree with Allen Klein's appointment. 21 Mar 1969 Allen Klein is appointed business manager of Apple. 28 Mar 1969 It is reported that Dick James had sold his shares in Northern Songs, John and Paul's publishing company, to ATV without first offering them to the Beatles. 8 May 1969 John, George and Ringo sign a management contract with Allen Klein. The following day his ABKCO Industries was officially appointed business manager of the Beatles companies, but Paul refuses to sign contract, opposed to Klein's appointment. Below is the signature page of the famous Beatle Contract showing the signatures of the Beatles ( Excluding Paul ) and Allen Klein for ABKCO Industries.

31 Dec 1970 Paul files a suit against John, George, Ringo and Apple in London's High Court, seeking to dissolve the Beatles partnership. He requests a receiver to be appointed for Apple and Allen Klein is formally charged with mismanagement. 31 Mar 1973 Allen Klein's management contract with John, George and Ringo expires. It is not renewed. In 1970, George Harrison, wanting to prove the Beatles had held him back as a songwriter, immediately began work on a triple-album once the announcement of the Beatles' demise. He enlisted producer Phil Spector to produce the album and in May recorded a set of demos for Phil Spector. During the recording of the demos, George Harrision changed a line in the song "Beware of Darkness" to "Beware of ABKCO" (Allan B Klein Company). As a result of this reference to ABKCO, an ablum of his songs was called "Beware of ABKCO!" by George Harrison. (1994, Strawberry, Bootleg). Below are the words in one of the songs referring to ABKCO. Beware of Darkness by George Harrison "Beware of Darkness" Watch out now, Take care Beware of falling swingers Falling all around you The pain that often Linglers In your fingertips Beware of darkness Watch out now, Take care beware the thoughts that linger, Winding up inside your head. The hopelessness around you in the dead of night, Beware of Sadness. It can hit you, It will hurt you, Aching more and make you sore And that is not what you are here for. Watch out now, Take care beware of soft shoe shufflers, Dancing down the sidewalks. Pushing you in bottles in the dead of night, Beware of ABKCO. Watch out now, Take care beware of falling swingers, Crashing all around you The pain that often lingers in your fingertips, Beware of Darkness.