This is the second of two parts in the story of Ken Larkey and his lifelong journey through Long Beach’s music scene, culminating in the founding of the Long Beach Historical Museum and his own iconic place in the annals of city history. Click here to read Part One.
Larkey entered the competitive arena of record distribution four years before the Beatles and the British Invasion changed the entire business in 1964.
“Tim Spencer got distributing rights to religious recordings on RCA/Victor at the Crossroads of the World on Sunset near Vermont. The distribution company was owned by the Pike brothers, who owned the building which housed Larkey’s short-lived Sacred Record store.
“I would go out and hit all the Christian book stores in California, Arizona, Washington and Oregon.” Another early member of the Sons of the Pioneers, Hugh Farr worked for Spencer.
As part of his job, Larkey began Christar Publishers in Long Beach in 1961. “I published the Sacred Record Digest that went to all dealers.” He also became an pioneer religious music DJ. FM radio wasn’t much in the early 1960s because most cars didn’t have FM tuners, so Larkey began a sacred music show, “Christar Time” on KHOF-FM, owned by Biola at Sixth and Hope in downtown L.A. on Saturday afternoon from 3 to 5. “It was a program to expose religious programming. I tried to cross promote through a Bible book store in Pasadena, owned by an old man on Colorado who, worked with Williams at Sacred Records. I promoted them on my radio program, got some support to play the records in the store, which would help to sell them.
Larkey later moved to 94.3, KGGK-FM in Garden Grove, which had signed on in ‘61, and later become country music KIK-FM and is now Spanish language KBUE. “The station was on Chapman in Garden Grove in a shopping center. I approached them and the guy gave me 45 minutes on Sunday morning. I would play a record, then talk. I had a script written. Once I was running out of time, so I played three records in a row and the engineer told me that sounded much better. I held a contest whoever guessed the theme song (‘Bless This House’) would get a record. It was free time, then the man who put me on left the station. They gave me a rate card. Either I pay for it or I leave. I left.”
As Larkey is adverse to throwing out any paper with historic value or meaning, he still retains his religious record tip sheets and even the KGGK rate card.
At about this time, RCA/Victor was beginning to add black religious acts to its roster, most likely to compete with Mahalia Jackson who recorded for Columbia. “Tim Spencer introduced me to Doris Akers, she was one of the recording stars on RCA, had an album on Victor. She did ‘Forever Faithful.’” As Akers was very light-skinned, Spencer cautioned him that she was black as an unfortunate comment might be taken as a slight. At various label dinners, Larkey also met other RCA stars like Stuart Hamblen, who composed “This Old House.”
From Spencer’s distributorship, Larkey began working for a famed record store. “I was top salesman for Wallich’s Music City in Lakewood. I worked for them in the radio TV Department.”
“One week out of the year, all salesmen had to work the Hollywood store. My first customer in Hollywood was a crook. He used a stolen credit card to buy a phonograph off the floor. I took it to the telling office, ran it through, came back stolen. I was told to detain him as long as you can. I told him I had to get one out the warehouse and he disappeared.”
“There were three salesman on the floor, you have your ups,” taking customers in turn as they arrived. “This guy came in in overalls, The salesman who was up gave him to me. He was interested in a phonograph, so I showed him one. I played him records. He wanted to see something better than that, so I showed him a Magnavox. He bought an $800 one in a big cherry cabinet. The other salesman said he should get a cut of that. I didn’t think so.”
In about 1963, the Al Kalie musical instrument concession moved from Wallich’s Music City into the Sherwin and Williams paint store in Lakewood Center and began competing with Music City by selling records. Larkey was hired as a record buyer out of Kalie’s headquarters at Stonewood Shopping Center in Downey. His job was to drive to and from record row and Pico Blvd. every two weeks in his ’49 Plymouth sedan loaded with albums. Larkey recalled bringing back large orders of “Ray Charles Sings Country And Western” and having to refill the order several days later. “A high school student at the Al Kalie store in Norwalk knew what records to order, so we allowed him to place the orders.”
Larkey remembered, “the first man I ever saw in long hair was Sonny Bono” who worked at Merit Distributors. “He dressed in wild clothes too.”
“Al Kalie then began having me bring back musical instruments and drums in my little sedan and I noticed teenagers were driving newer cars than I had, so I asked for a raise. He loaned me $300 to buy a new Ford Econoline van for $1,900 and began deducting the loan from my $90 a week pay, so I left Al Kalie and went to work for Dot Records at $120 a week.”
Larkey was put in charge of the Dot Record Club with ten employees filling orders from club members. They had literally been sleeping on the job until Larkey got there and shook things up. “I think they were afraid of me,” he said. Then he made a home movie of them dancing to some of the music they listened to and showed it to them. According to Larkey, that’s when they accepted him as a boss. Paramount Pictures bought out Dot in about 1967 and the record club was shut down. “I think Lawrence Welk owned part of Dot, but I never met him.”
His record career over in about 1968, Larkey moved on to the restaurant business. “I can never sit still,” said the chronically busy Larkey. “I always have to be involved in something,” certainly the motivation behind saving as much of the history of Long Beach as possible.”