Lee Gordon (promoter)

Lee Gordon (born Leon Lazar Gevorshner, March 8 1923, died London, November 7 1963) was an American entrepreneur and rock and roll promoter who worked extensively in Australia in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Gordon's jazz and rock'n'roll tours had a major impact on the Australian music scene and he also played a significant role in the early career of pioneering Australian rock'n'roll singer Johnny O'Keefe.

Many aspects of Gordon's life and career remain sketchy or obscure, and many accounts contain contradictory information. According to the Australian Dictionary of Biography, Gordon was born in Detroit, Michigan and educated at Highland Park High School, Highland Park, Michigan and at the University of Miami, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Business Administration in 1944.

He began promoting jazz concerts at university; after graduating he worked in various 'colourful' business enterprises. During World War II he reportedly ran a mail-order business that operated out of Lima, Peru, and later moved to Cuba, where he booked entertainment for the famous Tropicana nightclub in Havana.

He moved to Sydney ca 1953 and introduced various American sales techniques into Australia, including hire purchase, a common form of consumer finance in the 1950s and 1960s.

After founding the company Big Show Pty Ltd, he began promoting concert tours of Australia by leading American jazz and rock'n'roll acts. In early 1955, he brought out Frank Sinatra, Frankie Laine and Johnnie Ray, who played at such venues as the Sydney Stadium. His second tour with Johnny Ray set records for ticket sales that were not surpassed until the arrival of The Beatles in 1964. Gordon's tours were also highly significant in cultural terms, as they were the first major concert tours to Australia that included leading African American jazz and rock performers like Little Richard and Louis Armstrong.

In January 1957, he promoted the first Rock and Roll tour of Australia, by bringing out Bill Haley & His Comets, The Platters, Big Joe Turner, LaVern Baker and Freddie Bell and the Bellboys, who were seen by 300,000 patrons in Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide and Melbourne.Australian Dictionary of Biography
last=Sturma
first=Michael
authorlink=
year=1996
id=A140337b
title= Gordon, Lee Lazer (1923 - 1963)
accessdate=2007-10-24] In October 1957, Gordon began introducing Australian acts, starting with "Johnny O'Keefe and the Dee Jays" as part of a show featuring Little Richard, Gene Vincent and Eddie Cochran. In 1958, he established Lee Gordon Records Pty Ltd and recorded pop songs by Lonnie Lee, Barry Stanton, Laurel Lea and The Crescents, eventually under the Leedon label. He converted a former cinema in Kings Cross into one of Australia's first discotheques (The Birdcage, which later became Surf City and introduced the first striptease club and drive-in restaurant in Sydney. Although, he made a fortune by these initiatives, he lost it all in bad investments.

Some accounts hint that Gordon had links with organised crime, and his connection with the Tropicana (known to have been a 'Mob'-controlled business) suggests some possible early involvement with the Mafia. It is also known that near the end of his life he formed a partnership with notorious Australian businessman and alleged organised crime figure Abraham Gilbert (Abe) Saffron, with whom he reportedly opened the drive-in restaurant and the strip club (which later became the famous "Les Girls").

In January 1962, Gordon married Arlene Topfer at Acapulco, Mexico, with Frank Sinatra as his best man. In June 1963, he was charged with attempting to obtain the pethidine without a prescription. He left the country in July and travelled to the United States and London looking for work. He died in Kensington of a coronary occlusion, survived by his wife, daughter and a posthumous son.

References

Persondata
NAME = Gordon Lee
ALTERNATIVE NAMES =
SHORT DESCRIPTION = American/Australian entrepreneur and rock and roll promoter.

DATE OF BIRTH = 8 March 1923
PLACE OF BIRTH = Detroit, Michigan, United States of America
DATE OF DEATH = 7 November 1978
PLACE OF DEATH = Kensington, London, England