Steve Katz (musician)

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For other people called Steve, Stephen or Steven Katz, see Stephen Katz (disambiguation).

Steve Katz
Katz as part of the Blues Project in 1966
Katz as part of the Blues Project in 1966
Background information
Birth nameSteven Katz
Born (1945-05-09) May 9, 1945 (age 78)
Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
Occupation(s)Musician, record producer, songwriter, author, record company executive
Instrument(s)Guitar, harmonica, vocals
Websitestevekatzmusic.wordpress.com

Steven Katz (born May 9, 1945)[1] is a guitarist, singer, and record producer who is best known as a member of the rock-pop-jazz group Blood, Sweat & Tears. Katz was an original member of the rock bands the Blues Project and American Flyer. As a producer, his credits include the 1979 album Short Stories Tall Tales for the Irish band Horslips, and the Lou Reed albums Rock 'n' Roll Animal and Sally Can't Dance and the Elliott Murphy album Night Lights.

Biography

Steve Katz, c. 2010s

Katz was born in Brooklyn, New York City. His professional career started in the late fifties on a local Schenectady, New York television program called Teenage Barn. Accompanied by piano, he would sing such hits of the day as "Tammy" and "April Love". At 15, Katz studied guitar with Dave Van Ronk and Reverend Gary Davis. It was at this time that he met and befriended guitarist Stefan Grossman. They would sometimes act as road managers for Reverend Davis and, in so doing, met many of the great "rediscovered" blues men of an earlier era, such as Son House, Skip James and Mississippi John Hurt.

As a part of the Greenwich Village culture during this time, Katz, along with Grossman, Maria Muldaur, John Sebastian and David Grisman became interested in jug band music – the music of Cannon's Jug Stompers and the Memphis Jug Band. They and other friends formed the Even Dozen Jug Band and recorded an album in 1964 for Elektra Records. Katz played washboard in the band.

After a brief sabbatical in college, Katz, while teaching guitar in Greenwich Village, auditioned for the Danny Kalb Quartet as a two-week substitute for Artie Traum. Traum did not return to the group and when Al Kooper joined, the Blues Project was formed. They worked out of New York, and it was the mid-sixties, so the Blues Project experimented, dabbled in their own style and gave Katz an opportunity to showcase his own songs. The Blues Project recorded three albums while together in their first incarnation. "Steve's Song", on the Projections album was the first original song that Katz had recorded.

After two years as house band at the

Monterey Pop Festival
as their last major engagement.

Blood, Sweat and Tears

Further information: Blood, Sweat & Tears

After the demise of the Blues Project, Katz, Kooper,

Child is Father to the Man released. Recorded and mixed in only two weeks, the album sold moderately well but was a critical success. Katz sang one original song ("Megan's Gypsy Eyes") and "Morning Glory" by Tim Buckley
.

Kooper left Blood, Sweat & Tears after only six months and while they were reorganizing, Katz wrote record reviews for Eye Magazine, a Cosmopolitan spin-off. Getting the record company to continue with the band without Kooper was difficult. Auditions were held and

Down Beat
awards. He wrote many songs during his tenure with the group.

Record producer, label executive, author

In 1972 Steve met singer Lou Reed. After the commercial failure of Reed's album Berlin, Katz produced two albums: Sally Can't Dance and a live record Rock 'n' Roll Animal. After a number of productions during this period, including Night Lights by Elliott Murphy, Katz returned to playing music joining American Flyer with Eric Kaz, Craig Fuller of Pure Prairie League, and Doug Yule from the Velvet Underground. The first of their two albums was produced by George Martin.

In 1977, Katz became East Coast Director of

Irish traditional music. In 1987, Steve became managing director of Green Linnet Records, a leading record label of traditional Irish music in America. Katz stayed at Green Linnet for five years, during which time he married Alison Palmer, a ceramic artist
. Together, they started a small business. He is a professional photographer.

Katz's memoir, Blood, Sweat, and My Rock 'n' Roll Years: Is Steve Katz a Rock Star? was published by Lyons Press in 2015.[2][3][4]

References

  1. ISBN 9780028648736
    .
  2. ^ Alan Bisbort, "Blood Sweat & Tears' Steve Katz, At Home In Kent, Recalls His Rock Years", Hartfod Courant]], September 3, 2015, the original on September 5, 2015.
  3. ^ Steven Rosen, "Musician Steve Katz Revisits A Career Of Blood, Sweat, Blues And Rock", HuffPost, May 30, 2015, updated December 6, 2017.
  4. ^ "Blood, Sweat, and My Rock n' Roll Years: Is Steve Katz a Rock Star?", Publishers Weekly, retrieved December 6, 2022.

External links

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