Thomas Jefferson Kaye
Thomas Jefferson Kaye | |
---|---|
Birth name | Thomas Jefferson Kontos |
Also known as | Tommy Kontos Tommy Kaye |
Born | 1940/42 ABC-Dunhill, RSO |
Thomas Jefferson Kontos (1940 – September 16, 1994), better known as Thomas Jefferson Kaye, was an American record producer, singer-songwriter and musician. He collaborated with The Shirelles, Loudon Wainwright III, and Gene Clark, and also recorded solo albums.
Life and career
He claimed to have been born in
Kontos then joined
Kaye moved to San Francisco in the early 1970s, to produce Link Wray's album Be What You Want To.[6][7] There, he "fell in love with Wally Heider's studio and with the air-conditioned San Francisco climate and with the hills and with the cable cars...".[1] He settled in California, and was signed by David Geffen to produce his friend Bob Neuwirth's self-titled 1974 debut solo album, recorded in Los Angeles with a variety of top musicians including Kris Kristofferson, Rita Coolidge, Bob Dylan, Don Everly and Rick Danko. Kaye said of that time: "The hours are crazy, the alcohol thing is crazy, the pills are crazy, the people are crazy... I was just as high as everybody else and I was up for it!"[1]
"Like the
John Hammond, Mike Bloomfield, and Dr. John, Kaye's debut was sensually laid-back, with a sly intelligence he hoped to pass off as an active relationship with his environment. But this one stands beside Eric Clapton's 461 Ocean Boulevardas a critique of the laid-back mode."
—Review of First Grade in Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies (1981)[8]
In 1973, Kaye produced the album
Kaye then began working with Gene Clark, formerly of The Byrds, on Clark's fourth solo album, No Other. Produced with a vast array of session musicians and backing singers, the album was an extraordinary amalgam of country rock, folk, gospel, soul and choral music with poetic, mystical lyrics.[10] It was praised by critics, but its production costs of $100,000 which yielded only eight tracks prompted Geffen to berate Clark and Kaye.[10][11] Kaye also produced Clark's next album, Two Sides to Every Story, released on the RSO label in 1977, before joining Clark and others to form the K.C. Southern Band ("K.C." representing Kaye and Clark). The band toured Europe alongside the separate bands led by Chris Hillman and Roger McGuinn, but split up after returning to the US.Kaye continued to work with Clark on the latter's studio albums, including Firebyrd in 1987.[12]
In later years, Kaye suffered from alcohol and drug dependency, and from illnesses including diabetes.[1] His final album, Not Alone, came out in 1992 and featured a guest line-up that included Eric Clapton, Dr. John, Steve Miller, Rick Danko, Timothy B. Schmit, Joe Walsh and Robby Krieger.[7][13] He died in hospital in Warwick, New York, in 1994, after apparently taking an overdose of painkillers.[7]
Kaye’s son Chris Kontos (musician) has been a drummer for several metal bands, including Machine Head, playing on their acclaimed 1994 debut album Burn My Eyes.
Discography (as singer-songwriter)
- Thomas Jefferson Kaye (1973)
- First Grade (1974)
- Not Alone (1992)
References
- ^ a b c d e f g Aronowitz, Al (July 1, 1997). "A movie for David Geffen". The Blacklisted Journalist. Retrieved August 30, 2013.
- ^ California, Marriage Index, 1960–1985, Thomas J. Kontos
- YouTube
- ^ Tommy Kaye at 45cat.com. Retrieved August 29, 2013
- ^ a b c Tucker, Ken (December 17, 2012). "LA Eccentricity in the 1970s: Thomas Jefferson Kaye, Hirth Martinez, and Moon Martin". Retrieved August 30, 2013.
- ^ Link Wray album credits at Allmusic.com
- ^ a b c "Thomas Jefferson Kaye". An Overdose of Fingal Cocoa. January 4, 2012. Retrieved August 30, 2013.
- ISBN 089919026X. Retrieved February 28, 2019 – via robertchristgau.com.
- ^ Review, "First Grade", by Robert Christgau
- ^ ISBN 0-95295-401-X.
- ISBN 0-87930-793-5.
- ^ Gene Clark, Firebyrd at Allmusic.com. Retrieved August 30, 2013
- ^ "Thomas Jefferson Kaye – Not Alone" Discogs.com, retrieved November 16, 2012