"Obviously, having hit records changed my life, but the “key to a music life well lived” is happiness, both professionally and personally. In that sense, I’ve been very lucky."

Steve Katz: Blood, Sweat & Rock n' Roll

Steve Katz is a guitarist and record producer who is best known as a member of Blood, Sweat & Tears. Katz was an original member of Even Dozen Jug Band, The Blues Project and American Flyer. As a producer and musician, his credits include albums of the Irish band Horslips, Lou Reed, Lynyrd Skynyrd, and Elliott Murphy. Steve Katz’s professional career started in the late fifties on a local Schenectady, New York television program called Teenage Barn. At 15, Steve studied guitar with Dave Van Ronk and Reverend Gary Davis. It was at this time that he met and befriended guitarist Stefan Grossman. Steve & Stefan 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, like Son House, Skip James and Mississippi John Hurt. After the demise of the Blues Project, Steve, Al Kooper, Bobby Colomby and Jim Fielder decided to work up a set, mainly of Al’s new songs, for a benefit concert whereby enough money would be raised to send Al to London where he wanted to live. Thus, the formation of Blood, Sweat & Tears, a Columbia Records contract, and the album Child is Father to the Man. Of course, all the rest is always a big chapter of music history.                            (Steve Katz / Photo by Mike Melnyk)

Steve was offered an opportunity to get closer to the business of music in 1977 with his appointment as East Coast Director of A&R and later as Vice President of Mercury Records. As a New York A&R executive in Dublin, Steve had also passed on a young group by the name of U2, a decision that Steve would regret for the rest of his life. It was during his visits to Ireland that Steve became enamored with all things Irish, especially the traditional music and Irish literature. This awareness turned into obsession and in 1987, Steve became Managing Director of Green Linnet Records, the foremost record label of traditional Irish music in America. Steve stayed on at Green Linnet for five years, during which time he married his one true love, Alison Palmer, a ceramic artist. Steve still performs, is a professional photographer, and in 2015 published by Lyons Press his memoirs book, "Blood, Sweat & My Rock and Roll Years.

Interview by Michael Limnios                     Archive: Steve Katz, 2014 interview

How has the Blues music and Folk Rock culture influenced your views of the world?

Blues influenced my view of the world because, as a young Jewish kid from New York, Black American culture was very foreign to me and, through the blues, I was able to have a deeper understanding of that culture. Out of that grew an intense love for the music and respect for what I had only seen from the social periphery. I would probably need a better definition of the “Folk Rock” culture, but, as far as I understand it, it would mean the electrifying of what was essentially an acoustic, ethno-musical world of roots music that was taken up by mainly middle-class kids in the fifties and sixties. In that sense, it of course influenced me in that I was part of that “movement” as soon as I took up the electric guitar.

What's the balance in music between technique and soul?

You can have good technique if you know how to program a drum machine, but you have to have soul to play the drums.

How do you think that you have grown as an artist since you first started making music?

I’ve grown by learning from other musicians. Most of those who influenced me were people I looked up to, and in trying to emulate them, I achieved an education that never would have existed without them.

What moment changed your music life the most? What do you think is key to a music life well lived?

Obviously, having hit records changed my life, but the “key to a music life well lived” is happiness, both professionally and personally. In that sense, I’ve been very lucky.

"In the sixties, the impact was real and ubiquitous. It helped change things in America, both socially and politically. That all changed over the years to where now, music has taken a back seat to corporate influence and technical proficiency." (Photo: Steve Katz, guitarist; singer; songwriter; producer. Best known as a original member of Blood, Sweat & Tears, The Blues Project & American Flyer)

What were the reasons that made the 60s to be the center of Folk/Blues researches and experiments?

It had to do with the growth of the counter-culture and of people looking for alternatives to the norm at the time. A lot of it was a reaction to the war in Vietnam and the Civil Rights movement, which changed the way middle class youth re-thought about everything in America.

What do you learn about yourself from the blues and what does the blues mean to you?

I didn’t learn so much about myself because my background and environment was so much different then the environment that created and sustained the blues. I saw the blues as the most American of musical forms, created within the Black community, reflecting very harsh social conditions and how the Black community reacted to those conditions. That was from a purely objective and historical point of view. From a subjective point of view, I related to the blues because it was soulful and real and I wanted to be able to get inside of it and feel the freedom and pain and joy that the blues had to offer...

How do you describe Steve Katz sound and songbook? What characterize your music philosophy?

I don’t think there is a “Steve Katz” sound. My songs have mostly been about ill-fated or unrequited love affairs, written and performed as ballads. My musical philosophy has always been limited by my ability. I can interpret a blues, but I could never write one. I’ve never lived in that kind of environment. As far as my taste in music, I very simply enjoy anything that, to my ears, is good.                     (Photo: Blood, Sweat and Tears, 1972)

"Blues influenced my view of the world because, as a young Jewish kid from New York, Black American culture was very foreign to me and, through the blues, I was able to have a deeper understanding of that culture. Out of that grew an intense love for the music and respect for what I had only seen from the social periphery. I would probably need a better definition of the “Folk Rock” culture, but, as far as I understand it, it would mean the electrifying of what was essentially an acoustic, ethno-musical world of roots music that was taken up by mainly middle-class kids in the fifties and sixties. In that sense, it of course influenced me in that I was part of that “movement” as soon as I took up the electric guitar."

Why do you think that the BS&T and Blues Project music continues to generate such a devoted following?

I think that the first BS&T album has a devoted following for a couple of reasons, the first being that it was a really good record, and the second, that we had no hits. Hit records tend to take away from the “underdog” aura that was bestowed upon us, and especially The Blues Project - no hits and some good albums.

Are there any memories from Blood, Sweat & Tears and The Blues Project which you’d like to share with us?

My favorite gig with The Blues Project was at Murray the K’s last big show in New York. The bill also included Cream and The Who - first time in America for both bands. The audiences were practically empty, but where else could you get a chance to jam backstage with Wilson Picket, Eric Clapton, Buddy Miles, etc.? It was 9 days of fun and a lot of great memories. I also loved playing the Monterey Pop Festival where I got to shake hands with Otis Redding, watch Janis sing “Ball and Chain” from the sidelines, and have a hot dog with Jimi Hendrix just before he went on.

With Blood, Sweat & Tears, I’d have to say finding out that our second album reached #1 and receiving our Album of the Year Grammy from Louis Armstrong at the Grammy Awards.

What are your hopes and fears for the future of music?

My hope is that young people discover all the great music from the world’s cultures and past - that they listen in the best possible environment and start taking music seriously instead of something to be enjoyed in the background. There is almost an infinite amount of great music that’s been recorded in the past 100 years or so and, for the average listener, yet to be discovered. My fear for the future is that musicians will keep getting screwed out of royalties by corporate interests.

"To sit next to Mozart while he was composing or to be present at the Miles’ Kind of Blue sessions with Bill Evans and John Coltrane. Also, I’d love to have been in that hotel room when Robert Johnson recorded. That way I would have heard for myself whether those acetates were sped up when they were transcribed to disc." (Photo: Steve Katz studied guitar with Dave Van Ronk and Reverend Gary Davis)

What is the impact of music on the socio-cultural implications? How do you want the music to affect people?

In the sixties, the impact was real and ubiquitous. It helped change things in America, both socially and politically. That all changed over the years to where now, music has taken a back seat to corporate influence and technical proficiency.

What are some of the most important lessons you have learned from your experience in the music paths?

To be humble and to keep yourself hydrated.

What do you miss most nowadays from the past?

My youth...!

If you had a question you would like to ask Steve Katz what would it be?

What is your social security number?

Which is the most interesting period in your life? Which was the best and worst moment of your career?

The most interesting period would be when I was in The Blues Project. It was the mid-sixties. The times were changing, people’s taste and politics were changing, and we were experimenting. We lived as a band, not making very much money but fervently believing in what we were doing.

"My songs have mostly been about ill-fated or unrequited love affairs, written and performed as ballads. My musical philosophy has always been limited by my ability. I can interpret a blues, but I could never write one. I’ve never lived in that kind of environment. As far as my taste in music, I very simply enjoy anything that, to my ears, is good." (Photo: The Blues Project are Danny Kalb, Al Kooper, Steve Katz, Andy Kulberg, and Roy Blumenfeld c.1966, Greenwich Village,  New York City)

Which meetings have been the most important experiences for you? What is the best advice ever given you?

Meeting Mississippi John Hurt, Groucho Marx, Muddy Waters, Sandy Koufax, Richard Rodgers, Rev. Gary Davis, Louis Armstrong, and Neil Armstrong.

The best advice ever given was 1) just to follow my instincts instead of what was to be expected of me. I forget who told me that, probably myself, and 2) I probably didn’t get the girl pregnant after all - Mississippi John Hurt, Los Angeles, 1964.

What were the reasons that made Greenwich Village in 60s to be the center of cultural searches and experiments?

New York has always been the gravitational center for arts in America. Greenwich Village, with its winding streets and Bohemian lifestyle has always, until recently, been the center of the New York Art scene. In the sixties, young people began to question authority, realizing that the war in Vietnam was wrong and that freedom was not a concept for all Americans. Young artists rebelled. Many artists and musicians came to New York and many reacted to those changes from college campuses. Greenwich Village was a womb for creativity in a very special time.

Which memories from Rev. Gary Davis, Son House, Skip James and Mississippi John Hurt makes you smile?

Rev. Davis was very funny, always joking around as a kid. I took a few lessons from him and drove him around to gigs for a while. Son House was not very nice, Skip James was lovely person, but Mississippi John Hurt was the best - amazing, gentle and caring human being.

"It had to do with the growth of the counter-culture and of people looking for alternatives to the norm at the time. A lot of it was a reaction to the war in Vietnam and the Civil Rights movement, which changed the way middle class youth re-thought about everything in America." (Steve Katz stayed on at Green Linnet for five years, during which time he married his one true love, Alison Palmer, a ceramic artist. As time passed, Alison’s craft achieved popularity and recognition. Alison and Steve soon found that they had a thriving small business / Steve Katz & Alison Palmer, Mexico 2023 / Photo by Leanna Staines)

What are the lines that connect the legacy of Blues/Rock with Soul/Jazz and continue to Folk and Irish music?

It’s the other way around. First you have folk music, music of the British Isles, Child Ballads, etc., and then you have the blues, an amalgamation of the above with Haitian, Creole, and minstrel influences. Soul was an outgrowth of rural blues from the American South, with guitar and piano as the basic instruments and Jazz was formed in New Orleans, along with the same Haitian, Creole and minstrel influences, and adding horns to the mixture. This question would be better off answered by an academic rather myself.

If you could change one thing in the musical world and it would become a reality, what would that be?

A better appreciation of ALL kinds of music.

What has made you laugh lately and what touched (emotionally) you from the music circuits?

Not too much has made me laugh lately, but what touches me the most are my peers, colleagues, and friends passing away, which reminds me that although the music may live forever, the creators and interpreters don’t.

Let’s take a trip with a time machine, so where and why would you really wanna go for a whole day..?

To sit next to Mozart while he was composing or to be present at the Miles’ Kind of Blue sessions with Bill Evans and John Coltrane. Also, I’d love to have been in that hotel room when Robert Johnson recorded. That way I would have heard for myself whether those acetates were sped up when they were transcribed to disc.

Steve Katz - Home

(Steve Katz with Henry and Mickey / Photo by Leon Steele)