Piece Description

Host Jason Wilber talks with producer extrodinaire Gary Katz about his life, and his work in the music business.  Widely known for his work producing and working with Walter Becker and Donald Fagan with Steely Dan, Gary has also produced many other artsits such as Diana Ross, 10cc, Joe Cocker, Rosie Vela and Eye to Eye.

Katz entered the music business working with Bobby Darin. He produced at Avco-Embassy Records, then with ABC/Dunhill Records, working with artists such as The Mamas & the Papas, Steppenwolf and Three Dog Night. Katz also has broad experience with A & R, responsible for artist signings such as Jim Croce, Chaka Khan, Rufus and Jimmy Buffett as well as Graham Nash and David Crosby.

Katz had a joint venture with Interscope called Jake Records before moving to Warner Brothers as a producer and A & R man, where they enjoyed legendary success as a company and creating new artists. He was one of two people principally responsible for signing Prince, Dire Straits, Christopher Cross and Rickie Lee Jones and Root Boy Slim to Warner. He worked at the Burbank offices for six years, then at the New York offices for another four, alongside Jerry Wexler.

This piece is "EVERGREEN", i.e. the show can be run anytime as the content is not date specific.

Topics discussed include: Early influences in music, hearing Chuck Berry on the AM radio in Brooklyn, childhood friends, going to Christmas Shows at the Brooklyn Paramount Theater to see Buddy Holly, Chuck Berry, etc., with Suzanne Pleshette who's father managed the theater, getting in to the music business, his friends Jay and the Americans, starting out producing with Bobby Darin, writing a cold call letter to the President of ABC Dunhill in LA for a job, meeting Donald and Walter in 1967, the origins of Steely Dan, making "Can't Buy a Thrill", experiencing an evolution in those early records, his friend Thomas Jefferson Kaye, Rick Derringer, and Elliot Randall, and producing his favorite artist Root Boy Slim the Sex Change Band with the Rootettes.

Musical selections include:Brooklyn Owes The Charmer Under Me, Boddhisattva, Peg,My Old School,Josie, Any Major Dude, Dirty Work, Reelin In The Years,  In Jail in Jacksonville.


For more information, visit In Search of a Song.com