Steve’s professional career started in the late
fifties on a local Schenectady, New York television program called
Teenage Barn. Accompanied by piano, Steve would sing such hits of
the day as “Tammy” and “April Love”. Things
could only go downhill from there.
Influenced by the folk music groups of the early sixties, Steve studied
guitar as a teenager 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.
There were many other young musicians and potential college dropouts
around Greenwich Village during this time who were as obsessed with
American roots music as Steve, whether it be bluegrass or blues. Many
would look for a common ground in which to play music together and
some, including Steve, Stefan, Maria Muldaur, John Sebastian and David
Grisman found the common denominator in “jug band” music
- the music of Cannon’s Jug Stompers and The Memphis Jug Band.
They and some other friends formed the Even Dozen Jug Band and were
courted by Elektra Records for whom they recorded an album in 1964.
Dwarfed by some of the finest young guitarists of the time, Steve
opted to play washboard in the band. He would later use the same tactic
of avoiding tough chords by mastering the harmonica.
After a brief sabbatical in college, Steve, while teaching guitar
in Greenwich Village, was asked to audition for the Danny Kalb Quartet
as a two-week substitute for the vacationing Artie Traum. Frightened
by the power of the sound of an electric guitar and amp, Steve turned
his volume to zero, thereby making no discernible mistakes. He got
the job. Artie never came back, Al Kooper joined, and they had the
Blues Project, a foray of young white middle-class musicians into
the amplified world of Chicago blues. But they worked out of New York,
and it was the mid-sixties, so the Blues Project experimented, dabbled
in their own style and gave Steve an opportunity to showcase his own
songs, as did Al and Danny. 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 Steve had
recorded.
Refusing to perform Kooper’s “This Diamond Ring”,
however, The Blues Project, after two glorious years as house band
at the Cafe Au Go Go and Murray the K’s last “submarine
race-watching” spectacular at the the RKO 58th Street theater
in New York, decided to break up, playing the Monterey Pop Festival
as their last major gig. The Blues Project’s lasting contribution
during its short life was to open the airwaves of radio to more album-oriented
Rock. All attempts at singles failed but, like the consciousness of
the era, people looked for alternatives in fashion, politics, lifestyles
and musical tastes. The Blues Project gave people an alternative and,
at the same time, made people aware of music that they might never
have otherwise heard.
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. Joined by Fred Lipsius
on alto sax, the concert raised enough money for Al to get a cab to
the airport. There was no choice but start another band. Influenced
by the Electric Flag and an album by the Buckinghams entitled Time
and Charges, a horn section was utilized with rock arrangements that
were a touch more sophisticated than most horn arrangements in rock
up to that time. Thus, the formation of Blood, Sweat & Tears,
a Columbia Records contract, and the album Child is Father to the
Man. Recorded and mixed in only two weeks, the album sold moderately
well but was a huge critical success. Steve sang one original song
(“Megan’s Gypsy Eyes”) and “Morning Glory”,
a song by his friend, the late Tim Buckley.
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Al left Blood, Sweat & Tears after only six months
and while they were reorganizing, Steve wrote record reviews for Eye
Magazine, a Cosmopolian spin-off. Getting the record company to continue
with the band without Kooper was difficult until they heard David
Clayton-Thomas. They reluctantly agreed to go ahead with a new album.
That album sold six million copies worldwide and fostered three number
one singles, a major feat for 1969. Steve continued with Blood, Sweat
& Tears for five years, during which time the group received a
large number of accolades. They won three Grammies, were voted best
band by the Playboy Jazz and Pop Poll two years in a row, and won
three major Downbeat awards, to name a few. Steve wrote many songs
during his tenure with BS&T, including his well-loved “Sometimes
in Winter”.
In 1972 Steve met Lou Reed and they quickly became friends. After
the commercial failure of Lou’s album Berlin, Steve was asked
to produce his next record. Steve jumped at the opportunity to start
a new career and produced Rock & Roll Animal and Sally Can’t
Dance for Lou. After a number of productions during this period, Steve
wanted to return again to playing music.
Although American Flyer was not a performing band, it gave Steve another
creative outlet in which to work and talented people to work with.
Steve was joined by the prolific writer Eric Kaz, Craig Fuller from
Pure Prairie League, and Doug Yule from The Velvet Underground. The
first of their two albums was produced by George Martin who was interrogated
constantly by Steve about his production techniques with The Beatles.
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. The highlight of the
three years that Steve spent at Mercury was his being able to produce
the great Irish group Horslips. Steve spent a good deal of time in
Ireland during this period and produced three albums for the group.It
was during his visits to Ireland that Steve became enamored with all
things Irish, especially the traditional music and Irish literature.
Horslips had originally been an acoustic band that sang their songs
in Gaelic, and the band members made Steve aware of great Irish traditional
music. 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. As
time passed, Alison’s craft achieved popularity and recognition.
Alison and Steve soon found that they had a thriving small business.
Steve is now doing photography professionally and, after a 35-year
sabbatical, has rejoined Blood, Sweat & Tears. Steve and Alison
live in Kent, Connecticut with their African Grey Parrots, TuTu and
KuKu, their three dogs and the remains of their beloved guinea pig,
Sid.
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