Blood, Sweat, and My Rock ’n’ Roll Years
“I love love love Steve Katz’s new book about Blood Sweat and Rock and Roll—a dizzying, delicious, head spinning heart-wrenching tale of the Sixties and what even those of us who were there might have missed—stories of the great band he was part of, that tore up the charts while the music rolled up the avenues of the world. Touring, the treasures and torments, faces and voices: Joni in the dark and light, Al Kooper in the day and night, Mimi in the morning at Judy’s house, Danny Kalb in the aftermath of Monterey, Janis Joplin in profile. It is a great ride, both for those who were there and never saw the other side of the story, and those who weren’t, and want to know what really happened in the Cafe Wha, the Gaslight, Bitter End in New York, Monterey Pop and the Woodstock that happened off-stage. Great book, great read, great life.”
Judy Collins, singer, writer, and survivor of the sixties
On paper, Steve Katz’s career rivals anyone’s except the 1960s’ and 70s’ biggest stars: the Monterey Pop Festival with the legendary Blues Project; Woodstock with Blood, Sweat & Tears; and even producing rock’s most celebrated speed addict, Lou Reed. There were world tours, and his résumé screams “Hall of Fame”—it won’t be long before BS&T are on that ballot. He has three Grammies (and ten nominations), three Downbeat Reader’s Poll Awards, three gold records, one platinum record, and one quadruple platinum platter (the second Blood, Sweat & Tears album), not to mention three gold singles with BS&T. Altogether, he’s sold close to 29 million records. He had affairs with famous female folk singers, made love to Jim Morrison’s girlfriend Pam when Jim was drunk and abusive, partied with Elizabeth Taylor and Groucho Marx, dined with Rudolf Nureyev, conversed with Martin Luther King Jr. and Tennessee Williams, hung out with Andy Warhol, jammed with everyone from Mose Allison to Jimi Hendrix, and was told to “get a haircut” by both Mickey Spillane and Danny Thomas.
But his memoir is more Portnoy’s Complaint than the lurid party-with-your-pants-down memoir that has become the norm for rock ’n’ roll books. It’s an honest and personal account of a life at the edge of the spotlight—a privileged vantage point that earned him a bit more objectivity and earnest outrage than a lot of his colleagues, who were too far into the scene to lay any honest witness to it. Set during the Greenwich Village folk/rock scene, the 60s’ most celebrated venues and concerts, and behind closed doors on international tours and grueling studio sessions, this is the unlikely story of a rock star as nerd, nerd as rock star, a nice Jewish boy who got to sit at the cool kids’ table and score the hot chicks.
Praise