Matthew Katz
Matthew Katz (born 1929) is an American music manager and producer, most notably as the former manager of Jefferson Airplane, Moby Grape and It's a Beautiful Day. He is widely recognized as the founder of 1960s San Francisco psychedelic music scene, and is the owner of record label, San Francisco Sound and the owner of Matthew Katz Productions.
Career
Katz commenced his career in music in the 1960s, as the manager of three San Francisco-based bands, Jefferson Airplane, Moby Grape and It's A Beautiful Day. He is known for controversial practices that were criticized for not being in the best interest of the artists he managed. In October 1966, when CBS Records offered a contract to Moby Grape, Katz coerced the band into giving up ownership of their name and all of their publishing rights or else he would block them from signing with the label.[1] Moby Grape fired Katz in late 1967.[2] His acrimonious relationship with the band would continue to deteriorate for decades as Katz continued to collect all of their royalties for himself. In 2005, the Superior Court Of California decreed that all ownership rights relating to recordings and songs prior to 1973 are the sole property of Moby Grape. It also stipulated that Katz was to pay back royalties, and that the band members now owned the Moby Grape name. Katz appealed, but the Court Of Appeal upheld the original verdict in 2006.[1] When Sundazed Music tried to bring the band's catalog back into print, Katz threatened them with litigation over ownership of the album artwork. The band's work remained out-of-print as of 2007 largely due to his efforts.[2]
In addition to the long-standing legal issues with Moby Grape, lawsuits between Katz and Jefferson Airplane were in the courts for 21 years.[3] To this day, Katz is known in the rock music world as one of the most anti-musician agents who ever worked in the industry.[citation needed]
Katz is also the owner of San Francisco Sound Records, which has released original or licensed material by Jefferson Airplane, Moby Grape, It's a Beautiful Day and Tim Hardin, among others. The company released Hardin's Unforgiven in 1981, his last recordings.[4]
Other groups that Katz worked with include Tripsichord Music Box and a group from Seattle originally named West Coast Natural Gas, which Katz renamed Indian Puddin' and Pipe.[5]
Katz opened two different music showcases named San Francisco Sound. The Seattle location was in a building on Capitol Hill originally named The Encore Ballroom and operated between 1967 and 1969. The other location was in Tottenville, Staten Island, in New York City.[6]
References
- ^ a b "The story of Moby Grape: chaos and courtrooms, acid and white witches". Louder. 16 September 2016. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
- ^ a b "Moby Grape Just Can't Catch a Break". NPR.org. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
- ^ Tamarkin, Jeff (6 September 2017). "Moby Grape: When Bad Things Happen to Good Bands". Best Classic Bands. Retrieved 27 July 2022.
- ^ Details of releases by San Francisco Sound Records may be found here.
- ^ "West Coast Natural Gas - Seattle - (1966-1968)". pnwbands.com.
- ^ "San Francisco Sound Ballroom - Seattle". pnwbands.com.
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