Matthew Katz (born 1929) is an American music manager and producer, most notably as the former manager of

Jefferson Airplane Jefferson Airplane was an American rock band based in San Francisco, California, that became one of the pioneering bands of psychedelic rock. Formed in 1965, the group defined the San Francisco Sound and was the first from the Bay Area to ac ...

Moby Grape Moby Grape is an American rock band founded in 1966, known for having all five members contribute to singing and songwriting, and who collectively merged elements of folk music, blues, country, and jazz with rock and psychedelic music. They were ...

and

It's a Beautiful Day It's a Beautiful Day is an American band formed in San Francisco, California, in 1967, featuring vocalist Pattie Santos along with violinist David LaFlamme and his wife, Linda LaFlamme, on keyboards. David LaFlamme, who as a youth had once p ...

. He is the owner of the 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 CBS Records may refer to: * CBS Records or CBS/Sony, former name of Sony Music, a global record company * CBS Records International, label for Columbia Records recordings released outside North America from 1962 to 1990 * CBS Records (2006), founde ...

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. Moby Grape fired Katz in late 1967. 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. 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. In addition to the long-standing legal issues with Moby Grape, lawsuits between Katz and Jefferson Airplane were in the courts for 21 years. 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. 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 James Timothy Hardin (December 23, 1941 – December 29, 1980) was an American folk and blues musician and composer. As well as releasing his own material, several of his songs, including " If I Were a Carpenter" and "Reason to Believe", becam ...

, among others. The company released Hardin's ''

Unforgiven ''Unforgiven'' is a 1992 American Revisionist Western film starring, directed, and produced by Clint Eastwood, and written by David Webb Peoples. The film tells the story of William Munny, an aging outlaw and killer who takes on one more job, ...

'' in 1981, his last recordings. Other groups that Katz worked with include

Tripsichord Music Box The Tripsichord Music Box was an American psychedelic rock group of the 1960s. They were managed by Matthew Katz, who also worked with Jefferson Airplane, Moby Grape and It's a Beautiful Day.Liner notes, ''Tripsichord - Music Box'' (2012 reissue), ...

and a group from

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

originally named West Coast Natural Gas, which Katz renamed Indian Puddin' and Pipe. Katz opened two different music showcases named San Francisco Sound. The

location was in a building on

Capitol Hill Capitol Hill, in addition to being a metonym for the United States Congress, is the largest historic residential neighborhood in Washington, D.C., stretching easterly in front of the United States Capitol along wide avenues. It is one of the ...

originally named The Encore Ballroom and operated between 1967 and 1969. The other location was in

Tottenville, Staten Island Tottenville is a neighborhood on the South Shore, Staten Island, South Shore of Staten Island, New York City. It is the southernmost settlement in both New York City and New York (state), New York State. Tottenville is bounded on three sides by w ...

, in

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Katz, Matthew American music managers American record producers Living people 1929 births