Stephen Sanders "Steve" Knight (12 May 1935 – 19 January 2013) was an American

musician A musician is a person who composes, conducts, or performs music. According to the United States Employment Service, "musician" is a general term used to designate one who follows music as a profession. Musicians include songwriters who wri ...

best known as the keyboardist for the rock band

Mountain A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited Summit (topography), summit area, and ...

from 1969 until his departure in 1972.

Biography

Knight was born in New York to artist parents. From 1938–1950 his family lived in

Woodstock, New York Woodstock is a town in Ulster County, New York, United States, in the northern part of the county, northwest of Kingston, NY. It lies within the borders of the Catskill Park. The population was 5,884 at the 2010 census, down from 6,241 in 2000 ...

. In 1950, his father became a professor at

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

and moved the family to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. In 1952, Knight graduated from high school (

New Lincoln School The New Lincoln School was a private experimental coeducational school in New York City enrolling students from kindergarten through grade 12. History New Lincoln's predecessor was founded as Lincoln School in 1917 by the Rockefeller-funded Gener ...

) and enrolled at Columbia later that year. He stayed at Columbia for most of the 1950s (1952–1959) studying art, music and psychology. He earned a B.S. degree majoring in psychology, and had one year of graduate work in psychology. From 1959 to 1968, Knight recorded with or was a member of various bands including the Feenjon Group, the Peacemakers,

Devil's Anvil The Devil's Anvil was a 1960s hard rock band based in New York City. They released one album, entitled ''Hard Rock from the Middle East'', in 1967, showcasing a mix of 1960s hard-rock sound with Arab, Greek and Turkish songs and melodies. Form ...

and

Wings A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is expresse ...

(not

McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained worldwide fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John Lennon. One ...

's group). In 1969, producer/vocalist/bassist

Felix Pappalardi Felix A. Pappalardi Jr. (December 30, 1939 – April 17, 1983) was an American music producer, songwriter, vocalist, and bassist. He is best known as the bassist and co-lead vocalist of the band Mountain, whose song "Mississippi Queen" peaked at ...

organized Mountain. The initial line-up included

Leslie West Leslie West (born Leslie Abel Weinstein; October 22, 1945 – December 23, 2020) was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. He was the co-founder, guitarist and co-lead vocalist of the rock band Mountain. Life and career Early years: 1 ...

(guitar/vocals) and

N.D. Smart Norman D. Smart (born September 29, 1947) is an American drummer. He replaced Chip Damiani in the Remains in 1966, shortly before the band split up. Smart was a member of the band Kangaroo, which released one album on MGM Records in 1968. Oth ...

(drums). Prior to release of Mountain's debut album, ''

Climbing! ''Climbing!'' (also known as ''Mountain Climbing!'') is the debut studio album by American hard rock band Mountain, released in 1970 by Windfall Records. Background In 1969, Leslie West recorded his debut solo album, titled ''Mountain'', with ...

'', Pappalardi, who had known Knight from prior musical affiliations, added him to the line-up on keyboards. He performed with the band at Woodstock in August 1969. Later

Corky Laing Laurence Gordon "Corky" Laing (born January 26, 1948) is a Canadian rock drummer, best known as a longtime member of pioneering American hard rock band Mountain. 20th century A native of Montreal, Quebec, Laing was the youngest in a family of f ...

replaced Smart on drums. The band enjoyed a great deal of recording and touring success in the early 1970s including 3 gold albums, but called it quits in 1972. Knight then returned to traditional jazz. For the next 25 years, Knight worked in specialty engineering (as a door engineer), and as a songwriter, author and part-time musician. In the mid-1990s, Knight left New York City and returned to Woodstock. In November 1999, he was elected to a seat on the Woodstock Town Board. He was re-elected to a second term in 2003. In 2007 Knight chose not to seek a third four-year term, instead choosing to focus on his personal life including several music projects. Knight died 19 January 2013 in New York of complications from

Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a long-term degenerative disorder of the central nervous system that mainly affects the motor system. The symptoms usually emerge slowly, and as the disease worsens, non-motor symptoms becom ...

at the age of 77.

References

External links

Steve Knight on findagrave.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Knight, Steve 1935 births 2013 deaths American rock keyboardists Musicians from New York City People from the Catskills Mountain (band) members People from Woodstock, New York Columbia University alumni 20th-century American keyboardists