Steve Berkowitz

Steve Berkowitz has had a lot of different jobs: artist manager, tour manager, booking agent, concert promoter, guitar player, record buyer, studio owner, deejay, truck driver, NCAA basketball referee, Columbia and Sony Records A&R executive, roadie, Grammy-winning producer and soda jerk. And he’s happy to tell you that he was raised in the Boston’s Brighton neighborhood. “I’m proudly from Brighton, from the projects of Fidelis Way,” he says. “My first apartment outside of my parents’ house on Allston Street was a block away from Brighton center, on Peaceable Street.”

MUSICAL BEGINNINGS

Berkowitz became part of Boston’s music scene before reaching his teens, playing in bands in and around the city as early as 1963, when he was 11. “I was a drummer first and had a folk duo with my cousin Jim Richman,” he says, “and then switched full time to guitar by the time I was 13. “ In 1966,14-year-old Berkowitz introduced himself to Muddy Waters’ guitarist Luther “Georgia Boy Snake” Johnson at a Waters gig and within an hour he was jamming with Waters, joined by John Lee Hooker and Chuck Berry.

“It was a trip then and a trip to remember now,” he says. “It was a dream. I played a solo and Muddy nodded at me with approval….sky high! Listening and learning in the first person from those guys and the high level they played at and set the standards for, was beautiful. An education and unforgettable. I am a fortunate man.” Following a stint playing guitar with another blues legend, Howlin’ Wolf, Berkowitz became tour manager for a bunch of local bands, later playing that role for The Cars as part of Lookout Management.

BOSTON’S “FERTILE,” “DEEP” MUSIC SCENE

Berkowitz attributes some of his early success to Boston’s unique music scene, which he calls “fertile” and “deep,” particularly because the city is so full of students. “The scene has always been fertile,” he says. “How could it not be? The greatest student city in the world, and everybody’s looking to make a world or maintain one, and many were looking for their thing, their band, their style, their thing. They had a lot to choose from.

“Back in that day, the ‘60s through the ‘90s, there were so many clubs, college gigs, city gigs in the park, coffeehouses, mixers, parties, frat houses, college radio, the Cape, the islands. The Remains. The Rockin’ Ramrods. The G-Clefs, Chubby & The Turnpikes. The Mods. All The Surf bands. Blues bands. Jazz bands. Country and bluegrass scenes. Aerosmith. Willie Alexander. The Hallucinations. The J. Geils Band. The James Montgomery Band. John Lincoln Wright. The Rat scene. The Cars. The Modern Lovers. Classical music. Berklee. New England Conservatory.

“The scene was deep. I was lucky enough to attend a few hundred nights, give or take, at The Boston Tea Party and Psychedelic Supermarket,

Club 47, The Unicorn Coffee House, The Catacombs, Lennie’s on the Turnpike, Sandy’s Jazz Revival, Joe’s Place, Inn-Square Men’s Bar, Jonathan Swift’s, Jack’s, K- K- K-Katy’s, Spit, Bunratty’s, and so many more. Boston is a fortunate and vibrant place. It’s a hub in a lot of ways.”

COLUMBIA RECORDS

In the mid-‘90s, Berkowitz joined Columbia Records’ A&R team and among his first signings were Jeff Buckley, Henry Threadgill and Ministry. “I was an A&R guy involved in all genres of music,” he explains. “I was a musical guy and a responsible executive for the company and the artists. My most cherished moment and exchange was with Jeff Buckley, a wonderful guy. My friend and a stellar musician with unlimited ability. He was gone way too soon [died in 1997 at age 30].”

He also speaks fondly of many other Columbia artists he worked with over the years. “Working with Fishbone was smokin’. Branford Marsalis, too. And I was quite fond of Jerry Vale as well.  Johnny Cash. Working on the music of Miles Davis and Bob Dylan was an honor and like adjusting chapters of the Bible. It is to be respected. I enjoyed Terence Trent D’Arby a lot. Henry Threadgill is brilliant  and will stand the test of time. Had a strange and unmentionable exchange with Sly; and John Legend, Robert Glasper, Booker T., especially Steve Cropper, were a treat to be involved with.”

SONY/LEGACY

Next, Berkowitz became head of A&R for Sony’s sublabel Legacy, the reissue wing of Sony Music. During that time, he was executive producer of Sony Music’s 26-CD box set Soundtrack for a Century, on which the material spans from the earliest recordings to the present including pop, classical, folk, gospel, blues, movie music, rock and R&B.

A few years back, at Abbey Road Studios in London, he supervised the re-release and mastering of the entire Beatles catalog in mono from the original mono masters. “We made vinyl again in a completely analog process,” he says. “It was an honor and a dream.” Berkowitz was also the driving force behind years of releases for the label. “I have had the honor of seeing and meeting Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker, Howlin’ Wolf, B.B. King, Luther “Georgia Boy Snake” Johnson, Bill Evans, Jeff Beck, Miles Davis, Johnny Cash and Bill Monroe ,” he says. “I went out a lot. Didn’t come home often. Went to a lot of gigs. Played a lot of gigs.”

GRAMMYS, BLUES FOUNDATION AWARDS

As a producer, Berkowitz has won five Grammys in total for The Complete Louis Armstrong Hot 5’s & Hot 7’s, Bob Dylan’s The Basement Tapes Bootleg Series Volume 11 and The Cutting Edge Bootleg Series Volume 13 and the soundtracks for the for the Miles Davis documentary Miles Ahead and Martin Scorsese’s History Of The Blues

He has won two Blues Foundation Awards, the first for in the category Best Historical Releases for Breakin’ It Up Breakin’ It Down – Muddy Waters, James Cotton, Johnny Winter and the second in the Historical Blues Album of the Year category for Muddy Mississippi Waters Live. He shared both wins with fellow Boston native, old friend and Muddy Waters Band alumni Bob Margolin.

CURRENT ACTIVITY

These days, Berkowitz  works independently, consulting Sony Music and other music-related companies as well as artists and their catalogs. This year he will be working with Robert Glasper and a band from Ireland called The Lost Brothers. In 2018, he will also be working on producing material by Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen, Johnny Cash, Miles Davis and Paul Simon.

“Man, I ain’t done yet,” he says. “I think I got a couple of new and different chapters to find and write. I’m very energized and very happy and fortunate with my family: my wife Monique and our sons Nick and Ben. I’m working on a number of projects and I’m happy but I am not settled. I’m looking for great new music, people, ideas and opportunities to find and move me. I think I will find them. Can you recommend any?”

MUSICAL INFLUENCES

Little Walter, The Yardbirds, Muddy Waters, B.B. King, Jimi Hendrix, Buddy Guy, Howlin’ Wolf, Hubert Sumlin, John Coltrane, Hank Williams, James Taylor, Aretha Franklin, Bill Withers, Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Charlie Christian, Ray Charles, Stevie Wonder, Prefab Sprout, John Lee Hooker, Johnny Cash, Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis, Bob Dylan, Chuck Berry, Eden’s Children, Peter Malick, Ian Whitcomb, Branford Marsalis, James Brown, Booker T. & The MG’s, Charles Mingus, Charles Lloyd, Charles Wright and Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band, Sly Stone, Lonnie Mack, Robert Johnson, Elvis Costello, Elvis Presley, Nick Lowe, Dennis Brennan, Peter Goff, Herb Ellis, Luther Vandross, Luther Johnson, Joni Mitchell, Max Roach, Ornette Coleman, Thelonious Monk, The Jesters, The Drifters, The Clovers, The Nutmegs, Louise Johnson, The Roots, Raymond Scott, Cliff Edwards, Willard Robison, Jeff Buckley, Lefty Frizell, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Paul Butterfield, Mike Bloomfield + Just Jack, Bruce Cockburn, MGMT, Danger Mouse, Nipsey Russell and Art Carney. And many, many more.

COMMENTS ABOUT BERKOWITZ (AKA “T. BLADE)

• “I’ve known Steve since way back when, as teenagers trying to learn how to play the blues. He was always very smart, funny and a class act. We don’t get together as much as I’d like, but whenever we do we share an instant connection.” (Ron Levy – The Albert King Band, Ron Levy’s Wild Kingdom)
• “Okay, it’s true. T. Blade is He’s a big picture kind of guy who not only hears all the music, he hears the music it came from and the different ways it might spin. He has strong opinions, and he’s usually right. He is the coolest of cats, a staunch friend and ally andhe takes questions from the audience.” (Richard “Rosy” Rosenblatt – Vizztone Records)
• “I have known T. Blade from the mid-‘70s blues scene in Boston. There were a handful of working bands making the rounds at that time and T. Blade & The Esquires was among the best. I remember nights when I was making the roundsshowing up at the Tam O’Shanter in Brookline when T. Blade might have been playing there, and barging in on his gig, whether or not there already was a piano player. I would pound the keys with that I got to express my blues  Steve maintained a gracious attitude (probably seething inside) toward my I got to sit in and show everyone how good I am attitude. I think his demeanor has served him well over the years and all of us are grateful that he  was at Sony in charge of the blues. We saw him in Memphis at the Blues Music Awards; he presented an elegant speech regarding the induction of Robert Johnson’s song “Love In Vain” into The Blues Hall Of Fame.” (David Maxwell – The Freddie King Band)
• “Steve Berkowitz was always passionate about music and a fine guitar player who still kicks ass on the bandstand as T Blade. But his career as a producer of historic recordings, for Columbia, Sony Legacy, and on his own literally enriches the world’s musical heritage. I am forever in his debt for giving me the opportunity to work on Muddy Waters’ recordings, which I played on, for his high-quality re-issues. Steve brings class, friendliness, love for music, vision and creativity to everything he does. On Thanksgiving 1978, I was touring with Muddy in England, opening shows for Eric Clapton. On that night off, the promoter invited us to a new band on Columbia Records, The Cars. Steve was their manager at that time. With the Americans at the party in mind, Steve arranged to have the party catered in traditional Thanksgiving cuisine- not easy to do in England. We Americans who were away from home for the holiday really appreciated it. Steve told me the British chef exclaimed to him, “you want me to do whatwith a pumpkin?” (Bob Margolin – The Muddy Waters Band, The Bob Margolin Band)

(by A.J. Wachtel)