Gary Katz
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Gary Katz is an American record producer, most famous for his work in that capacity on every Steely Dan album recorded during the first run of their career, from Can't Buy A Thrill in 1972 to Gaucho in 1980.
A staff producer for the now defunct ABC Records, Katz brought the duo of Donald Fagen and Walter Becker to Los Angeles initially to write pop songs for the label. It was Katz, in tandem with Fagen and Becker, who formed Steely Dan around the pair as a means of bringing their music to the marketplace, after Fagen and Becker's limited success in penning hits for other artists. Steely Dan recorded for Katz' label throughout his tenure with the label, until it was purchased by the MCA Records conglomerate in 1979.
Steely Dan's distinctively clean and precise sound in their releases from the 1970s is often attributed solely to Becker and Fagen, but Katz's influence and contributions as longtime producer should not be overlooked. The tensions of making Gaucho led to the dissolution of the Becker/Fagen partnership until the early 1990s, although Katz did produce Fagen's well-received solo album from 1982, The Nightfly. Apparently some kind of falling out between Katz and either Becker and/or Fagen did take place, for by the time that Fagen and Becker reactivated the Steely Dan moniker for work in the studio, resulting in the album Two Against Nature in 2000, Katz was not invited to participate[citation needed].
Katz has also worked with Love and Money, China Crisis, Eye to Eye, Irish band Swim and 10cc on their ...Meanwhile album (among many others).
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