Mickey Katz

Mickey [Meyer] Katz (1909-1985)

Mickey Katz (June 15, 1909, Cleveland, Ohio - April 30, 1985, Los-Angeles, California) was a U.S. Jewish comedian and musician.

As a child growing up in Cleveland, Mickey studied the clarinet, and while still in his teens was already playing with some of the local bands. In 1946,Spike Jones heard Mickey doing some comic routines and hired him. Subsequently, Mickey was heard on a great many of Spike's releases.

Eventually, executives at RCA Victor heard Mickey's parodies that combined Popular tunes of the day with Klezmer instrumentation and Yiddish stereotype lyrics, and deciding to take a chance released his first 'Single', - "Haim Afen Range" with "Yiddish Square Dance" on the "b" side. In the band was trumpeter Mannie [Mendel] Klein (another "City Slicker" alumnus later replaced by Ziggy Elman), a young Si Zentner on trombone, Leyzer Breen on bass, and Sam Weiss on drums. A studio orchestrator, Nat Farber, did the arrangements. In one month, the record sold over 30,000 copies.

With rising success, Katz next organized a road show he called "The Borscht Capades." In the cast was Katz's own son, who would later achieve his own fame, as Joel Grey, in the film "Cabaret", that also starred Liza Minelli. Curiously, while"Borschtcapades" never actually played the real "borscht belt", his next revue, "Farfel Follies", did, and established him as a rising young star on the "Borscht Belt", or "Jewish Alps" (a famous resort area in the Catskill Mountains - a suburb of New York City - where many top entertainers often performed). Sadly, many of those great resorts have vanished. It was a wonderful 'learning ground' for young comedians and musicians).

In the 1950s, Katz again switched Record labels, joining Capitol with whom he would remain until his retirement in the late 1960s.His material never varied, - basically, Yiddish interpretations of Pop tunes of the day, although he did record one "straight" album "Mickey Katz at the U.N" and a comedy album entitled "The Katz Pajamas", - a collection of fairy tales spoken in fractured Yiddish.

Katz reprised the "Borschtcapades" idea in the mid-1960s with a Broadway revue titled, "Hello, Solly," but the show was short-lived. He published an autobiography, "Papa Play for Me" in 1977.

с дополнениями Space Age Pop

[78RPM]

Bagle Call Rag (E.Schoebel - B.Meyers - J.Pettis) Mickey Katz & his Orchestra  Capitol 1284 1950

Chlo-e (Gus Kahn - Neil Moret) Mickey Katz & his Kosher-Jammers  HMV B.9695 (D7-FB-2144) 1948

Chlo-e (Gus Kahn - Neil Moret) Mickey Katz & his Kosher-Jammers  RCA Victor 25-5083-B 1948

Haim Afen Range (Mickey Katz) Mickey Katz & his Orchestra  Capitol 2660 1953

K'nock Around The Clock (Jimmy De Knight-Max C. Freedman) Mickey Katz & his Orchestra  Capitol 3851 1957

The Draidel Song (Al Sack) Mickey Katz & his Kosher-Jammers  HMV B.9742 (D7-FB-2143) 1948

The Draidel Song (Al Sack) Mickey Katz & his Kosher-Jammers  RCA Victor 25-5084-B 1948

Tico-Tico (Mickey Katz - Zequinha Abreu) Mickey Katz & his Kosher-Jammers  HMV B.9695 (D7-FB-2142) 1948

Tico-Tico (Mickey Katz - Zequinha Abreu) Mickey Katz & his Kosher-Jammers  RCA Victor 25-5083-A 1948

Yiddish Square Dance (Mickey Katz) Mickey Katz & his Kosher-Jammers  HMV B.9707 (D7-FB-1380) 1947

Yiddish Square Dance (Mickey Katz) Mickey Katz & his Kosher-Jammers  RCA Victor 25-5081-B 1947

You're A Doity Dog (Jerry Leiber - Mike Stoller) Mickey Katz & his Orchestra  Capitol 3607 1957

[45RPM]

Bar Mitzvah Special (Louis Singer & Nat Farber) Mickey Katz & his Orchestra  Сapitol F3664 (45-16047) 1958

K'nock Around The Clock (Jimmy De Knight-Max C. Freedman) Mickey Katz & his Orchestra  Capitol F3851 (45-14346) 1957

[33RPM]

Bagle Call Rag (E.Schoebel - B.Meyers - J.Pettis) Mickey Katz & his Orchestra  Capitol H-298 1951

Bagle Call Rag (E.Schoebel - B.Meyers - J.Pettis) Mickey Katz & his Orchestra  Capitol T-298 1955

Bar Mitzvah Special (Louis Singer & Nat Farber) Mickey Katz & his Orchestra  Capitol T 1021 1958

Berele's Sherele (Benny Gill & Nat Farber) Mickey Katz & his Orchestra  Capitol H-457 1953

Berele's Sherele (Benny Gill & Nat Farber) Mickey Katz & his Orchestra  Capitol L-457 1954

Berele's Sherele (Benny Gill & Nat Farber) Mickey Katz & his Orchestra  Capitol T 1021 1958

Haim Afen Range (Mickey Katz) Mickey Katz & his Orchestra  Capitol T-799 1957

K'nock Around The Clock (Jimmy De Knight-Max C. Freedman) Mickey Katz & his Orchestra  Capitol T-1102 1958

Mendel's Song (Mickey Katz - Manny Klein) Mickey Katz & his Orchestra  Capitol H-457 1953

Mendel's Song (Mickey Katz - Manny Klein) Mickey Katz & his Orchestra  Capitol L-457 1954

Mendel's Song (Mickey Katz - Manny Klein) Mickey Katz & his Orchestra  Capitol T 1021 1958

Sunrise, Sunset (Jerry Bock) Mickey Katz Capitol W-2731 1967

Sunrise, Sunset (Jerry Bock) Mickey Katz Capitol WI-2731 1967

Tate, Shpil Far Mir (Joel Grey) Joel Grey  Capitol ST 2755 1967

Tico-Tico (Mickey Katz - Zequinha Abreu) Mickey Katz & his Kosher-Jammers  RCA Victor LPM 3193 1954

Trombonick Tanz (Mickey Katz - Nat Farber) Mickey Katz & his Orchestra  Capitol H-457 1953

Trombonick Tanz (Mickey Katz - Nat Farber) Mickey Katz & his Orchestra  Capitol L-457 1954

Trombonick Tanz (Mickey Katz - Nat Farber) Mickey Katz & his Orchestra  Capitol T 1021 1958

You're A Doity Dog (Jerry Leiber - Mike Stoller) Mickey Katz & his Orchestra  Capitol T-934 1957

 clarinet solo by Mickey Katz

Last update 15-04-2023