211:. A clarinet solo was on the program. On the way home, Katz told him he wanted to play the clarinet. However, for his father to pay for an instrument and lessons was out of the question. The next day, Katz asked the bandmaster of the local high school for a school clarinet, and within a few days he received an old and dusty clarinet. The next step was to find a way to pay for clarinet lessons. Katz went to his Uncle Sam and offered to clean his tailor shop if he would pay for the lessons. His uncle agreed, and soon Katz was studying under Joseph Narovec. He made excellent progress on the instrument, and quickly learned the saxophone as well.
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Grace and played with
Spitalny until the leader left Loew's Theater in 1932. Katz continued to play there for another year, then rejoined Spitalny at the RKO Palace Theater and played there until the Cleveland musicians' local in Cleveland went on strike in 1935. Unfortunately for Katz, the union lost the strike, since movie theaters were becoming more common and theaters no longer needed live musicians, and he was out of a job once again.
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224:, Katz left Cleveland in 1929. He had a hard time finding work at first, and bopped around from one small, unsuccessful job to the next. He finally ran into Ed Fishman, whom he knew from Cleveland and who helped him find a job playing in Howard Phillips' orchestra at the Manger Hotel. However, the job ended in 1930, after his marriage, and the couple had no choice but to go to live in Grace's uncle's home.
582:. Katz played with many musicians throughout the years, but he initially performed his parodies with Mannie Klein on trumpet, Sammy Weiss on drums, Benny Gill on violin, Si Zentner on trombone, and Wally Wechsler on piano. Al Sack, the man who created the music for Katz's first two parodies, assembled these players for Katz and then helped him get Nat Farber to arrange the music.
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Fresh out of high school, Katz landed a gig playing clarinet and sax for Phil
Spitalny and went on a road tour with his band. After the tour, Katz played in Doc Whipple's big band at the Golden Pheasant Chinese Restaurant for about a year, at which point he left and joined Angelo Vitale's band at the
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Katz was soon saved from this situation when he received a phone call from Jack
Spector, a friend back in Cleveland. A spot for a clarinet and sax player had recently opened up in Maurice Spitalny's band at the Loew's State Theater, and Spector had recommended Katz. Katz moved back to Cleveland with
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when he was about four years old. Menachem supported the family as a tailor, but money was always tight in the Katz family. As children, Mickey and his siblings contributed to the family finances by entering amateur musical contests in the neighborhood theaters and bringing the prize money home to
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and released from his military obligation after failing his preinduction physical. He found other ways to help the war effort, though. Back at the Alpine
Village he began to sell war bonds after the shows, bringing in US$ 25,000 to $ 30,000 a week for the U.S. government. He also played for
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Despite Katz's appeal with particular groups, there were many who did not like his music. Most of these people were affronted by the way he emphasized Jewish differences, convinced that his antics would help perpetuate Jewish stereotypes. In "The
Yiddish are coming", writer
410:. In the same year, he joined the California Friars Club, and proceeded to conduct at their major functions for the next 25 years. In 1953, Katz decided to play Las Vegas, and after a successful start at the Frontier, he returned to Las Vegas for four more years.
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Although Katz had his fans, not everybody loved him. There were many radio stations that refused to play his records, and several venues feared hiring him. In his biography, Katz recalls asking a radio station manager why he wouldn't play any of Katz's records:
425:, an area where most of his peers made their start. Unfortunately for Katz, the booking office that hired him was determined to make as much money out of him as possible, and he ended up with a packed schedule, playing "anything north of
295:. He quickly wrote another song for the flip side, "Yiddish Square Dance", and had his friend Al Sack sketch out the melody for it and set "Haim afen Range" to music as well. The original run of 10,000 copies released in
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From 1951 to 1956, Katz operated as a disc jockey for the Los
Angeles radio station KABC while going on occasional road tours and playing engagements at the Bandbox nightclub. In 1952 Katz also did some shows for the
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sold out in three days, and RCA received orders for 25,000 more. Katz then went on to parody "Tico, Tico" as "Tickle, Tickle" and backed this new record with "Chloya", a parody of "Chloe". He then hired a manager in
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to go on a road tour. While waiting at the train station to leave, Katz met Grace
Epstein, his future wife. He was seventeen and she was fourteen. He married her three years later, in 1930. They had two sons,
372:"Then why don't you play some of my instrumental records? They're some of the greatest music in the world, played by some of the greatest musicians in the world—Ziggy Elman, Mannie Klein, Nat Farber--"
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Not one to let others get him down, though, Katz continued to create parodies until 1957 and continued to perform off and on until his death. In 1948, Katz produced the
English-Yiddish stage revue
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In 1942, Katz was hired as bandleader at the Alpine
Village theater-restaurant in Cleveland. He was subsequently drafted, but was classified 4-F classification by the
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flavor, either throughout the entire piece or as a brief "break" in the middle of the song. His songs often lampooned both Jewish and
American culture.
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their parents. Even after graduating from high school, Mickey continued to support his family with the money he earned from his music.
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Joel Whitburn's Pop memories 1890–1954. The history of American popular music compiled form America's popular music charts 1890–1954
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I answered, "I think it is my business because this is how I make a living. You play Italian records, you play Polish records--"
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opened up down the street. In competition with each other for such a small, particular audience, both shows ending up failing.
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In 1946, the national jukebox convention was to be held in Cleveland, and Katz was asked to conduct for it. While there he met
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Papa, play for me. The hilarious, heartwarming autobiography of comedian and bandleader Mickey Katz. As told to Hannibal Coons
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Kun, Josh. 'Audiotopia: Music, Race, and America,' University of California Press, 2005, Ch. 2 ("The Yiddish Are Coming").
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In addition to his parodies, Katz created more traditional klezmer music. His songs have been compiled onto CDs, including
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and Jim Grey, and Ronald fathered Randy Katz and Todd Katz. In 1977, Katz told the story of his life in a biography called
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Katz soon decided to make an English-Yiddish comedy record. Having written the lyrics to "Haim afen Range" (based on "
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family. He was one of five children born to Johanna (née Herzberg) and Menachem Katz. Mickey lost an older sister to
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went out of business in 1939, he moved on to a position as bandleader and MC at the Ohio Villa gambling palace.
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268:. For this trip Katz was made a temporary officer; it was the closest he ever came to serving in the military.
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Again he cut me off mid-sentence. "There will be no Yiddish spoken, or Jewish music played, on this station."
284:. Katz played with Jones for more than a year, but never felt he was paid enough, so he left Jones in 1947.
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Kun, Josh (1999). The Yiddish Are Coming: Mickey Katz, antic-Semitism, and the sound of Jewish difference.
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in 1962. Catskill was a frog, and the role was a parody of the role of Chester on the television series
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A number of famous Jewish musicians, including those with their own bands, recorded with him, including
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was a fear that anything that promoted a 'separate identity as Jews ... would somehow lend credence to
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He cut me off. "I will not play any record with Yiddish in it. Yiddish is the language of the ghetto."
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I asked him why he wouldn't play my records. He said, "Because some of our listeners are offended."
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Katz died of kidney failure in Los Angeles, California in 1985, at the age of 75.
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Nevertheless, he soon found work playing for vacationers as they sailed around
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One evening when Katz was eleven, his father took him to a concert at the
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Katz was largely a jazz musician. All of his parodies have a distinct
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sums up the atmosphere of the time with the following: "As historian
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705:"Haim afen Range" personnel listing RCA Victor 25-5081A. 78rpm disc.
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Katz supplied the voice of the character Hop-a-Long Catskill on the
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and Ronald. Each of Katz's sons had two children. Joel fathered
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457:. Finally, at the end of his career, Katz began playing the
394:. The show did well until it went to Broadway. Right before
260:. Then, in 1945, he took his six-man comedy and band group (
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Variety obits. An index to obituaries in Variety, 1905–1978
664:"KATZ, MEYER MYRON – The Encyclopedia of Cleveland History"
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Simcha Time: Music for Weddings, Bar Mitzvahs, and Brisses
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Spike Jones Off the Record: The Man Who Murdered Music.
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featured Katz' "The Barber of Schlemiel" (a parody of
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condominium circuit, often playing two shows a night.
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He said, "I don't think that's any of your business."
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291:") some years previously, he had it approved by
161:Meyer Myron Katz was born on Sawtell Court in
256:servicemen at the USO canteen at Cleveland's
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481:Katz and his group can be seen in the movie
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516:recorded a tribute to Mickey Katz in 1993,
413:In 1955, Katz played a brief engagement at
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518:Don Byron Plays The Music of Mickey Katz
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789:(3rd edition) Albany: BearManor Media
177:Out of high school, Katz was hired by
717:"Mickey Katz, Jewish Funny Man, Dies"
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741:Nonzense on Who's Whoo end Wat's Wat
149:and paternal grandfather of actress
646:"MICKELE : Mickey Katz lives"
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919:20th-century American male actors
755:The encyclopedia of popular music
262:Mickey Katz and His Krazy Kittens
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757:, third edition. Macmillan 1998.
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644:Stratton, Bert (July 25, 2012).
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934:20th-century American musicians
715:Folkart, Burt A. (1 May 1985).
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750:, Simon & Schuster, 1977.
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635:, Simon & Schuster 1977.
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354:I asked, "Who, besides you?"
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369:"I do not care to hear it."
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954:Yiddish-language satirists
929:Male actors from Cleveland
840:Internet Broadway Database
785:Young, Jordan R. (2005).
312:Receiving some opposition
143:Meyer Myron "Mickey" Katz
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964:Comedians from Cleveland
949:Jazz musicians from Ohio
764:, Scarecrow Press, 1980.
694:Haunted in the New World
484:Thoroughly Modern Millie
477:Various Katz appearances
253:Selective Service System
884:American jazz musicians
681:American Jewish History
523:The 2003 British movie
79:Los Angeles, California
782:), HarperCollins 2009.
235:on the excursion boat
894:Jewish male comedians
651:Cleveland Jewish News
532:The Barber of Seville
776:Manhood for Amateurs
408:United Jewish Appeal
258:St. John's Cathedral
203:Finding the clarinet
780:Cue the Mickey Katz
215:Starting his career
909:American parodists
899:RCA Victor artists
548:cartoon series on
272:Hitting his stride
904:Yiddish comedians
774:Chabon, Michael.
748:Papa, Play For Me
722:Los Angeles Times
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289:Home on the Range
192:Papa, Play for Me
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855:Mickey Katz
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302:Los Angeles
278:Spike Jones
130:Relative(s)
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594:References
539:neighbor.
504:Si Zentner
455:Muizenberg
419:Lake Tahoe
171:diphtheria
157:Early life
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778:, Ch. X (
568:Mish Mosh
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431:Cape Town
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392:Joel Grey
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