IVAN KRAL
Ivan Král (born 12 May 1948, in Prague) is a Grammy Award-winning, Czech-born American composer, filmmaker, record producer, bass guitar player, and singer-songwriter. He works across many genres including punk, rock, jazz, soul, country, and film scores. His songs have been recorded by such artists as U2, Pearl Jam, Téléphone, Patti Smith, Iggy Pop, David Bowie, Simple Minds, and John Waite, among others. Král started his American music career during the early 1970s glam rock scene in New York where his band, Luger, performed at many trendy venues, including Max’s Kansas City. After their breakup in 1973, he joined Shaun Cassidy’s backing group, then Blondie, then Patti Smith, then Iggy Pop. (More from Wikipedia)
The band that became the Patti Smith Group was created when Ivan Kral (guitar and bass), Jay Dee Daugherty (drums) and Richard Sohl (piano) joined Patti Smith and Lenny Kaye. The piano player’s name is fitting, since his understated work at the ivories is in many ways the soul of the Patti Smith Group. The proto-punk band Iggy and the Stooges added Scott Thurston as a frantic pianist in 1973, but a keyboard player in a punk rock band is rare.
Many years ago, I wrote of Patti Smith that she resembled nothing so much as the Beat poets of the 1950’s; but that really is only one side of her music persona. She is a rocker pure and simple as well as a poet and a first-rate vocalist and one hell of a writer besides.
(February 2014)
