He was a music impresario who guided acts such as Peter, Paul and Mary and John Denver to fame in the 1960s and 70s. He transformed opera star Plácido Domingo into a pop star in the 1980s.
He originally wanted to be a classical pianist. At age 14, he contracted a kidney inflammation for which there was no effective treatment. During a long convalescence, he lost so much strength in his hands that a concert career was no longer possible. Instead, he earned degrees in music education from New York University and the Oberlin Conservatory of Music.
He was a junior high school music teacher in New York before getting involved in the folk-music revival of the 1950s and 1960s.
Produced and arranged the Chad Mitchell Trio.
Was Harry Belafonte's pianist, arranger and conductor.
I never knew what was going to happen in pop music, even when it was happening. The first time I saw Peter, Paul and Mary, I said to my wife, "That group is never going to make it." I wanted the men to shave off their beards.