Biography
The Devil's Anvil represented the sort of ensemble Columbia Records might have pursued during the final years of the 1960s, a period when the label scrambled to recover listeners and sales it had forfeited between 1964 and 1966 by largely steering clear of rock & roll. Felix Pappalardi, who had shifted from folk circles into rock production and performance, discovered the musicians and secured their sole recording deal with the company.
Born in the Bronx in 1939 to a physician father, Pappalardi trained in classical repertoire, earned his degree from the University of Michigan, and returned to New York with the intention of conducting before the expanding folk scene in Greenwich Village drew him in. He subsequently served as sideman and arranger for Tim Hardin, the Youngbloods, Ian and Sylvia, the Mugwumps, and Tom Rush. While frequenting the Village in 1966, he encountered a circle of musicians of Middle Eastern birth or heritage performing at the coffee house Feejon. He joined their sessions, and the ensemble quickly became the venue’s regular act; its central lineup, which adopted the name the Devil’s Anvil, consisted of Steve Knight on rhythm guitar, bass, and bouzouki, Jerry Satpir on lead guitar and vocals, Eliezer Adoram on accordion, and Kareem Issaq on oud and vocals. Knight and Pappalardi established a productive partnership, alternating on bass and guitar throughout the tracking of the band’s lone album, Hard Rock from the Middle East, an experience that directly preceded their later collaboration in Mountain.
The group failed to gain traction as recording artists, partly because of the precise moment its debut appeared. Hard Rock from the Middle East reached stores on the same day the 1967 Arab-Israeli War erupted, prompting every New York station—the market where the band stood its strongest chance of exposure—to ignore the record entirely. The musicians soon dispersed, Knight moving on to Mountain while the remaining members left the pop industry altogether.
Pappalardi contributed bass, guitar, and vocals to the album, supported by guest drummers Bobby Gregg and Herb Lovelle plus Mike Mohel on durbeki; he went on to achieve wide recognition as a rock producer through his work on Cream’s Wheels of Fire, released later in 1967. In 1968 he assembled Mountain with Knight, Corky Laing, and former Vagrants guitarist Leslie West, and the quartet spent four years as hard-rock headliners on Pappalardi’s own Windfall imprint. During 1974 he launched the Japanese heavy-metal band Creation, unrelated to the British group of the same name, and embarked on a solo career toward the close of the decade; he also began composing for Broadway and television. On April 17, 1983, he was fatally shot by his wife in what was ruled an accident.
Born in the Bronx in 1939 to a physician father, Pappalardi trained in classical repertoire, earned his degree from the University of Michigan, and returned to New York with the intention of conducting before the expanding folk scene in Greenwich Village drew him in. He subsequently served as sideman and arranger for Tim Hardin, the Youngbloods, Ian and Sylvia, the Mugwumps, and Tom Rush. While frequenting the Village in 1966, he encountered a circle of musicians of Middle Eastern birth or heritage performing at the coffee house Feejon. He joined their sessions, and the ensemble quickly became the venue’s regular act; its central lineup, which adopted the name the Devil’s Anvil, consisted of Steve Knight on rhythm guitar, bass, and bouzouki, Jerry Satpir on lead guitar and vocals, Eliezer Adoram on accordion, and Kareem Issaq on oud and vocals. Knight and Pappalardi established a productive partnership, alternating on bass and guitar throughout the tracking of the band’s lone album, Hard Rock from the Middle East, an experience that directly preceded their later collaboration in Mountain.
The group failed to gain traction as recording artists, partly because of the precise moment its debut appeared. Hard Rock from the Middle East reached stores on the same day the 1967 Arab-Israeli War erupted, prompting every New York station—the market where the band stood its strongest chance of exposure—to ignore the record entirely. The musicians soon dispersed, Knight moving on to Mountain while the remaining members left the pop industry altogether.
Pappalardi contributed bass, guitar, and vocals to the album, supported by guest drummers Bobby Gregg and Herb Lovelle plus Mike Mohel on durbeki; he went on to achieve wide recognition as a rock producer through his work on Cream’s Wheels of Fire, released later in 1967. In 1968 he assembled Mountain with Knight, Corky Laing, and former Vagrants guitarist Leslie West, and the quartet spent four years as hard-rock headliners on Pappalardi’s own Windfall imprint. During 1974 he launched the Japanese heavy-metal band Creation, unrelated to the British group of the same name, and embarked on a solo career toward the close of the decade; he also began composing for Broadway and television. On April 17, 1983, he was fatally shot by his wife in what was ruled an accident.
Albums