associated_acts death_date death_place notable_instruments birth_place article_title name background birth_date instrument genre origin birth_name occupation
the red onion jazz band , taksim devil 's anvil , wings , mountain , 19 january 2013 riverdale , new york hammond organ new york , united states steve knight -lrb- musician -rrb-
 steve knight non_vocal_instrumentalist 12 may 1935 piano tuba , banjo , organ , french horn , bass guitar , trombone , guitar , rock , jazz , middle eastern jazz , folk united states stephen sanders knight keyboardist , musician
steve knight -lrb- musician -rrb-

steve knight -lrb- may 12 , 1935 - january 19 , 2013 -rrb- was an american musician best known as the keyboardist for mountain , a rock band of the early 1970s .
knight was born in new york to artist parents .
from 1938 -- 1950 his family lived in woodstock , new york .
in 1950 , his father became a professor at columbia university and moved the family to new york city .
in 1952 , knight graduated from high school -lrb- new lincoln school -rrb- and enrolled at columbia later that year .
he stayed at columbia for most of the 1950s -lrb- 1952 -- 1959 -rrb- studying art , music and psychology .
he earned a b.s. degree majoring in psychology , and had one year of graduate work in psychology .
from 1959 to 1968 , knight recorded with or was a member of various bands including but not limited to the feenjon group , the peacemakers , devil 's anvil and wings -lrb- not mccartney 's group -rrb- .
in 1969 , producer/vocalist/bassist felix pappalardi organized mountain .
the initial line-up included leslie west -lrb- guitar/vocals -rrb- and n.d. smart -lrb- drums -rrb- .
prior to release of mountain 's debut album , climbing !
, pappalardi , who had known knight from prior musical affiliations , added him to the line-up on keyboards .
corky laing replaced smart on drums .
the band enjoyed a great deal of recording and touring success in the early 1970s including 3 gold albums , but called it quits in 1972 .
knight then returned to traditional jazz .
for the next 25 years , knight worked in specialty engineering -lrb- as a door engineer -rrb- , and as a songwriter , author and part-time musician .
in the mid-1990s , knight left new york city and returned to woodstock .
in november 1999 , he was elected to a seat on the woodstock town board .
knight died january 19 , 2013 in new york of complications from parkinson 's disease at the age of 77 .
