Merl Saunders Dead at 74
I just heard a few hours ago that Merl Saunders had passed on. I went looking for a new story and found this, along with a download of the Keystone Encores album (1973). Enjoy!
The following story is from th 24 October 2008 issue of the San Francisco Chronicle:
16:44 PDT SAN FRANCISCO — Keyboardist Merl Saunders, the gentle lion of the San Francisco music scene best known as co-captain of guitarist Jerry Garcia’s solo excursions outside the Grateful Dead, died Friday at Kaiser Permanente Medical Center after fighting infections.
The 74-year-old musician suffered a debilitating stroke 6 1/2 years ago and, although he lost the ability to speak, he made numerous sentimental guest appearances at shows over those years playing with one hand.
“I never met anybody so happy who had a stroke,” said Grateful Dead drummer Mickey Hart. “In the end, the only thing that lit him up was the music. Sometimes he’d cry, but I’ve never seen anybody so happy in the realm of music.”
The native San Franciscan attended Polytechnic High School with singer Johnny Mathis.
After serving in the Army from 1953 to 1957, he played jazz organ on the same circuit as Jimmy Smith and Brother Jack McDuff. He worked as musical director of the Billy Williams Revue and served in a similar capacity in Oscar Brown Jr.’s off-Broadway show “Big Time Buck White.” He backed up Dinah Washington and jammed with Miles Davis. Mr. Saunders, who was rarely seen in public without his trademark aviator shades and black leather fisherman’s cap, started playing with Garcia in 1971 at a small Fillmore Street nightclub called the Matrix, where the Grateful Dead guitarist liked to hold informal jam sessions on Dead nights off. Within months, the loose-knit band was playing to packed houses at small local clubs like the Keystone Korner in North Beach every weekend the Dead wasn’t working. Members sometimes included former Creedence Clearwater rhythm guitarist Tom Fogerty and former Journey rhythm guitarist George Tickner.
The Saunders-Garcia Band, as the group came to be called, backed Mr. Saunders on his 1971 solo album, “Heavy Turbulence,” and recorded two albums for Berkeley’s Fantasy Records.
“Merl was an ensemble guy, a groupist,” said Hart, who played with Mr. Saunders in his early ’80s solo group, High Noon. “He brought those sensibilities to the Garcia band. He let Jerry have his flights of fancy.”
Mr. Saunders told The Chronicle in 1972 that playing with Garcia offered them both an opportunity to experiment and explore different forms of music. “We do it just for fun,” he said.
With the addition of saxophonist Martin Fierro in 1974, the group transformed into the Legion of Mary and disbanded the following year. Mr. Saunders also played in Reconstruction with Garcia in 1979 and 1980. Garcia appeared on Mr. Saunders’ 1990 solo album and video, “Blues From the Rainforest,” a surprise hit on the New Age music charts.
After Garcia fell into a diabetic coma in 1986 and lost some of his basic motor skills, Mr. Saunders spent hours daily with the stricken guitarist running scales, working him out on jazz standards such as “My Funny Valentine.”
Mr. Saunders’ music appeared on such soundtracks as “Fritz the Cat” and “Steelyard Blues.” He worked on the TV series “Nash Bridges” and, as musical director of the 1985 TV series “The New Twilight Zone,” inveigled the Grateful Dead into a new recording of the classic theme song.
He recorded numerous albums, toured constantly and earned a welcome spot in the post-Dead jam band scene. Mr. Saunders headlined the Haight Street Music Fair for 24 consecutive years.
After his stroke, Mr. Saunders’ musician son, Tony Saunders, completed his final solo album, “Still Groovin’.” The album featured duets with Bonnie Raitt and Mavis Staples. Huey Lewis stepped up with a lead vocal after Mr. Saunders was disabled.
In his first public appearance following the stroke, Mr. Saunders attended the September 2004 CD release party at the Great American Music Hall, and played a handful of notes on the keyboard.
Mr. Saunders cheated death twice before. He was booked to return to San Francisco on United Flight 93 out of Newark, N.J., on Sept. 11, 2001, but decided to take an earlier flight so he could get home in time to watch the 49ers on Monday Night Football. In 2002, he underwent surgery for cancer, only weeks before his stroke.
He is survived by his longtime companion, Deborah Hall; his sons, Tony of Martinez and Merl Saunders Jr. of Novato; daughter Susan Mora of Oakland; six grandchildren; and one great-grandchild.
A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. Wednesday at First AME Zion Church, 2159 Golden Gate Ave., San Francisco.
E-mail Joel Selvin at jselvin@sfchronicle.com.
Album review by Lindsay Planer (AMG):
This is the third of three CDs compiled from a two-night (July 10 and 11, 1973) stand at Keystone Korners in Berkeley. These recordings have likewise yielded a pair of additional volumes — all of which stem from the original Live at Keystone (1973) two-LP release. Merl Saunders (keyboards) and Jerry Garcia (guitar/vocals) lead a funky rhythm section — consisting of John Kahn (bass) and Bill Vitt (percussion) — through a variety of adeptly chosen R&B, Motown, and blues covers. Garcia and Saunders began performing sporadically throughout the end of 1970, reconvening in the Bay Area whenever the guitarist could find time away from his day gig with the Grateful Dead. Ultimately this loose aggregate became the prototype for a somewhat more formal Jerry Garcia Band, which continued until Garcia’s passing in 1995. By the time these recordings were made, this particular combo was holding court upwards of eight weeks a year and had developed a unique, laid-back persona, perfectly counterbalancing Garcia’s decidedly more aggressive contributions to the Dead. The musical centerpiece of this band is undoubtedly their uncanny ability to provide multiple layers of interpretation and variation on familiar themes. The combination of Saunders’ sweet and soulful organ leads and the pure tonality in Garcia’s solos is flawlessly supported by round upon round of Kahn’s assertively fluid interjections. The Motown cover of “How Sweet It Is” perhaps best-exemplifies this approach, as the bassist punctuates the established melody with his trademark second-nature harmonic counterpoint. Keen-eared Deadheads will undoubtedly be curious to hear the adaptations of “High Heel Sneakers,” “I Second That Emotion,” as well as the Chicago-style blues interpretation of Blind Lemon Jefferson’s “One Kind Favor” — which the Dead very occasionally worked into their earliest performances. The loose structure allows for extended soloing which rather inadvertently reveals a lighthearted and cherubic side to Garcia’s musical companionship. This is a recommended listen for potential fans as well as the seasoned enthusiast.
Track Listing:
1) Hi-Heel Sneakers - 8:12
2) It’s Too Late (She’s Gone) - 7:44
3) I Second That Emotion - 10:57
4) One Kind Favour - 6:36
5) Money Honey - 8:19
6) How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved by You) - 10:20