Merl Saunders


Merl Saunders was an American multi-genre musician who played piano and keyboards, favoring the Hammond B-3 console organ.
WWW Official Site

Biography

Born in San Mateo, California, United States, Saunders attended Polytechnic High School in San Francisco. In his first band in high school was singer Johnny Mathis. He served in the U.S. Air Force from 1953 to 1957. 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 gained notice in the 1970s when he began collaborating with Jerry Garcia, with whom he had begun playing in 1971 at a small Fillmore Street nightclub called The Matrix. He sat in with the Grateful Dead and co-founded the Well-Matched: [The Best of Merl Saunders & Jerry Garcia|Saunders/Garcia Band] which produced three albums and would become the band Legion of Mary, with the addition of Martin Fierro, in 1974. It disbanded the following year, however he and Garcia continued to collaborate in the band Reconstruction in 1979, with Ed Neumeister, Gaylord Birch, and John Kahn.
He led his own band as Merl Saunders and Friends, playing live dates with Garcia, as well as with Mike Bloomfield, David Grisman, Michael Hinton, Tom Fogerty, Vassar Clements, Kenneth Nash, John Kahn, and Sheila E. He also collaborated with Grateful Dead percussionist Mickey Hart in the band High Noon.
Saunders took the lead in reintroducing Jerry Garcia to his guitar, after Garcia suffered a diabetic coma in the summer of 1986.
In 1990, he released the world music and New Age classic album Blues From the Rainforest, a collaboration with Garcia and Muruga Booker. This led to the release of a video which chronicled Saunders' journey to the Amazon rainforest and the subsequent albums Fiesta Amazonica, It's in the Air, and Save the Planet so We'll have Someplace to Boogie. One of the songs from Blues from the Rainforest was used as part of the soundtrack for the TV series Baywatch. Saunders continued to perform with the Rainforest Band for the next ten years.
Saunders worked with musicians Paul Pena, Bonnie Raitt, Phish, Widespread Panic, Miles Davis, and B. B. King. He also recorded with the Dinosaurs, a "supergroup" of first-generation Bay Area rock musicians.
He had his own record label, Sumertone Records, and had also recorded on Fantasy Records, Galaxy Records, and Relix Records, as well as the Grateful Dead and Jerry Garcia labels. He worked with the Grateful Dead on the theme music for the 1985 TV show The Twilight Zone. As musical director he completed two-and-a-half seasons of the show. He also worked on the TV series Nash Bridges and on several soundtracks for movies, including Fritz the Cat and Steelyard Blues. He was production coordinator for the Grammy Awards for two years and for the Grammy's Greatest Moments TV special. He also supplied the music for the computer animation video Headcandy: Sidney's Psychedelic Adventure.
He worked with several charitable organizations such as the Seva Foundation, the Rex Foundation, the Rainforest Action Network, and the Haight-Ashbury Free Clinic, and headlined the Haight Street Music Fair for 24 consecutive years. He has been granted a Doctorate of Music by Unity College, in Unity, Maine.
In 2002, Saunders suffered from a stroke that paralyzed one side of his body and curtailed his musical career. He died in San Francisco, California, on the morning of October 24, 2008, after fighting infections as a result of complications related to the stroke. He was survived by his two sons, Tony Saunders (bassist) and Merl Saunders Jr., and his daughter Susan Mora.
In December 2008, TMZ reported that the estate of Merl Saunders had filed a lawsuit against the estate of Jerry Garcia, disputing royalties for a 2004 live album. Saunders' estate claimed they were not aware of the album's release and that they had equal rights to the royalties. The case was later settled amicably.

Tributes

Discography

Main studio, live, and compilation releases

Solo or group, leader or co-leader – singles

  • 1964: "Five More / How's That"
  • 1965: "High Heel Sneakers / Breakin' Thru"
  • 1966: "I Pity The Fool / Tighten Up"
  • 1967: "Soul Grooving / Up, Up and Away"
  • 1967: "Soul Roach, Pt. 1 & 2"
  • 1969: "Julia / Five More"
  • 1969: "Mighty Whitey / Right On"
  • 1970: "Little Bit of Righteousness / The Iron Horse" – with Heavy Turbulence
  • 1971: "Save Mother Earth, Pt. 1 & 2"
  • 1972: "My Problems Got Problems / Welcome To The Basement"
  • 1981: "San Francisco After Dark / Come To Me"

Various artist compilations that include previously unreleased Merl Saunders music

  • 1970: Belafonte By Request – Harry Belafonte
  • 1972: Black Girl – various artists
  • 1972: Fritz The Cat – various artists
  • 1973: Heavy Traffic – various artists
  • 1997: Fire On The Mountain: Reggae Celebrates The Grateful Dead Volume 2 – various artists
  • 1999: The Third Annual Gathering on the Mountain – various artists
  • 2000: Gathering On The Mountain: Live Part 2 – various artists
  • 2000: Gathering On The Mountain: Live Part 3 – various artists
  • 2000: Sharin' In The Groove – various artists
  • 2001: Into The Music: Jam Band Vol. 1 – various artists

Various artist compilations that include previously released Merl Saunders tracks

  • 1992: All Night Long They Play The Blues – various artists
  • 1993: Bad, Bad Whiskey – various artists
  • 1995: Jazz Collective – various artists
  • 1995: Sense Of Direction – various artists
  • 1996: Television's Greatest Hits, Vol. 6: Remote Control – various artists
  • 1996: Fritz The Cat/Heavy Traffic – various artists
  • 2004: Get Your Lie Straight: A Galaxy of Funky Soul – various artists

Playing contributions to other major albums with others

Playing contributions to singles with others

  • 1972: "Lady Of Fatima / Cast The First Stone" – Tom Fogerty
  • 1972: "Faces Places People / Forty Years" – Tom Fogerty
  • 1972: "Drive Again / Swing With It" – Nick Gravenites, Mike Bloomfield
  • 1989: "Underground" – Mike Lawson

Playing contributions to compilations

Non-performing references on albums

Filmography

Movies / DVDs

Fritz the Cat Black Girl Heavy Traffic Steelyard Blues Headcandy: Sidney's Psychedelic Adventure A Tribute to Jerry Garcia: Deadheads Festival Japan 1997 Blues from the Rainforest: A Musical Suite The Grateful Dead: The End of the Road - The Final Tour '95

Television

34th Annual Grammy Awards – production coordinator35th Annual Grammy Awards – production coordinatorGrammy's Greatest Moments – production coordinatorVietnam: A Television History – music performer The American Experience – Music Performer The Twilight Zone 1985 – music performer, musical director, and composer for the new title theme Nash Bridges Tales From The Crypt Baywatch

Interview