Bill Vitt | |
---|---|
Birth name | William Robert Vitt |
Born | May 6, 1943 Washington |
Origin | San Francisco Bay Area |
Died | July 16, 2019 home |
Genres | Rock - jazz |
Instrument(s) | Drums - keyboards |
Years active | 1960s–2019 |
Bill Vitt (May 6, 1943 - July 16, 2019, aged 76) [1] was an American drummer and keyboardist. [2] He worked extensively as a live performer and as a session musician. In the 1970s he played with Brewer & Shipley, Jerry Garcia, Merl Saunders, and the Sons of Champlin. [3]
He retired from the music business in the 1980s, but became active again in the 2000s, playing live shows and recording albums. He played the music that he loved until his death. He died with his adoring daughter, Aura, by his side, grateful and content with the life he led [4]
John Kahn was an American bassist. From 1970 to 1995, Kahn was Jerry Garcia's principal musical collaborator outside of the Grateful Dead.
Merl Saunders was an American multi-genre musician who played piano and keyboards, favoring the Hammond B-3 console organ.
The Jerry Garcia Band was a San Francisco Bay Area rock band led by Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead. Garcia founded the band in 1975; it remained the most important of his various side projects until his death in 1995. The band regularly toured and recorded sporadically throughout its twenty-year existence, generally, but not always, during breaks in the Grateful Dead's schedule.
Garcia Plays Dylan is an album composed of various live performances featuring Jerry Garcia playing covers of Bob Dylan songs. It is culled from performances from 1973–1995, and features Garcia playing with Grateful Dead, Legion of Mary, Jerry Garcia Band, and Garcia-Saunders. Garcia takes lead vocals on all tracks.
Michael David Hinton was an American guitarist, residing in the San Francisco Bay Area. During his career, he played with numerous bands, including Norton Buffalo and the Knockouts, High Noon, Merl Saunders & the Rainforest Band, to name a few. He appeared on several albums with the Rainforest Band and other Merl Saunders projects, including It's In The Air, Fiesta Amazonica, Still Having Fun, Merl Saunders With His Funky Friends - Live, and Still Groovin' .
Excalibur is an album by American guitarist and singer Tom Fogerty. His second solo effort, it was released in 1972. The album features Jerry Garcia on guitar, Merl Saunders on keyboards, John Kahn on bass, and Bill Vitt on drums.
Live at Keystone is an album by Merl Saunders, Jerry Garcia, John Kahn, and Bill Vitt. It was recorded live at the Keystone in Berkeley, California on July 10 and 11, 1973, and released later that year as a two-disc vinyl LP. It was re-released in 1988, with additional tracks, as two separate CDs, called Live at Keystone Volume I and Live at Keystone Volume II.
Keystone Encores is an album by Merl Saunders, Jerry Garcia, John Kahn, and Bill Vitt. It was recorded live at the Keystone in Berkeley, California, on July 10 and 11, 1973, and released on CD by Fantasy Records in 1988. It was also released, with additional tracks, as two separate LPs called Keystone Encores Volume I and Keystone Encores Volume II.
Fire Up Plus is an album by Merl Saunders and Friends. It contains most of the songs from two LPs from the early 1970s — Heavy Turbulence, and Fire Up. It was released on CD by Fantasy Records on July 9, 1992.
Keystone Companions: The Complete 1973 Fantasy Recordings is a four-CD album by Merl Saunders and Jerry Garcia. It was recorded live at the Keystone in Berkeley, California on July 10 and 11, 1973, and released by Fantasy Records on September 25, 2012.
Pure Jerry: Keystone Berkeley, September 1, 1974 is a three-CD live album by the Jerry Garcia and Merl Saunders Band. It contains the complete concert performed at the Keystone in Berkeley, California, on September 1, 1974. The fourth in the Pure Jerry series of archival concert albums, it was released on December 28, 2004.
Well-Matched: The Best of Merl Saunders & Jerry Garcia is a retrospective album by Merl Saunders and Jerry Garcia. It contains selections from six of their albums, along with one previously unreleased track, all recorded between 1971 and 1974. It was released on CD by Fantasy Records on May 23, 2006.
Garcia Live Volume Six is a three-CD live album by Jerry Garcia and Merl Saunders. It was recorded on July 5, 1973, at the Lion's Share in San Anselmo, California. It was released on June 24, 2016.
Garcia Live Volume Nine is a two-CD live album by Jerry Garcia and Merl Saunders. It was recorded on August 11, 1974 at the Keystone in Berkeley, California. It was released on July 28, 2017.
Jerry Garcia was an American musician. A guitarist, singer, and songwriter, he became famous as a member of the rock band the Grateful Dead, from 1965 to 1995. When not touring or recording with the Dead, Garcia was often playing music in other bands and with other musicians.
Garcia Live Volume 12 is a three-CD live album by Jerry Garcia and Merl Saunders. It was recorded on January 23, 1973 at the Boarding House in San Francisco. It was released on December 20, 2019.
Garcia Live Volume 15 is a two-CD live album by Jerry Garcia and Merl Saunders. It was recorded on May 21, 1971 at the Keystone Korner in San Francisco. It contains the complete concert from that date except for the encore, which was "Deal". It was released on December 4, 2020.
Garcia Live Volume 18 is a two-CD album by Jerry Garcia and Merl Saunders. It contains the complete concert recorded on November 2, 1974 at the Keystone in Berkeley, California. It was released on June 10, 2022.
Fire Up is an album by Merl Saunders. It was released in May 1973 through Fantasy Records. The self-produced album features many high-profile collaborators, including Grateful Dead members Jerry Garcia and Bill Kreutzmann alongside Creedence Clearwater Revival guitarist Tom Fogerty. It peaked at number 197 on the Billboard 200 albums chart.
Heavy Turbulence is an album by Merl Saunders. His second album, it was recorded in the fall of 1971, and released in February 1972.