Fire Up Plus

Last updated
Fire Up Plus
FireUpPlus.jpg
Compilation album by
Merl Saunders and Friends
ReleasedJuly 9, 1992
Recorded1971 – 1973
Genre Rock, funk
Length68:53
Label Fantasy
Producer Merl Saunders, Tom Fogerty, Brian Gardner
Merl Saunders and Jerry Garcia chronology
Keystone Encores
(1988)		Fire Up Plus
(1992)		 Pure Jerry: Keystone Berkeley, September 1, 1974
(2004)
Merl Saunders chronology
Save the Planet So We'll Have Someplace to Boogie
(1991)		Fire Up Plus
(1992)		It's in the Air
(1993)
Jerry Garcia chronology
Jerry Garcia Band
(1991)		Fire Up Plus
(1992)		 Not for Kids Only
(1993)

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. [1] [2]

LP record longplay record

The LP is an analog sound storage medium, a vinyl record format characterized by a speed of ​33 1⁄3 rpm, a 12- or 10-inch diameter, and use of the "microgroove" groove specification. Introduced by Columbia in 1948, it was soon adopted as a new standard by the entire record industry. Apart from a few relatively minor refinements and the important later addition of stereophonic sound, it has remained the standard format for vinyl albums.

Fantasy Records US record label; imprint of Fantasy Records, Inc.

Fantasy Records is an American record company and label founded by brothers Max and Sol Weiss in 1949. The early years of the company were dedicated to issuing recordings by jazz pianist Dave Brubeck, who was also one of its investors, but the label is known more for its recordings of comedian Lenny Bruce, jazz pianist Vince Guaraldi, and the 1960s rock band Creedence Clearwater Revival.

Contents

Fire Up Plus features Merl Saunders on keyboards and vocals, Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead on guitar and vocals, Tom Fogerty of Creedence Clearwater Revival on guitar, John Kahn on bass, and Bill Vitt on drums.

Merl Saunders American musician

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

Jerry Garcia American musician and member of the Grateful Dead

Jerome John Garcia was an American singer-songwriter and guitarist, best known for his work as the lead guitarist and as a vocalist with the band Grateful Dead, which came to prominence during the counterculture era in the 1960s. Although he disavowed the role, Garcia was viewed by many as the leader or "spokesman" of the group.

Grateful Dead American rock jam band

The Grateful Dead was an American rock band formed in 1965 in Palo Alto, California. Ranging from quintet to septet, the band is known for its eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, folk, country, bluegrass, blues, gospel, modal jazz, reggae, experimental music, psychedelia, and space rock, for live performances of lengthy instrumental jams, and for their devoted fan base, known as "Deadheads". "Their music", writes Lenny Kaye, "touches on ground that most other groups don't even know exists". These various influences were distilled into a diverse and psychedelic whole that made the Grateful Dead "the pioneering Godfathers of the jam band world". The band was ranked 57th by Rolling Stone magazine in its The Greatest Artists of All Time issue. The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994 and a recording of their May 8, 1977, performance at Cornell University's Barton Hall was added to the National Recording Registry of the Library of Congress in 2012. The Grateful Dead have sold more than 35 million albums worldwide.

Heavy Turbulence was recorded in the fall of 1971 and released in 1972. All six tracks from that album are included in Fire Up Plus. [3] [4]

Fire Up was recorded between November 1972 and January 1973, and released in 1973. Six of the eight tracks from that album are included in Fire Up Plus. The songs "Charisma (She's Got)" and "Chock-Lite Puddin'" were omitted due to space considerations. [5] [6]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svg [1]
The Best Of WebsiteB [7]

On Allmusic, Lindsay Planer said, "Here, [Saunders, Garcia, Fogerty, Kahn, and Vitt] lay down their substantially funky existence onto a considerably eclectic mix of cover tunes and highly inventive originals. Saunders' arrangements — particularly with the Tower of Power brass on "Man-Child" and "Soul Roach" – reveal a hidden talent for the keyboardist. That blending of styles results in a hearty big band sound with the horn section taking a backseat to no one. Saunders alternates between the rubbery funk of "Expressway (To Your Heart)" through to a comparably leaner sound on their redux of JJ Cale's "After Midnight." The lead vocals are split between Saunders and Garcia. [1]

Tower of Power American soul and funk band

Tower of Power is an American R&B-based horn section and band, originating in Oakland, California, that has been performing since 1968. There have been a number of lead vocalists, the most well-known being Lenny Williams, who fronted the band between early 1973 and late 1974, the period of their greatest commercial success. They have landed a total of eight songs on the Billboard Hot 100; their highest-charting songs include "You're Still a Young Man", "So Very Hard to Go", "What Is Hip?", and "Don't Change Horses ".

Big band music ensemble associated with jazz and Swing Era music

A big band is a type of musical ensemble that usually consists of ten or more musicians with four sections: saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and a rhythm section. Big bands originated during the early 1910s and dominated jazz in the early 1940s when swing was most popular. The term "big band" is also used to describe a genre of music. One problem with this usage is that it overlooks the variety of music played by these bands.

Funk is a music genre that originated in African-American communities in the mid-1960s when African-American musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of soul music, jazz, and rhythm and blues (R&B). Funk de-emphasizes melody and chord progressions and focuses on a strong rhythmic groove of a bass line played by an electric bassist and a drum part played by a drummer. Like much of African-inspired music, funk typically consists of a complex groove with rhythm instruments playing interlocking grooves. Funk uses the same richly colored extended chords found in bebop jazz, such as minor chords with added sevenths and elevenths, or dominant seventh chords with altered ninths and thirteenths.

On The Best Of Website, Barry Small wrote, "There are many solid moments on this release, though none better than the lovely blues inspired riffs that Garcia lays out on "Lonely Avenue". I generally prefer the cover versions to the original Merl compositions. John Lennon's song "Imagine" is done instrumentally. The rendition of JJ Cale's "After Midnight" is top notch.... Merl Saunders' Fire Up Plus is a more than worthwhile addition to a CD collection. [7]

Blues is a music genre and musical form which was originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1870s by African Americans from roots in African musical traditions, African-American work songs, spirituals, and the folk music of white Americans of European heritage. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads. The blues form, ubiquitous in jazz, rhythm and blues and rock and roll, is characterized by the call-and-response pattern, the blues scale and specific chord progressions, of which the twelve-bar blues is the most common. Blue notes, usually thirds or fifths flattened in pitch, are also an essential part of the sound. Blues shuffles or walking bass reinforce the trance-like rhythm and form a repetitive effect known as the groove.

"Lonely Avenue" is a popular song written by Doc Pomus that became a rhythm and blues hit for Ray Charles in 1956. The song drew the attention of the music business to Doc Pomus, who had previously had little success as a songwriter.

John Lennon English singer and songwriter, founding member of The Beatles

John Winston Ono Lennon was an English singer, songwriter, and peace activist who co-founded the Beatles, the most commercially successful band in the history of popular music. He and fellow member Paul McCartney formed a much-celebrated songwriting partnership. Along with George Harrison and Ringo Starr, the group would ascend to worldwide fame during the 1960s. After the group disbanded in 1970, Lennon pursued a solo career and started the band Plastic Ono Band with his second wife Yoko Ono.

Writing about Heavy Turbulence on Allmusic, Eugene Chadbourne said, "This is pretty much a straight rock and funk effort... Since [Fogerty] is such a terrific rhythm guitarist, it is really no surprise that he and Saunders could create such a pumping oil well; this is an album in which the rhythmic feel of each song can never be faulted, no matter how different the approaches might be. The band is really well recorded, the tones thick and fat, and the grooves trembling from the fine organ fondling.... Lead guitar fills by Jerry Garcia are a musical inspiration, as well as probably stimulating much of the original album's sales." [3]

Writing about Fire Up on Allmusic, Chadbourne said, "With both the chops and musical background to lead the somewhat younger rock neophytes on a vision quest, Saunders became something of a galvanizing force, bringing out some of the tightest and strongest performances of the players featured here.... the program wisely emphasizes the leader's clever songwriting; fans of the good ol' boogaloo should enjoy both "Soul Roach" and "Chock-Lite Puddin'." The range of material is narrowly focused into the areas where these players really excel, rather than attempting to be jaw-droppingly eclectic." [5]

Track listing

From Heavy Turbulence:
  1. "My Problems Got Problems" (Merl Saunders, Pamela Carrier) – 4:29
  2. "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down" (Robbie Robertson) – 4:03
  3. "Save Mother Earth" (Saunders, Edmund Lewis) – 7:18
  4. "Imagine" (John Lennon) – 2:36
  5. "Welcome to the Basement" (Saunders, Eddie Moore) – 6:12
  6. "Man-Child" (Saunders, Lewis) – 12:30
From Fire Up:
  1. "After Midnight" (JJ Cale) – 4:58
  2. "Expressway (To Your Heart)" (Kenneth Gamble, Leon A. Huff) – 5:14
  3. "Soul Roach" (Saunders, Ray Shanklin) – 4:24
  4. "Benedict Rides" (Saunders, Carrier) – 3:03
  5. "The System" (Saunders, Carrier) – 3:55
  6. "Lonely Avenue" (Doc Pomus) – 8:42

Personnel

Musicians

Production

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References

  1. 1 2 3 Chadbourne, Eugene. Fire Up Plus at Allmusic. Retrieved September 23, 2018.
  2. ↑ Fire Up Plus at the Grateful Dead Family Discography. Retrieved March 17, 2013.
  3. 1 2 Chadbourne, Eugene. Heavy Turbulence at Allmusic. Retrieved March 17, 2013.
  4. ↑ Heavy Turbulence at the Grateful Dead Family Discography. Retrieved March 17, 2013.
  5. 1 2 Chadbourne, Eugene. Fire Up at Allmusic. Retrieved March 17, 2013.
  6. ↑ Fire Up at the Grateful Dead Family Discography. Retrieved March 17, 2013.
  7. 1 2 Small, Barry. Fire Up Plus, The Best Of Website. Retrieved March 17, 2013.
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