Well-Matched Best of Merl Saunders & Jerry Garcia

Jerry Garcia, Merl Saunders | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (May 23, 2006)
• Original Release Date: 2006
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Fantasy
• ASIN: B000F8DTDW
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #27,199 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Keystone Redux: a nice alternative, July 10, 2006

By 

Unicorn2 (California, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Well-Matched Best of Merl Saunders & Jerry Garcia (Audio CD)

FOr those of you who'd rather not invest in all four or five, or however many releases and rereleases Fantasy Records has pumped out from the Garcia Saunders sessions at Keystone Berkeley in the early 70's, this one cd covers most of the bases without sticking too much in spaceland. One missing ingredient, that would have been
an excellent inclusion, but isn't, so it gets only 4 stars, would have been "Like A Road"- easily the very best thing in the original 2 record set. But that's really the only gripe. You get The Harder They Come, Positively 4th Street, and the (prior unreleased) Second That Emotion. There IS a good deal of filler taken from Merl's "Keepers" album, but for those of you who aren't familiar with THAT, this will suffice to replace that in your collection UNLESS you are the fanatical completist.
I like this record & can leave it on while doing lots of puttering round the house...

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Well Matched- Indeed!, February 1, 2007

By 

Robert Putignano "Bob Putignano http://www.So... (Mount Vernon, NY USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Well-Matched Best of Merl Saunders & Jerry Garcia (Audio CD)

I mightily enjoyed watching Merl Saunders & Jerry Garcia perform in the smaller venues they played at during the early to mid '70's especially at the Bottom Line in NYC. 'Well-Matched' is not only a very appropriate title, but for those who mainly know Garcia's main body of work, this disc will shed a glimpse as to what Saunders & Garcia were concocting during their extremely fertile musical period, which also served as a excellent alternative to what Jerry was doing with the Dead. From my perspective- Merl infected Garcia with a lot of blues, soul, funk, and jazz, and as part time band member Martin Fierro told me, "Garcia took to Merl like a sponge, and had that nimble ability to absorb and apply various styles and genres of music into his already expansive repertoire.' Precisely!

All of the songs on this CD have been previously issued on Fantasy LP's & CD's; 'Heavy Turbulance' 'Fire Up' 'Merl Saunders & Friends/Keepers' and the various 'Live at the Keystone' recordings, with lone exception of the so-so cover of Smokey Robinson's 'I Second That Emotion.' But blues fans will dig the 11:32 cover of 'Mystery Train' which opens the recording, and the Doc Pomus authored 'Lonely Avenue' will knock you on your butt with its soulful background vocalists, Merl's solid B3, and Jerry's guitar explodes on this very straight-ahead blues cover. JJ Cale's 'After Midnight' is also another highlight, Merl's solid B3 is reminiscent of many of the great soulful-funky recordings made by the likes of McGriff, McDuff, and Dr. Lonnie Smith with the only difference being Jerry's very strong & upbeat vocals, and his extremely creative guitar playing. The late great Vassar Clements shows up along with David Grisman for a spirited version of Jimmy Rogers 'That's Alright.' One of funkiest tracks on this disk is Saunders 'Welcome to the Basement' with members of the Tower of Power Horn section, check out John Kahn's deep bass phrasings, Merl's various heady keyboard playing, and the outstanding horn charts by the Bay areas greatest soul-funk band- TOP.

Excellent liner notes by long time Dead affiliate Blair Jackson, and the disk was compiled by the nationally syndicated Grateful Dead Hour's- David Gans. Additionally, the CD's packaging. is assembled as such- as a matchbook, with strike strip on the back, which is very fitting as it appropriately signifies the fiery display of musicianship throughout this very enjoyable recording. Saunders & Garcia were definitely 'Well-Matched' Hopefully Concord will continue to dig through its Fantasy vaults for more Saunders & Garcia recordings, as this is one very fine collaboration that needs and deserves additional documenting.

Bob Putignano: http://www.SoundsofBlue.com

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars GREATEST HITS FROM KEYSTONE, October 18, 2009

By 

aspiring saint "TATITTLE" (in the moment zone) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Well-Matched Best of Merl Saunders & Jerry Garcia (Audio CD)

GREAT Compilation of hits--singles-from the 1973 era. This along with the more exploratory/improv. Volume 2 are a good combination