We continue our look back at the music of 50 years ago…..
I’ve told you that one of the joys of reviewing all of this old music is discovering albums I never listened to the first time around. Today is another one.
Merl Saunders was a keyboard man who has worked with everyone from Frank Sinatra to BB King to Miles Davis to Bonnie Raitt. And he has had many collaborations withJerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead.
Garcia was famous for playing on all kinds of outside projects and helping out his friends whenever he could. In 1972 he joined with Saunders to record an album called “Heavy Turbulence”. Its a gem.
Garcia is at the top of his game and his guitar work on this album glistens. He’s joined by CCR guitarist Tom Fogerty, bass player John Kahn and drummer Bill Vitt. Background flourishes are added by the Edwin Hawkins Singers and the Tower of Power Horns.
Saunders plays various keyboards at a high and funky level. Rock, Blues, and Jazz can be heard in these performances. He tickles the Fender Rhodes on “”Savs Mother Earth” and hammers the B3 on a bunch of the cuts including “Welcome To The Basement” and “My Problems Got Problems”.
There are also a couple of decent covers, ‘The Night The Drove Ole Dixie Down” with Garcia providing the vocal…and a nice floating instrumental on John Lennon’s ‘Imagine”.
Saunders and Garcia would work together on various records over the decades but this is a nice introduction to his work.
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