''Fire Up'' is an album by

Merl Saunders Merl Saunders (February 14, 1934 – October 24, 2008) was an American multi-genre musician who played piano and keyboards, favoring the Hammond B-3 console organ. Biography Born in San Mateo, California, United States, Saunders attended Poly ...

. It was released in May 1973 through

Fantasy Records Fantasy Records is an American independent record label company founded by brothers Max and Sol Stanley 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 inves ...

. The self-produced album features many high-profile collaborators, including

Grateful Dead The Grateful Dead was an American rock music, rock band formed in Palo Alto, California, in 1965. Known for their eclectic style that fused elements of rock, blues, jazz, Folk music, folk, country music, country, bluegrass music, bluegrass, roc ...

members

Jerry Garcia Jerome John Garcia (August 1, 1942 – August 9, 1995) was an American musician who was the lead guitarist and a vocalist with the rock band Grateful Dead, which he co-founded and which came to prominence during the counterculture of the 196 ...

and

Bill Kreutzmann William Kreutzmann Jr. ( ; born May 7, 1946) is an American drummer and founding member of the rock band Grateful Dead. He played with the band for its entire thirty-year career, usually alongside fellow drummer Mickey Hart, and has continued to ...

alongside

Creedence Clearwater Revival Creedence Clearwater Revival, commonly abbreviated as CCR or simply Creedence, was an American Rock music, rock band formed in El Cerrito, California. The band consisted of lead vocalist, lead guitarist, and primary songwriter John Fogerty, h ...

guitarist

Tom Fogerty Thomas Richard Fogerty (November 9, 1941 – September 6, 1990) was an American musician, best known as the rhythm guitarist for Creedence Clearwater Revival. He was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993. Biography ...

. It peaked at number 197 on the ''Billboard'' 200 albums chart. Six of the album's eight tracks were included on the compilation ''

Fire Up Plus ''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. ''Fire Up Plus'' ...

'' in 1992.

Background

Despite meeting resistance from his label over the album's lyrical content, Garcia encouraged Saunders to write the way he wanted:

Reception

In a retrospective review for

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

, Eugene Chadbourne stated the album "emphasizes aunders'clever songwriting", listing "Soul Roach" and "Chock-Lite Pudding" as highlights.

Track listing

Personnel

– electric piano, organ, ARP (flute), ARP (band), clavinet *

– guitar, vocals *

– rhythm guitar *

John Kahn John Kahn (June 13, 1947 – May 30, 1996) was an American bassist. From 1970 to 1995, Kahn was Jerry Garcia's principal musical collaborator outside of the Grateful Dead. Biography John Kahn was born in Memphis, Tennessee. Adopted at birth by ...

– bass *

Bill Vitt Bill Vitt (May 6, 1943 - July 16, 2019, aged 76) was an American drummer and keyboardist. 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 S ...

– drums *

Gaylord Birch Gaylord G. Birch (March 10, 1946 – April 14, 1996) was an American drummer for the bands Santana, Graham Central Station, Cold Blood, Pointer Sisters and Herbie Hancock. History Birch was the drummer for the Pointer Sisters during 1974 and ...

– congas, drums, tambourine *

Chuck Rainey Charles Walter Rainey III (born June 17, 1940) is an American bass guitarist who has performed and recorded with many well-known acts, including Aretha Franklin, Steely Dan, and Quincy Jones. Rainey is credited for playing bass on more than 1,00 ...

– bass *

Walter Hawkins Walter Lee Hawkins (May 18, 1949 – July 11, 2010) was an American gospel singer, songwriter, composer, and pastor. An influential figure in urban contemporary gospel music, his career spanned more than four decades. He was consecrated to the ...

and sisters (Tramaine, Lynette, and Freddie) – background vocals *Mike Howell – guitar, rhythm guitar *Ken Nash – percussion *Christopher Parker – drums *Bill Somers – percussion *

– drums

References

{{Jerry Garcia , state=collapsed Merl Saunders albums 1973 albums Fantasy Records albums