Jack Schaeffer is an American musician, recording artist, record producer

Record producer

A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...

 and arranger

Arranger

In investment banking, an arranger is a provider of funds in the syndication of a debt. They are entitled to syndicate the loan or bond issue, and may be referred to as the "lead underwriter". This is because this entity bears the risk of being able to sell the underlying securities/debt or the...

.

Music career

The saxophone player and vocalist was signed by producer Gary Usher

Gary Usher

Gary Usher was an American surf rock musician, songwriter, and record producer.-Biography:Usher's early life was spent in Grafton, Massachusetts. He attended Norcross Grammar School with his sister, Sandra, who was in the same class and was likely his twin. Gary was kiddingly called "Chicken Feed"...

 to a recording contract at MCA/Universal Studios

Universal Studios

Universal Pictures , a subsidiary of NBCUniversal, is one of the six major movie studios....

, Decca Records

Decca Records

Decca Records began as a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934; however, owing to World War II, the link with the British company was broken for several decades....

. As a member of the early California surf band the Royale Monarchs

Royale Monarchs

The Royale Monarchs were a Southern California surf band of the late 1960s, signed by radio personality Bob Eubanks as house band at his Cinnamon Cinder night clubs, regulars on his Hollywood Dance Time and The Cinnamon Cinder television shows....

, he was under contract by Bob Eubanks

Bob Eubanks

Robert Leland "Bob" Eubanks is an American television/radio personality and game show host, best known for hosting the game show The Newlywed Game on and off since 1966, where he was known for using the catchphrase, "Makin' Whoopee"...

 as house band at his Cinnamon Cinder night clubs. Schaeffer also performed regularly on the television shows The Cinnamon Cinder and Hollywood Dance Time. He recorded under the name The Forte' Four with guitarist Dan Anthony

Dan Anthony

Dan Anthony American recording artist, songwriter and musician. The guitarist played with the original surf-rock guitarist, legendary Dick Dale, was founder of the California surf band of the late 1960s, Royale Monarchs, house band for Bob Eubanks' Cinnamon Cinder night clubs...

, founder of the Royale Monarchs, along with Gary Usher, studio musician Glen Campbell, and drummer Ernie Earnshaw

Ernie Earnshaw

Ernie Earnshaw is a musician and recording artist. He began playing drums with the popular surf-band of the 1960s, the Royale Monarchs at the Bob Eubanks Cinnamon Cinder night clubs in Los Angeles and performed on Sam Riddell's Ninth St. West dance program. Producer Gary Usher signed the new...

.

With Chuck Girard

Chuck Girard

Chuck Girard is a pioneer of Contemporary Christian music. He was born August 27, 1943 in Los Angeles, California, and moved to Santa Rosa, California in his young teens...

, he was the founder of one of the first Christian rock

Rock music

Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...

 groups, Love Song

Love Song (band)

Love Song was one of the main Jesus music bands, one of the first Christian rock bands. It was founded in 1970 by Chuck Girard, Tommy Coomes, Jay Truax, and Fred Field. Additionally, the earliest members included David Ingram on keyboards, Ernie Earnshaw on drums and Jack Schaeffer on bass. It was...

.

After relocating to the Bay Area

San Francisco Bay Area

The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a populated region that surrounds the San Francisco and San Pablo estuaries in Northern California. The region encompasses metropolitan areas of San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose, along with smaller urban and rural areas...

, he helped organize the Chicago style big band Marin. He then moved into softer folk-rock, forming a group around lead singer Patty Parsons

Patty Parsons

Patty Parsons The soulful lead singer of the Marin County based folk-rock group of the early 1970s, AnExchange.- External links :*** *...

 with Dan Anthony. He was involved in the band AnExchange

AnExchange

AnExchange was a Marin County based folk-rock group of the late 1960s, playing opening acts at San Carlos's Circle Star Theater for Ike & Tina Turner, The Everly Brothers and Joan Baez at the Edmonton Folk Music Festival.-Career:...

, which became popular in the early 1970s in and around San Francisco, Sausalito and Rocky Mountain ski resorts. They were the opening act for the premiere of the Mill Valley Sweetwater Saloon

Sweetwater Saloon

Located in Mill Valley, California, Sweetwater was a bar/tavern with a 30 year history of live musical performances by the likes of Bonnie Raitt, Elvis Costello, Jerry Garcia, The String Cheese Incident, John Lee Hooker, Carlos Santana, plus many others. There were typically at least 4 to 5...

, and opened for Joan Baez

Joan Baez

Joan Chandos Baez is an American folk singer, songwriter, musician and a prominent activist in the fields of human rights, peace and environmental justice....

 at the Edmonton Folk Music Festival

Edmonton Folk Music Festival

The Edmonton Folk Music Festival is an annual four-day outdoor music event held the second weekend of August in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, established in 1980 by Don Whalen. The festival continues to draw many people from around the world as both spectators and performers. The current producer of...

 in 1974.

Schaeffer was the musical director with the Las Vegas

Las Vegas Strip

The Las Vegas Strip is an approximately stretch of Las Vegas Boulevard in Clark County, Nevada; adjacent to, but outside the city limits of Las Vegas proper. The Strip lies within the unincorporated townships of Paradise and Winchester...

 Sands Hotel

Sands Hotel

The Sands Hotel was a historic Las Vegas Strip hotel/casino that operated from December 15, 1952 to June 30, 1996. Designed by architect Wayne McAllister, the Sands was the seventh resort that opened on the Strip....

 house band Enterprise for Frederick Apcar's production, The Sands Playmate Review. He toured with Roadhouse, the Bob Simmons Band, Marin, and AnExchange. He recorded two albums with The Wackers

The Wackers

The Wackers were an American Elektra Records group, produced by Gary Usher, who established the band from members of Roxy, which had moderate success. Musicians Bob Segarini, fellow Roxy member Randy Bishop on vocals, Bill 'Kootch' Trochim on bass and keyboards, guitarist Michael Stull and drummer...

 and was album producer-arranger on Ron Butler and The Saxist as well on Why Can't I, Patty Parsons solo album. Jack is the long time clarinetist in the Hot House Swing Band.

Strumbola

Schaeffer is the inventor of an original musical instrument, the Strumbola

Strumbola

A strumbola is a multi-stringed lute-tiple instrument using four courses of strings with two or three strings per courses, tuned in octaves. The Strumbola's open-tuning forms a diminished chord, giving a tight close-chord harmony up the neck, creating a Jazz-Harp like sound, with all the melodic...

. First developed as a four course, twelve string lute-like instrument with a jazz harp sound that creates tight close-chord harmony. Later versions by the inventor maintained the four course format, but with fewer than three per course, thus bringing the strummed sound closer to that of a traditional rhythm guitar. Latest version uses a tenor guitar with two added strings/pegs. Tuning of the six strings in four courses: d fF abAb b.
Update, 2011: The first Banjo-Strumbola is created from a six-string Tyler Mountain banjo. The two lower octave strings (F & Ab) made the banjo resonance sound a bit too muddy, so the string set tuning was raised two whole steps: Banjo-Strumbola tuning of the four courses from the lower:
f# aA cC d#

Literary career

Schaeffer is a published author under the pen name John Schaeffer. His papers and articles have been published in Operating Cameraman Magazine

Operating Cameraman Magazine

Operating Cameraman Magazine is a semi-annual publication founded in 1991 by the Society of Operating Cameramen. Written from the perspective of the camera operator, each issue deals with issues relevant to sound stages in the world-wide motion picture industry...

, Vidya Journal, and E.T.C., Journal of General Semantics

Institute of General Semantics

The Institute of General Semantics is a not-for-profit corporation established in 1938 by Alfred Korzybski, to support research and publication on the topic of General Semantics. The Institute publishes Korzybski's writings, including the seminal text Science & Sanity, and books by other authors...

. His writings include the topics of astronomy and physics, with a specialty in semantics. He is a member of the Triple Nine Society

Triple Nine Society

The Triple Nine Society , founded in 1978, is a voluntary association of individuals who have scored at or above the 99.9th percentile on specific IQ tests under supervised conditions, which generally correlates to an IQ of 149 or greater...

.

Discography

Royale Monarchs

Royale Monarchs

The Royale Monarchs were a Southern California surf band of the late 1960s, signed by radio personality Bob Eubanks as house band at his Cinnamon Cinder night clubs, regulars on his Hollywood Dance Time and The Cinnamon Cinder television shows....

• Whole Lot Of Shakin Going On (1962) (Dell)
• Sombrero Stomp (1962) (Dell)
• My Babe (1964) (Dell)
• (Hey) Surfs Up (1964) (Dell)
• Great Balls Of Fire (1964) (Dell)
• Teen Scene (1964) (Dell)
• The Cinnamon Cinder Show / Bob Eubanks (1963–65) (TV)
• Cinnamon Cinder Show Christmas Special (1965) (TV)

Collector Compilation LPs and CDs Containing Tracks

• At The Rockhouse, vol. 11 (Eagle)
• Red Hot Rock 'N' Roll (Red Hot)
• High School Favorites (Teen)
• I Want Rock (White Label)

Forte' Four

• Can't You See I'm Trying (1966) (Decca)
• Don't Let The Sun Shine On Me (1966) (Decca)
• I Don't Wanna Say Goodnight (1966) (Decca)
• The Climb (1966) (Decca)
• Viva Las Vegas, Original Soundtrack / "The Climb" (1964) (MGM)
• The Cool Ones, Original Soundtrack (1967) (Warner Bros)

AnExchange

AnExchange

AnExchange was a Marin County based folk-rock group of the late 1960s, playing opening acts at San Carlos's Circle Star Theater for Ike & Tina Turner, The Everly Brothers and Joan Baez at the Edmonton Folk Music Festival.-Career:...

• Evening of AnExchange (1972)
• Edmonton International Pop Festival (1974)

The Wackers

The Wackers

The Wackers were an American Elektra Records group, produced by Gary Usher, who established the band from members of Roxy, which had moderate success. Musicians Bob Segarini, fellow Roxy member Randy Bishop on vocals, Bill 'Kootch' Trochim on bass and keyboards, guitarist Michael Stull and drummer...

• Wackering Heights (1971) (Electra) CD Release (2006)
• Shredder (1973) (Electra) CD Release (2006)

Hot House Swing Band

• L.A. Confidential, Original Soundtrack (1997) (Warner Bros)
• Hello Palm Springs (1998) (DVD)
• Got Rhythm? (2000) (CD)

Producer/Arranger

• The Climb (1966) Songwriter
• Marin (1970) Arranger
• Evening of AnExchange (1972) Arranger
• Why Can't I ? Patty Parsons (1979) Producer & Arranger
• Ron Butler and the Saxist; Go Figure ! (1982) Producer & Arranger

Various

• Faith of Our Children (1953–55) (NBC) Eleanor Powell
• Dateline: Disneyland (1955) (ABC) The Phil Moore Band
• Dodge "White Hat" (1962) ( TV commercial) The Phil Moore Band
• The Steve Allen Playhouse (1963) (ABC) The Phil Moore Band
• Spartan Choir (1963) (KFI Radio)
• Spartan Choir (1963) (LP)
• The People's Lawyer (1975) (TV)
• My Father's Hands (2003) (CD) Dan Anthony
• Watercolor Dreams (2007) (CD) Dan Anthony

External links

• Amazon Books for author John Schaeffer