Jerry Scheff
Encyclopedia
Jerry Obern Scheff is an American bassist
, perhaps best known for his work with Elvis Presley
in the early 1970s as a member of his TCB Band
and his work on The Doors
' final recordings.
Scheff grew up in the San Francisco Bay
area. After serving in the U.S. Navy he returned to California, ending up in Los Angeles
as a session musician
. His first big break was The Association
's "Along Comes Mary
" (1966), and that success led to numerous other record appearances: Bobby Sherman
, Johnny Mathis
, Johnny Rivers
, Neil Diamond
, Nancy Sinatra
, Pat Boone
, Sammy Davis Jr., Bobby Vinton
, The Everly Brothers
, and the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
. In 1971 he appeared on L.A. Woman
, the final album recorded by The Doors
.
In July 1969 Scheff became a member of Elvis Presley's touring TCB Band
. He appears on Aloha from Hawaii
(Elvis' 1973 live television concert), "Back In Memphis", That's The Way It Is
, Elvis As Recorded At Madison Square Garden," and Moody Blue
, among others, and continued working off and on with Presley until his death.
In later years Scheff worked with Willy DeVille
, Bob Dylan
, John Denver
, Elvis Costello
, Sam Phillips
, Richard Thompson, and many other artists. Scheff also was a bassist for Southern Pacific
from 1983 to 1986. He also participated in the 1987 cable television concert Roy Orbison and Friends, A Black and White Night
. Scheff is still touring, often with former members of Elvis' TCB band. In June 2009 he gave a sold out performance in Breda
, Netherlands
with the remaining TCB bandmembers.
Jerry Scheff appeared in the episode of Get Smart
, "The Groovy Guru" (season 3, episode 15) as a member of the band "The Sacred Cows," which first ran on TV January 13, 1968.
Jerry Scheff has three sons: Jason
, Darin, and Lauren Scheff. Jason Scheff has been the bassist for the band Chicago
since 1985; he co-wrote the song "Bigger Than Elvis" as a tribute to his father.
Bassist
A bass player, or bassist is a musician who plays a bass instrument such as a double bass, bass guitar, keyboard bass or a low brass instrument such as a tuba or sousaphone. Different musical genres tend to be associated with one or more of these instruments...
, perhaps best known for his work with Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
in the early 1970s as a member of his TCB Band
TCB Band
The TCB Band was a group of professional musicians who formed the core rhythm section of Elvis Presley’s band from August 1969 until his death in 1977. TCB stands for Taking Care of Business, a personal motto Presley adopted in the early 1970s...
and his work on The Doors
The Doors
The Doors were an American rock band formed in 1965 in Los Angeles, California, with vocalist Jim Morrison, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, drummer John Densmore, and guitarist Robby Krieger...
' final recordings.
Scheff grew up in the San Francisco Bay
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...
area. After serving in the U.S. Navy he returned to California, ending up in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
as a session musician
Session musician
Session musicians are instrumental and vocal performers, musicians, who are available to work with others at live performances or recording sessions. Usually such musicians are not permanent members of a musical ensemble and often do not achieve fame in their own right as soloists or bandleaders...
. His first big break was The Association
The Association
The Association is a pop music band from California in the folk rock or soft rock genre. During the 1960s, they had numerous hits at or near the top of the Billboard charts and were the lead-off band at 1967's Monterey Pop Festival...
's "Along Comes Mary
Along Comes Mary
"Along Comes Mary" is a song composed by Tandyn Almer, originally recorded in 1966 by The Association, and released on their debut album And Then... Along Comes the Association. It was their first hit and reached number seven on the U.S. charts. It has been covered by several artists, most notably...
" (1966), and that success led to numerous other record appearances: Bobby Sherman
Bobby Sherman
Robert Cabot "Bobby" Sherman, Jr. , is an American singer, actor and occasional songwriter, who became a popular teen idol in the late 1960s and early 1970s.He graduated in 1961 from Birmingham High School in Van Nuys, California...
, Johnny Mathis
Johnny Mathis
John Royce "Johnny" Mathis is an American singer of popular music. Starting his career with singles of standards, he became highly popular as an album artist, with several dozen of his albums achieving gold or platinum status, and 73 making the Billboard charts...
, Johnny Rivers
Johnny Rivers
Johnny Rivers is an American rock and roll singer, songwriter, guitarist, and record producer. His styles include folk songs, blues, and revivals of old-time rock 'n' roll songs and some original material...
, Neil Diamond
Neil Diamond
Neil Leslie Diamond is an American singer-songwriter with a career spanning over five decades from the 1960s until the present....
, Nancy Sinatra
Nancy Sinatra
Nancy Sandra Sinatra is an American singer and actress. She is the daughter of singer/actor Frank Sinatra, and remains best known for her 1966 signature hit "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'"....
, Pat Boone
Pat Boone
Charles Eugene "Pat" Boone is an American singer, actor and writer who has been a successful pop singer in the United States during the 1950s and early 1960s. He covered black artists' songs and sold more copies than his black counterparts...
, Sammy Davis Jr., Bobby Vinton
Bobby Vinton
Bobby Vinton is an American pop music singer of Polish origin. In pop music circles, he became known as "The Polish Prince".-Early life:...
, The Everly Brothers
The Everly Brothers
The Everly Brothers are country-influenced rock and roll performers, known for steel-string guitar playing and close harmony singing...
, and the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band is an American country-folk-rock band that has existed in various forms since its founding in Long Beach, California in 1966. The group's membership has had at least a dozen changes over the years, including a period from 1976 to 1981 when the band performed and recorded...
. In 1971 he appeared on L.A. Woman
L.A. Woman
The band embarked on a tour to promote the album, although it would only comprise two dates. The first was held in Dallas, Texas on December 11 and reportedly went well. The second performance took place at The Warehouse in New Orleans, Louisiana, on December 12, 1970, where Morrison apparently had...
, the final album recorded by The Doors
The Doors
The Doors were an American rock band formed in 1965 in Los Angeles, California, with vocalist Jim Morrison, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, drummer John Densmore, and guitarist Robby Krieger...
.
In July 1969 Scheff became a member of Elvis Presley's touring TCB Band
TCB Band
The TCB Band was a group of professional musicians who formed the core rhythm section of Elvis Presley’s band from August 1969 until his death in 1977. TCB stands for Taking Care of Business, a personal motto Presley adopted in the early 1970s...
. He appears on Aloha from Hawaii
Aloha from Hawaii
Aloha from Hawaii is a music concert that was headlined by Elvis Presley, and was broadcast live via satellite on January 14, 1973. It is the most watched broadcast by an individual entertainer in television history, viewed by an estimated 1.5 billion people worldwide. The concert took place at the...
(Elvis' 1973 live television concert), "Back In Memphis", That's The Way It Is
Elvis: That's the Way it Is
Elvis: That's the Way It Is is a documentary movie directed by Denis Sanders about Elvis Presley that was released on November 11, 1970. The film documents Elvis' Summer Festival in Las Vegas during August 1970...
, Elvis As Recorded At Madison Square Garden," and Moody Blue
Moody Blue
Moody Blue is the final studio album by Elvis Presley. The album was a mixture of live and studio work, and included tracks from Presley's final studio recording sessions in 1976, including Moody Blue, a previously published hit song, and Way Down, which became a hit song after Presley's death less...
, among others, and continued working off and on with Presley until his death.
In later years Scheff worked with Willy DeVille
Willy DeVille
Willy DeVille was an American singer and songwriter. During his thirty-five year career, first with his band Mink DeVille and later on his own, Deville created original songs rooted in traditional American musical styles. He worked with collaborators from across the spectrum of contemporary...
, Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
, John Denver
John Denver
Henry John Deutschendorf, Jr. , known professionally as John Denver, was an American singer/songwriter, activist, and humanitarian. After growing up in numerous locations with his military family, Denver began his music career in folk music groups in the late 1960s. His greatest commercial success...
, Elvis Costello
Elvis Costello
Elvis Costello , born Declan Patrick MacManus, is an English singer-songwriter. He came to prominence as an early participant in London's pub rock scene in the mid-1970s and later became associated with the punk/New Wave genre. Steeped in word play, the vocabulary of Costello's lyrics is broader...
, Sam Phillips
Sam Phillips (singer)
Leslie Ann Phillips, aka Sam Phillips is an American singer and a songwriter.-Biography:Phillips was born in Glendale, California. She began her musical career as a vocalist in the early 1980s, singing background parts for Christian artists Mark Heard, Randy Stonehill and others...
, Richard Thompson, and many other artists. Scheff also was a bassist for Southern Pacific
Southern Pacific (band)
Southern Pacific was an American country rock band that ran from 1983 to 1991. They are best known for hits such as "Any Way the Wind Blows" , which was used in the soundtrack for the film Pink Cadillac starring Clint Eastwood and Bernadette Peters, and "New Shade of Blue"...
from 1983 to 1986. He also participated in the 1987 cable television concert Roy Orbison and Friends, A Black and White Night
Roy Orbison and Friends, A Black and White Night
Roy Orbison and Friends, A Black and White Night is a 1988 Cinemax television special originally broadcast on January 3, 1988 starring Hall of Fame singer/songwriter Roy Orbison. The special was filmed entirely in black and white...
. Scheff is still touring, often with former members of Elvis' TCB band. In June 2009 he gave a sold out performance in Breda
Breda
Breda is a municipality and a city in the southern part of the Netherlands. The name Breda derived from brede Aa and refers to the confluence of the rivers Mark and Aa. As a fortified city, the city was of strategic military and political significance...
, Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
with the remaining TCB bandmembers.
Jerry Scheff appeared in the episode of Get Smart
Get Smart
Get Smart is an American comedy television series that satirizes the secret agent genre. Created by Mel Brooks with Buck Henry, the show starred Don Adams , Barbara Feldon , and Edward Platt...
, "The Groovy Guru" (season 3, episode 15) as a member of the band "The Sacred Cows," which first ran on TV January 13, 1968.
Jerry Scheff has three sons: Jason
Jason Scheff
Jason Randolph Scheff is an American bassist, singer and songwriter. Since 1985 he has been the bassist and singer for the veteran pop-rock band Chicago. He is the oldest son of well-known session bassist Jerry Scheff, who toured for several years with Elvis Presley...
, Darin, and Lauren Scheff. Jason Scheff has been the bassist for the band Chicago
Chicago (band)
Chicago is an American rock band formed in 1967 in Chicago, Illinois. The self-described "rock and roll band with horns" began as a politically charged, sometimes experimental, rock band and later moved to a predominantly softer sound, becoming famous for producing a number of hit ballads. They had...
since 1985; he co-wrote the song "Bigger Than Elvis" as a tribute to his father.