Merl Saunders headlined the Haight Ashbury Street Street Fair for 24 consecutive years. In April of 2002, Merl suffered a stroke just two months before the 2002 Haight Street Fair and was in the hospital and could not be there in person
The 2002 the Haight Ashbury Street Fair was without Merl Saunders for the first time in 24 years. The band that headlined that day was numerous musicians from Merl’s bands including from Merl Saunders Funky Friends and his other bands like The Rainforest Band
This tape is made public for the very first time on the 10th Anniversary of this show. Merl Saunders jr explains the rest on the tape
Merls Funky Friends, the 25th annual Haight Ashbury Street Fair, June 9, 2002
http://www11.zippyshare.com/v/5824751/file.html
Musicians in this band include Merl Saunders jr, Tony Saunders, Vince Welnick, Melvin Seals, Carl Lockett, John Payne, Larry Van, Tom Everest, James Lebah?, Mike Lawson, Skip Mesquite, Lon Graham, Tony Saunders jr, Jackie Turner, Mike Mossa?, Martin Fierro and Narada Michael Walden – Corrections on some of these musicians with help from Mike Lawson, but apparently this show was very ad hoc and tons of musicians showed up as a tribute. basically a once in a lifetime event
There aren’t any specific photos of Merls Funky Friends on June 9, 2002, but this photo shows some of the same musicians with Tony Saunders at left, and Mike Lawson on guitar. Chet Helms took this photo at the Haight Street Fair but the date is unclear and the photo set could be from several years (likely 2001)
HAIGHT STREET FAIR – MERL SAUNDERS BAND AND FAMILY – Chet Helms own photo set
Also that day at the Haight Street Fair was The Tubes which was also recorded and previously posted here. The Tubes are scheduled to be at the Haight Street Fair 2012, so this is their 10th Anniversary as well. Vince Welnick was also the third band to perform on the same stage that day in 2002, and that was also previously posted here. Vince Welnick also played with the Tubes that day, and Mike Lawson played with both Vince Welnick and the Merl Saunders band, so there was some crossover.
Two previous Merl Saunders shows have also been recorded and posted here in Bluoz
Merl Saunders, Haight Street Fair 1999
Merl Saunders, Haight Street Fair 1998 (my favorite)
Merl Saunders last show at the Haight Street Fair was 2001…In memory of the 24 years, this is his last show. Many of the same musicians in this 2001 video are also on the 1998, 1999 and 2002 tapes. these videos are produced by http://gdmpro.de/
RIP Merl and Vince Welnick and Chet Helms, all of whom were part of this original San Francisco scene
part 1
part 2
part 3
part 4
part 5
The only other tapes of Merl at the Haight Street Fair is from 1985 at Archive.org. This included Bob Weir and Brent Mydland of the Grateful dead and John Cipollina