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[King Of Gracelan...]

In the first part, Jerry talks about his background and his career.
It's actually difficult to find anything other than the most basic facts on him, and even reference-books like 'Elvis - His Life From A To Z' are disappointing in that respect.
So we felt that some backgrounds were necessary to put the interview into perspective.
In the second part you'll find our interview about his years with Presley.

Jerry Talks:
"I grew up in the San Francisco Bay area, played tuba in grammar school and started playing string bass in the seventh grade.
I played in junior symphony as well as the school orchestra and played tuba in the Vallejo municipal band at age twelve.
We moved to Sacramento, CA when I was fourteen .
My mother was very supportive and took me to see concerts such as Jazz at the Philharmonic and Lionel Hamptons band.
I played mostly Jazz and classical music at the time, and listened to black R&B as well as Jazz stations from Oakland, CA.
At about age fifteen, I started to play in clubs and "after hours" sessions.
I played with mostly Jazz musicians who were into the East Coast Jazz scene.
In 1957 and 1958, I hung out in San Francisco some and played in an after hour club called "Jimbo's Bop City".
All the jazz musicians who came to town would come to play there.
Miles Davis sat on as well as John Coltrane and his band.
I never got to play with them, I would have been scared to death!
It was the "beat" era and there were a lot of drugs floating around.
I would beg some of the musicians to shoot me up....
I was a skinny towheaded white kid and I always felt like I was being protected.
Fortunately they did not give in to my desires.
One morning at about 3:00 a.m. at Jimbo's, a women came up on stage to sing.
She had on a pendelton shirt with a skirt and work boots.
This was 1958 and I had never seen anyone dressed like that.
She turned around and said "blues in F" as she stomped the time with her work boots.
The dust flew up from the carpet into the spotlight and away we went.
I was in heaven!
The singer was Big Momma Thorton.

[King Of Gracelan...]

I re-married in 1976 to my present wife Diane and we settled in a beach apartment in Malibu, CA while I built my recording career back up.
Around this time I worked on an album for Tanya Tucker.
They were talking about taking the band on the road when I got a call from saxophonist Steve Douglas telling me that Bob Dylan was rehearsing and had fired his bass player.
I went down to play with him and all of a sudden we were on our way to Europe to tour on a private train, wives included...
It was a wonderful year except that the availability of cocaine was such that I quickly became strung out.
I ended up in early 1979 in Paris doing an album with Mink DeVille called LE CHAT BLUE.
One night after two days of being up, I was in my room in at the Hotel Meurice with a bottle of brandy and a gram of cocaine.
I wondered what difference it would make if I jumped out of the window.
I had the window open and I saw the brandy by the bed.
I walked over and took a big slug and passed out.
The next day I came to and remembered what had happened.
It scared me so badly that I called my wife and told her that my drug days were over and they were.
The early eighties were spent once again rebuilding my recording career.
Some of my old pals James Burton, Glen D. Hardin, Jim Horn and Hal Blaine had been working with John Denver for a few years.
Ermory Gordy was the bass player and he left, so I went to work for John.
John was a very gracious and generous person in material ways, and I worked with him on and off till 1993.
In the meantime in 1986, I was doing sessions in L.A. when producer T-Bone Burnette called me to come play on a couple songs for Elvis Costello.
The album was called KING OF AMERICA and I wound up playing on most of it.
I toured with Sam Philips (T-Bone Burnette's wife, on Virgin Records) in 1994.
T-Bone played guitar and a young minimalist drummer named Josh Labell rounded out a tough small group.
I've done five or six albums with Sam over the past six or seven years...
I think the reason I still work is that I'm not afraid to take chances.
Most of the producers I work for know this and many times when the part I try doesn't work, they give me some time to go into the booth and get a different slant on things.
There are so many wonderful bass players out there that my little eccentricities and may be sometimes (not always) my feel is what sets me apart.
If the song calls for a minimalist part, I do that!
But I try and use the simplicity as a hook.
Anyway, I feel I am still growing as a bass player.
Oldies don't interest me very much, I still go out and "sit in" to play a little Jazz every once and a while just to keep the cobwebs clear!".
According to the session-files, you played on the sessions for DOUBLE TROUBLE and EASY COME, EASY GO, both in 1966.
Well, I was working a LOT of sessions every day, a LOT of hours.
I had three sets of equipment, and a cartridge company would deliver them to the studios.
I'd just drive from studio to studio, play, walk out and go to another studio.
I don't remember playing bass on any Elvis soundtrack.
A man called me one day and asked me about that, and I accused him of making it up, 'cause I didn't remember it.
He said: "Well, I have the Union contracts right here in front of me".
So I couldn't argue with that.
But it was just one of those things that I didn't pay attention to (Ed. note: at this point, Jerry was looking at the session-facts in Recording Sessions, and said: "I do not remember that at all").
I don't remember any of that stuff.
All I remember is that trumpet-session, 'cause I needed the money.
Red West called me up, and he said: "Are you Jerry Scheff the trumpet player?".
And I said: "YES!!!" (laughs).
I played tuba my whole childhood and through my navy years, and the fingerwork is the same.
So I borrowed an old silver, just horrible beat-up looking trumpet from this guy, no case, and I just walked in with that trumpet.
We played for two days and I made $900 for these two days.
Back then, that was a LOT of money.
I never played anything that they could hear.
I never played any high notes, I played everything so that it blended with the other horns.
Nobody said anything!
They didn't call back, but... (laughs).
I used to tease Red West about that.
I said: "See, Red, you didn't do very good research on me...".