"Fire Down Below" Fans

[NEA]

Hi Guys,

Further to my "From EP Boulevard" tribute thread on this forum, who owns or has listened to "The Jungle Room Sessions" FTD CD?

What do we think about Jerry Scheff's very own instrumental composition "Fire Down Below"?

Personally, I think this it is a great track and a welcome addition to the CD - I really love the funky rock sound of it and James Burton is in great form as usual. This leads me to ask the inevitable - "What if Elvis had recorded it?"...If only, if only...I think it could have been up there with "Moody Blue" and "Way Down"...what do you think?

Does anybody know the story as to why Elvis didn't get around to recording it? And, did Jerry actually write words to this instrumental?

Cheers,

NEA.

P.S. What if the TCB Band were to include this number as a live instrumental during 'Elvis The Concert'?

[Lonniebealestreet]

If I could afford to do so, I'd buy a copy of the JRS FTD for everyone on this board who doesn't have it. Yes, I kinda like it.

Scheff did indeed write lyrics to the song.

There 's a fire down below
It's burning out of control
Man your battlestations baby
There 's a fire down below

There 's a fire down below
It's burning out of control
Man your battlestations baby
There 's a fire down below

You fight fire with fire
Love with love
You can feel the heat
Looking down up above
Come down baby and I'll do you some good
Just cool me off like you said you would

Cause it's smokin', smokin',
Burnin', burnin',
Smokin' and burnin'
Getting hotter and hotter
Man your lifeboats baby

Cause there's a fire down below
It's burning out of control
Man your battlestations baby
There's a fire down below

There's a fire down below
It's burning out of control
Man your battlestations baby,
There's a fire down below

*Instrumental break*

You're a cool breeze baby
Blowin' all over me
Fan my flames you're gonna set me free
Goin' low, set me free
C'mon pretty baby
Put a glow on me

Cause it's smokin', smokin',
Burnin', burnin',
Smokin' and burnin'
Getting hotter and hotter
Man your lifeboats baby

Cause there's a fire down below
It's burning out of control
Man your battlestations baby
There's a fire down below

There's a fire down below
It's burning out of control
Man your battlestations baby,
There's a fire down below

Yes, I certainly agree that this song could have been another hit like Moody Blue and Way Down, being more similar to the latter in its hard-driving style.

Why he didn't get around to recording it is I think mainly just because he never got around to having one more session--or more accurately, because he had no desire to do any more recording. Therefore it was one of a handful of songs planned for the January '77 sessions in the racquetball building which never took place. Apparently Felton kept that master tape with him for a while hoping for the right opportunity to get Elvis to lay down that vocal track, since the previous October's sessions ended before that was done.

A guy named Terry Mike Jeffries who is a tribute artist actually recorded the song with Jerry and the TCB band. Hearing it though doesn't at all make you think, "Yeah, that's how Elvis would have sung it." (And maybe it's a good thing that he didn't seem to shoot for that.) Still, it's cool to hear. I've just heard it once or twice, I guess, and it's been a while.

Here's a link to a site to order Jerry's CD:

http://www.scheff.com/jerry/scheff_cd.html

NEAt idea, for the band to perform the song for Elvis The Concert.

[NEA]

Hi Lonnie,

Thanks for your very informative post.

I never knew that a recording session was planned for the Racquetball Building in January 1977!...How come they switched it from the Jungle Room - acoustics?

I did hear that a recording session was scheduled in Nashville for the same period. Apparently, Elvis wanted Ginger to accompany him to Nashville and she didn't/couldn't go. EP then travelled to Nashville without her and was fuming because of the argument they had, checked into his hotel and then cancelled the recording session...or so the story goes...

NEA.

[elvisdownunder]

just wait a while and i might post my own version of this song. it was a tricky song, but after 20 tries i was proud of the end result.

[Lonniebealestreet]

I'd like to hear that, Scott.

NEA, you're welcome. I can't remember now if it was before or after the Nashville session that didn't happen (and what was the name of that studio?), but RCA did indeed set up a makeshift studio in the racquetball building.

I think they were trying to get a better sound than what they had in the Jungle Room, but they didn't get it and it was ultimately not an issue anyway, obviously. But wouldn't that have been a no-brainer? They would have had to have done a lot to make the acoustics right in there. I don't remember this reason being given, but maybe having that extra space for setting up and moving around in was a motivating factor there as well.

[jbgude]

Jerry Scheff has just posted a message about " Fire down below" :

"Elvis Unlimited added an e-mail from Jerry Scheff on the announced release of his song "Fire Down Below" by Wolfgang Hahn in Austria on 16th August 2005.

"This is Jerry Scheff. I have heard recently that a release of my song 'Fire Down Below' is being promoted by Wolfgang Hahn in Austria for the 16th August 2005. I have no agreements for either performance, publishing or distribution with him or any company he represents. He is also claiming it as a recording with the original TCB Band. If this is the case he has used material which he has no rights to and may be a demo quality unmixable instrumental.

Neither I or the TCB have been consulted or co operated in any way with this product. I understand that Wolfgang has dubbed his own voice over our performance in the past 3 days and is racing to benefit from the Elvis week events and audiences. It particularly saddens me to see the anniversary of Elvis' death exploited for personal gain in this way.

I urge you to let as many people as you can know of the truth of this situation. An official TCB Band CD of Fire Down Below can be found on my website or I eagerly invite you to wait until the version sung by Austrian Dennis Jale is releasing in October 2005 with which I have been fully and professionally involved. Dennis is a real singer: not a rip off artist. Also, Dennis's CD will also include another song I wrote for Elvis called That's When The Real Love Begins.

Thanks for your support for the TCB Band.

All the best, Jerry O Scheff"
End quote

[Lonniebealestreet]

Very interesting and timely, jb. Thanks for posting.

[NEA]

Interesting information guys especially from Jerry's website too!

Well, is a fire about to start with this song?!

Does anybody know if Elvis ever got to hear the TCB Band instrumental from October 1976 or did Felton Jarvis just carry it somewhere safe with him just incase Elvis asked there and then to listen to it?

NEA.

[Lonniebealestreet]

Checking Ernst's A Life In Music, I answered my own question about the Nashville studio. It was Buzz Carson's Creative Workshop.

To answer that last one of yours...

The next night the band started work without Elvis on a new up-tempo song by Jerry Scheff, "There's A Fire Down Below," playing it in the same vein as "Way Down." When the singer finally arrived, he seemed receptive to the tune, but in their enthusiasm the band's concentration deteriorated in a flurry of silly jokes and dirty language, interrupted by reprimands from Elvis himself: "You guys, straighten up. This is a recording." And then, suddenly, he was gone, returning upstairs to his bedroom..."

[NEA]

Lonnie,

I wonder why Elvis was scheduled to record at Buzz Carson's studio as opposed to Studio B in Nashville?

Do you know if Elvis ever mentioned Jerry's instrumental again after his first sample hearing at Graceland or was E so furious with the band for goofing around that it was just forgotten in the midst of all the mayhem - even though it was on the list for the proposed recording session in January?

Finally, did Elvis ever know about Jerry's other composition that he specially wrote for him - "That's When The Real Love Begins"?

Cheers,

NEA.

[Lonniebealestreet]

Sorry, but I don't know the answer to any of those questions.

Just to give you a related bit of trivia, do you know when Studio B closed? August 17, 1977. Over the years it's been said that after Elvis died, the studio couldn't go on and closed its doors out of respect. Sounds nice but actually that was when the lease on the place was up and RCA had decided well in advance to pack up all their things and walk away. (I don't remember if they had built a new studio somewhere or what. I just heard this tidbit a couple months ago when I toured the place, which I highly recommend doing.)

I would suggest that Elvis possibly had planned to record at a new studio for some of the same reasons he went with Stax in '73 over the American: that he had moved on and didn't want any comparisons made with his previous work recorded there. But that's not the case because according to Billy Smith, before anyone left to go to Nashville, Elvis had already made his mind up that he was not going to record, basically out of spite for the Colonel and RCA.

To correct my previous post, it was after that they tried to get Elvis to record in the racquetball building, in February.

[NEA]

Great info, Lonnie...

By the way, who is tinkling the old ivories on the "Fire Down Below" Jungle Room track?

Is it Glenn D., David Briggs or Tony Brown?

Whoever it is - it sounds awesome!

[Lonniebealestreet]

I believe that was Tony Brown, and yes, it does!

By the way, it was at the Creative Workshop that the band recorded overdubs for Way Down and Pledging My Love.