San Diego has had many great songwriters who have called San Diego home, but few have reached the heights of guitarist Greg Doug-lass.
Perhaps best known as the man who wrote the mega-hit “Jungle Love” for The Steve Miller Band, Douglass, who performs at Humphrey’s Backstage Lounge on Feb. 7, has traveled the world with some of the biggest names in music over the last four decades.
He started playing in bands as a 13-year-old Bay Area teenager in 1966, inspired by the surf music of the era ” in particular Dick Dale and The Ventures. Throughout the ’60s he performed in various combos, including The Virtues and Country Weather.
While they never achieved fame outside their home turf, the latter did score choice gigs opening for the likes of Sly & The Family Stone at such legendary venues as The Fillmore and Avalon Ballroom.
Country Weather split up in 1972. But by that time, Douglass’ prowess had begun to draw attention.
Immediately following the breakup, he performed with a succession of artists, including Mistress, Terry and The Pirates, Raven, Hot Tuna and Van Morrison, as well as recording with Link Wray.
Most performers would consider themselves lucky to have accomplished this much in the span of a decade, but Douglass was just getting started. 1976 found him playing guitar with The Steve Miller Band, contributing the song “Jungle Love” to the album “Book of Dreams.”
“The best five minutes I’ve ever spent was writing that song,” Douglass said.
During this time he played some of the biggest venues in the world, including a record crowd of 100,000 concertgoers with co-headliner Fleetwood Mac at Philadelphia’s JFK Stadium.
Counting the various greatest-hits album and the single, “Jungle Love” has sold over 16 million copies in the United States alone. Almost omnipresent on classic rock radio, the song got a second life as the theme to TV’s “Everybody Loves Raymond” for its final three seasons.
Douglass stayed on with Miller, playing on subsequent hits, including “Abracadabra.” He exited the band in 1981 when Miller took a break from touring, but his restless nature soon found him playing with Tom Johnston of the Doobie Brothers and former Byrd Gene Clark, as well as writing with Eddie Money. The latter resulted in the FM radio favorite “Trinidad.”
In 1982, Douglass again found Top 40 success as a member of The Greg Kihn Band, notably on the hit “Jeopardy,” making countless TV appearances, including “Saturday Night Live” and “American Bandstand.”
He cites his time with Kihn as his favorite.
“That was the one time in my life that I engaged in textbook rock lunacy. You know, sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll,” he said.
By 1985 he took a break from music, putting down his guitar for a decade. He moved to Escondido in 1992 and by the end of the ’90s had begun performing again. This time, inspired by John Fahey, it’s primarily as an instrumental acoustic guitarist.
“I have a restraining order against my voice,” he said. “A good friend [whom] I respect came up to me after a show and told me, ‘As a singer, you’re a great guitar player,'” Douglass recalls.
He also continues to tour the world as a member of the dance band The Fabulous Pelicans and The Monsters of Classic Rock, alongside musical luminaries like Rick Derringer.
The primary focus of his time, however, is as a guitar teacher, passing along decades of wisdom to the next generation of musicians through direct lessons or his instructional DVDs. Douglass is also at work on a new album, “Chill,” set for summer release.
Meanwhile, “Jungle Love” has once again become a hit, this time thanks to the game “Guitar Hero.”
Douglass considers himself lucky to have had so much success.
“I’m thankful,” he said. “I’m one of the fortunate few who has had a song that’s become part of the classic rock vernacular.”
After more than four decades on the world’s stages, he said he is still thrilled to be a musician.
“I get more pleasure out of it now, I feel more confident in what I’m doing,” he said. “There’s more of a direct conduit between my muse and my fingers.”
Douglass performs at Humphrey’s Backstage Lounge, 2241 Shelter Island Drive, Shelter Island, on Thursday, Feb. 7 at 8 p.m. The show is for ages 21 and up.
For more information, visit www.humphreysbythebay.com.