Article: The Best Saxophone Solos in Pop History (When Saxophone Solos Mattered)*

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by PaulKTF, Feb 2, 2017.

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  1. joepepitone

    joepepitone Forum Resident

    Location:
    USA
    Jethro Tull fans long for the day that Ian Anderson begins playing a sax again.
     
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  2. peopleareleaving

    peopleareleaving Forum Resident

    Location:
    California
    Corcovado (Quiet Nights of Quiet Stars) | Stan Getz (solo #2)
     
  3. Sander

    Sander Senior Member

  4. basie-fan

    basie-fan Forum Resident

    Phil Woods (one of the greatest alto sax players who ever lived) on Billy Joel's "Just The Way You Are".
    Rest in Peace. Phil soloing at 2:58 and 3:57



    No disrespect to Billy Joel but IMHO the sax parts are what make this song enduring. The only letdown is the engineer's fade out on Phil's second solo.
     
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  5. lightbulb

    lightbulb Not the Brightest of the Bunch

    Location:
    Smogville CA USA
    Possibly not a "sax solo" per se, perhaps more a bridge, is Phil Kenzie's memorable sax lines on Al Stewart's "Year Of The Cat".

    This deserves a mention.
     
  6. troggy

    troggy Papa-Oom-Mow-Mow

    Location:
    Benton, Illinois
    My thoughts exactly. Apparently pop history is confined to about a 10 year period. Admittedly, the "solos" were much shorter in the 50's and early 60's but geez....
     
  7. matthew2600

    matthew2600 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Colorado
  8. rjp

    rjp Senior Member

    Location:
    Ohio
    chris potter - steely dan - west of hollywood - from two against nature
     
  9. Steve Hoffman

    Steve Hoffman Your host Your Host

  10. Wesley Magoogan solo at the end of Hazel O'conners Will You. Sadly Wes can no longer play due to an accident with a saw.

     
  11. Holerbot6000

    Holerbot6000 Forum Resident

    Location:
    California
    Bill Nelson's 'Burning Question' featuring his brother Ian on sax.
    Praxis - 'The Hook' - John Zorn on sax.
     
  12. lightbulb

    lightbulb Not the Brightest of the Bunch

    Location:
    Smogville CA USA
    Jr Walker & the All Stars
    "What Does It Take (To Win Your Love)" is a classic pop song, with memorable sax lines.

    On Tamla Motown 1968

    I loved it so much as a kid I saved up $ to buy his greatest hits album.

     
  13. lightbulb

    lightbulb Not the Brightest of the Bunch

    Location:
    Smogville CA USA
    So, what are your favorite sax solos?
     
  14. sixtiesstereo

    sixtiesstereo Senior Member

    Location:
    Wisconsin
    Hands down, Plas Johnson had probably the most classic sax solos in rock and roll, blues,
    jazz and on and on. He was probably on half the hits in the fifties and early sixties (he
    was also a member of the Wrecking Crew). Henry Mancini's go to sax player on most of
    his recordings, and on and on.
    This is one of my favorite sax solos by him (at around the :50 second mark) but there
    are probably several hundred of his solos out there.

    And here's his web page with an "extremely" partial listing (by genre) of recordings
    he appeared on, but there are obviously hundreds more not listed....
    Plas Johnson Biography
     
    Last edited: Feb 2, 2017
  15. Stone Turntable

    Stone Turntable Independent Head

    Location:
    New Mexico USA
    The "Baker Street" sax "solo" is a riff, not a solo. A brilliant riff, but still....

    My vote for a non-jazz, rock-era solo is Sonny Rollins in "Waiting On a Friend" on Tattoo You.
     
  16. troggy

    troggy Papa-Oom-Mow-Mow

    Location:
    Benton, Illinois
    I'd have to think about it but that's not really the point.

    Sax solos, as they were in early rock and roll, were really sax breaks. They were short but often sounded great.

    I think the real point is that the sax and sax breaks were much more integral to 50's and 60's era music than anything going on in the 80's. That's when they really mattered.
     
  17. PrunelliParis

    PrunelliParis Forum Resident

    Location:
    Paris
    Supertramp / some songs :)
     
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  18. Duke Fame

    Duke Fame Sold out the Enormodome

    Location:
    Tampa, FL
    Don't know who did it but, 'Jazzman' by Carole King.
     
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  19. Mrtn77

    Mrtn77 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Paris
    Evan Parker on Scott Walker's "Dealer" (from Climate of Hunter). Not the poppiest tune ever, but nothing comes close (except for the same Evan Parker's playing on Robert Wyatt's Shleep, of course).
    And no wonder : Evan Parker is the single greatest thing that's happened to the instrument free jazz's golden age.
     
    Last edited: Feb 2, 2017
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  20. Aardvark23

    Aardvark23 Forum Resident

    Location:
    North Carolina
    Bobby Keys on 'Brown Sugar'
     
  21. idleracer

    idleracer Forum Resident

    Location:
    California
    :kilroy: This one (at 1:48) is quite tasteful:

     
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  22. dance_hall_keeper

    dance_hall_keeper Forum Resident

    As the keyword is "Solo"...
    My first choice was going to be Traffic's "The Low Spark of High Heeled Boys", but Chris Wood's fine sax is present throughout.
    My second choice was going to be Romeo Void's "A Girl in Trouble (Is a Temporary Thing)", but Benjamin Bossi's fine sax is present throughout.
    I therefore will opt for Lou Reed's "Walk on the Wild Side", with Ronnie Ross putting an exclamation point to a damn-near perfect song.
     
    Last edited: Feb 2, 2017
  23. mw1917

    mw1917 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Albany, NY
    Robert McCollogh's solo on James Brown's "Super Bad."
     
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  24. htom

    htom Senior Member

    Location:
    Montreal, Canada
    Or "Time Passages"...
     
  25. CliffL

    CliffL Forum Resident

    Location:
    Sacramento CA USA
    I know it's jazz, but it crossed over to pop...Paul Desmond on "Take Five".
     
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