Feelin' Horny - The Great Horn Bands of the 60's & 70's

Recently I’ve been enjoying the horn based bands of the late sixties and early seventies. These are not the soulful, funky, background bands of Motown and Muscle Shoals but, the jazz influenced rock bands that began to appear around 1968 and lasted until the mid to late seventies before disco snatched up all the horn players. To me these bands are direct descendents of the big band / vocalist teamings of the 40’s. A sort of “what might have been” if Bill Haley and Elvis hadn’t of had the musical impact they did. What if folk music had stayed in Greenwich Village coffee bars and college campuses? What if guitar combos had just been a passing fad as was so erroneously predicted? What if the Beatles hadn’t made the leap across the pond? What if , by the early sixties young people, had become nostalgic for the sweet sound of the Dorsey Brothers or the still touring Glen Miller Orchestra and those bands had taken on younger more contemporary vocalists? Who knows?

Anyway, I have always liked these bands and especially the morsels of jazz interspersed throughout their records. They were a big reason I started listening to jazz. Although, to be honest, I didn’t really “get it” until I was in my forties. Since I’m enjoying this music so much, I thought I’d start a discussion about these bands and songs in the hopes of interesting those of you who may not be as familiar with some of them and in the hope of maybe finding a few lost gems myself.

Here is a list of the bands currently in heavy rotation at my house:

Blood, Sweat & Tears
Electric Flag
Paul Butterfield Blues Band
Chicago
The Ides of March
Chase
Dreams
Lighthouse
Cold Blood
Sons of Champlin
Ten Wheel Drive
Rare Earth

I may have missed one or two as I'm making this list from memory.
Can you point me to more of the same? What are your favorite bands and recordings in this genre?
Let’s rap…..

 

Tower of Power and with Little Feat on Waiting for Columbus.
Spyro Gyra - Morning Dance

 

Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes

 

You're horny and need good horny music....put on Loverboy's 'Strike Zone' from their third album "Keep It Up"....you'll get your relief. Better yet, just play the whole album.

 

I loved what Butterfield was doing his his horn sections during that era.

 

You should check out the following NYC bands from that era:

Isis

Not to be confused with the later metal band of the same name, this was an all-female band with a three-horn section.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isis_(horn-rock_band)#Discography


Mandrill

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandrill_(band)
http://youtu.be/ayhpzgUrPQM

And, from London:

Osibisa

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osibisa
http://youtu.be/cvdcSQMGoOQ

 

You're missing Pacific Gas & Electric.

 

Someone around here made the joke that every trumpet player in the region had gone through The Swinging Medallions, who still play local gigs in the Greenwood, SC area. They actual predate the horn rock movement, but would best be described as garage rock + horns.

 

Can't forget The Horny Horns and the JBs.

 

War

 

The E Street Band, the Silver Bullet Band, and the Rolling Stones all made regular use of horns (at least a sax) in the 70s.

 

Always love hearing this stuff on the radio.

 

Seems like nearly everything I listened to up to the late 70's or early 80's had a horn section

 

I've always loved Danny Davis & The Nashville Brass a lot.

 

Nice list, but I wouldn't consider Rare Earth a horn band, though they did have a sax/flute player. They don't have that prevalent "horn sound", like BS&T, Chicago, Tower Of Power, etc. That's ok. I think see where you're coming from.

 

Thanks for all the suggestions so far. I did forget Pacific Gas & Electric! I'll add them to my play list. Southside Johnny and Loverboy are a little too '80s for this list but I do like both bands. Osibisa and Mandrill are also good additions. I love these bands. Keep 'em coming.

 

The Buckinghams, hello!

 

I agree they don't truly fit the definition of a "Horn Band" but they fit pretty well into the play list.

 

The Spiral Starecase
Jr. Walker and the All Stars

 

always loved this Mandrill release, plenty of horns. Some really great tunes.

 

Huey Lewis & The News featured The Tower Of Power Horns often.

 

I can agree with that

 

Although only marginally rock, Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass sure sold a lot of records in the 1960s.

The Kinks added horns around Muswell Hillbillies. At least in concert.