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Sax in country & folk music?

thomsax

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I confess: I like the tenor saxophone in country influenced music: King Curtis, Sil Austin, Bill Black's Combo (Martin Willis, Ace Cannon, Robert Gladney) ....... and of course Boots Randolph.

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I just read an article in Saxophone Journal (vol12, #5, Mar/Apr-89) about about Randolph. A great player with a with a different style; ... using a biting staccato sound he'd heard on some old Rudy Wiedoft records as his way of interpreting the fiddle licks he'd heard on hoedowns while growing up in Kentucky" he explained when they talked about the song "Yakety Sax".

Listen to guys like Delbert McClinton, Freddy Fender .... it's music that the tenor saxophone comes out great. The last days I tried to play some Joe Sublett (tenor man, TexaCali Horns, Phanthom Blues Band, Taj Mahal, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Rolling Stones) songs! I think both " Lonely Walls" and "White Trash Dancin' ( In a Gulf Coast Bar) are songs where I can trace some country!?!?

Just me that likes "Country Sax"?
 
Just me that likes "Country Sax"?
Possibly. The band I'm in plays a few Delbert McClinton songs. I usually think of them as blues though, but I see your point about the country influence. I just don't like to admit it. :)

But since you mentioned folk, this lot have been around for 36 years:
 
Not just you. Being raised in a small town at a time ('60s and early '70s) when your choices of getting a gig were either country or rock, I worked with a country band for about ten years. Boots was spot on; I played a lot of fiddle-type licks on sax. On the odd chance that you're not familiar with them, check out Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys for some butt-kickin' Western Swing...
 
Bob Willis and his Texas Playboys:
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I like the mix of fiddles, guitars, banjos, trombone, trumpet, saxes. In the 30's the large dancehalls in Texas and Oklahoma were searching for new style of music. Country fiddles tunes were mixed with Mexican music and a lot of Blues. They also took some ideas from the Big Band on the east coast. Many Texas Honkers were raised with this music. I think Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown was a holder of this music tradition as well:

http://youtu.be/v2Xrxqt3ovE
 
I'm pretty partial to good country music have never really considered taking sax there...always played blues harps on anything vaguely country. There does seen to be a bit of a tradition of making altos or sops sound like fiddles- Jan garbarek ( though he's as much uillian pipes). & I once heard Jody espina of Jody jazz play blues grass fiddle on his alto... very convincingly
 
Not fergetting Bill Evans with Soulgrass etc. and Bela Fleck - lots of country influence in their stuff.
 
One of my favourites is Ace Cannon. Strangely enough when I lived in Brixton he was a big hit among the older Jamaican folk also, lots of shops that stocked all reggae & calypso records plus Ace Cannon.

 
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Oh dear, I've got a bunch of Pete Tex and Boots Randolph but I'm reely, reely very mega asha med to say I don't have any Ace Cannon Albums in my collection.
Well that's just "TUFF" on you spike boy you might say ;-)
Any suggestions Pete?
 
Thanks Pete - just surfed around on iTunes Germany - whole bunch of albums for € 2.99
I'll just get down over there an' go burn my credit card account. ;-)
 
There's dozens of Ace Cannon albums on Emusic!

I counted 58.
Funny I'd never heard of him.
Which ones to chose?
Ace plays the Hank Williams Songbook is out for a start.
 
There's dozens of Ace Cannon albums on Emusic!

I counted 58.
Funny I'd never heard of him.
Which ones to chose?
Ace plays the Hank Williams Songbook is out for a start.
Nowt wrong with a bit of Hank Williams- but the idea of his material being covered on sax is pretty odd...
 
I sit in on a regular basis with a country band, everybody is 75+ and they play all the retirement homes in the area (not since February, though) and I am not a country music fan but it doesn't matter, you get there and the octogenarians want to have one more dance because they never know if there will be another one and that's all that matters. No going over the top, just keep the beat, and make it sound like schmaltz. I always hope nobody records me LOL but the audience makes it worth it.
 
"because they never know if there will be another one and that's all that matters"

Good!! :clapping:
 
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