Don't seem to hear it enough.

I thought about starting a thread on ‘the best saxophone solos of rock music.â€

I must agree with LAD. I more often hate solo saxophones in rock (yeah, horn sections are a different animal... one which I really like). Roxy Music came close but if given my druthers, I would have it all surgically removed from their catalog.

james chance anyone? not crap.

First and foremost, there's 'Funhouse,' which would be much less wilder and scarier without Stephen Mackey's wigged out sax honking along throughout.

Also, The Pop Group and De'bris made fine use of saxophone in avant garde rock music.

Not to mention Sun Ra, whose sensibility is easily as "rock" as it is "jazz."

And what about "Rocket 88," which many consider to be the first rock & roll song? There's pretty great sax on it and on most Little Richard songs, which rock as hard as about anything ever recorded. I think the problem is probably that most people associate sax with old school rock & roll--if not the 1950's, then revivalists like CCR and Springsteen and Seger and (ulp) Meatloaf.

Wasn't there clarinet on a Birthday Party song? Or am I just assuming "Mr. Clarinet" has a clarinet on it?

Brett Eugene Ralph wrote:First and foremost, there's 'Funhouse,' which would be much less wilder and scarier without Stephen Mackey's wigged out sax honking along throughout.

Also, The Pop Group and De'bris made fine use of saxophone in avant garde rock music.

Not to mention Sun Ra, whose sensibility is easily as "rock" as it is "jazz."

And what about "Rocket 88," which many consider to be the first rock & roll song? There's pretty great sax on it and on most Little Richard songs, which rock as hard as about anything ever recorded. I think the problem is probably that most people associate sax with old school rock & roll--if not the 1950's, then revivalists like CCR and Springsteen and Seger and (ulp) Meatloaf.

Wasn't there clarinet on a Birthday Party song? Or am I just assuming "Mr. Clarinet" has a clarinet on it?

I am not counting Sun Ra as he is neither jazz nor rock (but closer to jazz I would call). And yeah, there is a difference in my mind when you mention 'rock' and when you mention 'rock n roll'. Hank Ballard and Big Joe Turner are allowed as much solo sax as they wish.

Ah, but 'Funhouse'! A good exception! I like the sax in 'Walk on the Wild Side'. There are some exceptions but mostly solo sax in rock ain't pretty.

Right Huey Lewis? Help me out, Quarter Flash.

Henry Cow made good use of reeds. I think that's about it.

"Funhouse" maybe notwithstanding, there is no good rock sax. There are some songs that are good despite rock sax (tons of them in the 50s), but the part of those songs that incorporate rock sax are the bad parts of those songs.

I said "No Crap" because of things like James Chance and Funhouse, as well as others like Bowie and that one good Radiohead song on "Kid A", but I gots two 'uns to remind me why the waffle factor is so big for this:

The sax solo in Gerry Rafferty's "Baker Street"
Clarence Clemons

joshsolberg wrote:I gots two 'uns to remind me why the waffle factor is so big for this: The sax solo in Gerry Rafferty's "Baker Street"

You aren't suggesting that "Baker Street" is "rock" music, are you?

Brett Eugene Ralph wrote:You aren't suggesting that "Baker Street" is "rock" music, are you?

You have an excellent point there.