Post by Rob Durkee on Jul 5, 2007 18:52:28 GMT -5
Boots Randolph, the legendary saxophone player on the Brenda Lee Christmas classic, "Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree," died on Tuesday, July 3, 2007, at Skyline Medical Center in Nashville. He had turned 80 a month earlier. Betty Hofer, a publicist for the family, said Randolph had been hospitalized in a coma since suffering a cerebral hemorrhage on June 25. He had been taken off a respirator earlier on July 3.
Boots Randolph had only one top 40 pop hit, the #33 peaking "Yakety Sax" in 1963, patterning it after the saxophone solo done by King Curtis on the Coasters' 1958 #1 hit, "Yakety Yak." Meanwhile, "Yakety Sax" became the theme song for "The Benny Hill Show." "It rejuvenated the song," recalled Randolph In a 1990 interview. "So many people know it from the show."
Randolph had played regularly on the Nashville nightclub scene for over 30 years, recorded over 40 instrumental albums and spent 15 years touring with the Festival Of Music with two other Nashville instrumental legends, Chet Atkins and Floyd Cramer. Plus, he was a member of the Million Dollar Band on the "Hee Haw" TV show.
Ironically, "Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree" almost wasn't recorded. Johnny Marks, who also wrote the holiday classics "Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer" and "Holly Jolly Christmas," had to convince a record executive who was initially against the song being recorded. The exec's first response to seeing the sheet music of the song was something like, "WHAT? 'ROCKIN' around the Christmas Tree'? Why, that's sacrilegious!"
Marks persisted, though, and asked the record executive to listen carefully to the song and pay attention to the lyrics. The exec did just that... and he liked how Marks included the lyrics "the new old-fashioned way" in the song. The record executive concluded that with those lyrics, you could interpret the song as fox-trotting or cha-cha-ing around the Christmas tree. Thus, you could celebrate Christmas dancing around the Christmas tree almost any way...and that there wasn't anything offensive about the song.
Boots Randolph became a mainstay as a session saxophone player, particularly on hits in the early to mid-1960's. According to the book, "Elvis, His Life From A to Z" by Fred L. Worth and Steve D. Tamerius, Boots participated in 21 Elvis Presley recording sessions from 1960 to 1968. Plus, he was the only instrumentalist known to have recorded with Elvis Presley and Buddy Holly.
A list of all the songs Boots Randolph was part of...would be huge. Suffice to say that he was in on Elvis hits like "Return To Sender," "Surrender" and "I Feel So Bad." Other Brenda Lee hits he played his saxophone on included, "That's All You Gotta Do," "I'm Sorry," "I Want To Be Wanted" and "Dum Dum." Among the other hits Boots was a part of include "Oh Pretty Woman" (Roy Orbison), "Java" (Al Hirt) and "Turn On Your Love Light" (Jerry Lee Lewis). Some of the other performers he worked with include Johnny Cash, Pete Fountain, Doc Severinsen, Alabama and REO Speedwagon.
Homer Lewis Randolph was born on June 3, 1927 in Paducah, Ky. and grew up in Cadiz, Ky. He wasn't sure how he got his "Boots" nickname but a web site speculated that it came about so as not to confuse him with his father, who was instrumental in his playing the saxophone. Boots began playing the ukelele and then the trombone. But when his dad surprisingly brought him a saxophone home one day, that would change music history forever.
"Every time I pick the horn up," he said in an interview, "it's more intriguing to me. It satisfies my desire to do whatever I do."
After graduating from high school in Evansville, Ind., and an Army stint, he performed at nightclubs, mostly playing jazz, before being hired as a session saxophonist for RCA Records in Nashville in 1958. He had lived in Nashville since 1961.
Survivors include his wife, a son, a daughter and four grandchildren.
Boots Randolph had only one top 40 pop hit, the #33 peaking "Yakety Sax" in 1963, patterning it after the saxophone solo done by King Curtis on the Coasters' 1958 #1 hit, "Yakety Yak." Meanwhile, "Yakety Sax" became the theme song for "The Benny Hill Show." "It rejuvenated the song," recalled Randolph In a 1990 interview. "So many people know it from the show."
Randolph had played regularly on the Nashville nightclub scene for over 30 years, recorded over 40 instrumental albums and spent 15 years touring with the Festival Of Music with two other Nashville instrumental legends, Chet Atkins and Floyd Cramer. Plus, he was a member of the Million Dollar Band on the "Hee Haw" TV show.
Ironically, "Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree" almost wasn't recorded. Johnny Marks, who also wrote the holiday classics "Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer" and "Holly Jolly Christmas," had to convince a record executive who was initially against the song being recorded. The exec's first response to seeing the sheet music of the song was something like, "WHAT? 'ROCKIN' around the Christmas Tree'? Why, that's sacrilegious!"
Marks persisted, though, and asked the record executive to listen carefully to the song and pay attention to the lyrics. The exec did just that... and he liked how Marks included the lyrics "the new old-fashioned way" in the song. The record executive concluded that with those lyrics, you could interpret the song as fox-trotting or cha-cha-ing around the Christmas tree. Thus, you could celebrate Christmas dancing around the Christmas tree almost any way...and that there wasn't anything offensive about the song.
Boots Randolph became a mainstay as a session saxophone player, particularly on hits in the early to mid-1960's. According to the book, "Elvis, His Life From A to Z" by Fred L. Worth and Steve D. Tamerius, Boots participated in 21 Elvis Presley recording sessions from 1960 to 1968. Plus, he was the only instrumentalist known to have recorded with Elvis Presley and Buddy Holly.
A list of all the songs Boots Randolph was part of...would be huge. Suffice to say that he was in on Elvis hits like "Return To Sender," "Surrender" and "I Feel So Bad." Other Brenda Lee hits he played his saxophone on included, "That's All You Gotta Do," "I'm Sorry," "I Want To Be Wanted" and "Dum Dum." Among the other hits Boots was a part of include "Oh Pretty Woman" (Roy Orbison), "Java" (Al Hirt) and "Turn On Your Love Light" (Jerry Lee Lewis). Some of the other performers he worked with include Johnny Cash, Pete Fountain, Doc Severinsen, Alabama and REO Speedwagon.
Homer Lewis Randolph was born on June 3, 1927 in Paducah, Ky. and grew up in Cadiz, Ky. He wasn't sure how he got his "Boots" nickname but a web site speculated that it came about so as not to confuse him with his father, who was instrumental in his playing the saxophone. Boots began playing the ukelele and then the trombone. But when his dad surprisingly brought him a saxophone home one day, that would change music history forever.
"Every time I pick the horn up," he said in an interview, "it's more intriguing to me. It satisfies my desire to do whatever I do."
After graduating from high school in Evansville, Ind., and an Army stint, he performed at nightclubs, mostly playing jazz, before being hired as a session saxophonist for RCA Records in Nashville in 1958. He had lived in Nashville since 1961.
Survivors include his wife, a son, a daughter and four grandchildren.