Honky Tonk is much more than a rowdy country bar
If you know me, or have been reading my blog for a while, then you know I’m a blues/R&B/rock player. It’s been quite a while since I’ve written anything about the these genres, so I think it’s time today that I changed that. Specifically, I’d like to pay homage to one of the earliest, and greatest blues saxophone solos ever recorded in the history of Top 40 music.
Source: NEW BIG POTATO SHOP on eBay.com
“Honky Tonk” featured the tenor work of Clifford Scott. It became such a breakthrough R&B instrumental hit, that the “Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland honors [it]…as one of the top 500 songs that shaped Rock n’ Roll.”1
Here now is the original King recording of “Honky Tonk”, featuring the guitar work of Billy Butler, and the saxophone playing of Clifford Scott…
“Honky Tonk” was released in 1956, when Scott was working for legendary Hammond player Bill Doggett. According to John Broven’s CD sleeve notes:
“Honky Tonk” was conceived by Clifford Scott and Billy Butler (who played guitar in Doggett’s combo) in an informal hotel room jam session before a dance in Lima, Ohio. That night, on stage and without rehearsal, Butler told Bill Doggett and drummer Shep Shepherd to “just play a shuffle” and when they got through the people started to applaud. They wouldn’t get off the dance floor, they just continued to stand there and applaud “more, more, more..” So they did it again, played some other tunes and had an intermission, and when they came back the audience started yelling “We wanna hear that tune!” And they didn’t even have a name for it. When the band got back to New York, they set up a recording session with a studio down on 31st Street. The engineer turned the machine on, he goes out to take a smoke – he wasn’t regulating the controls, he wasn’t doing anything – and Doggett’s band went on and just played. When they started to stop, he said “Keep it up!”, which they did and that’s how it became a two-sided record. “Honky Tonk”, parts 1 & 2, went to # 2 on the pop charts and # 1 on the R&B charts in 1956. Writing credit goes to B. Doggett, S. Shepherd, C. Scott and B. Butler.2
The other thing that I’d like to mention, is that “Honky Tonk” was the inspiration for rock ‘n roll saxophonist/author/teacher John Laughter. It was hearing Clifford Scott’s solo tenor work in that R&B tune, that got John interested in playing sax.
A few weeks ago John sent me the updated list of Top 40 saxophone solos, and gave me permission to post them on my site. It actually slipped my mind, but using the full CD version of THE HISTORY OF TOP 40 SAXOPHONE SOLOS: 1955-2005 that I have, reminded of the updated list.
This week will be pop music week here on the Bassic Sax Blog, as I catch up on some things I’ve been meaning to do for some time. Until then, let’s fondly remember an age when music was a bit simpler, and the saxophone was at the height of its popularity…
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1 Source: THE HISTORY OF TOP 40 SAXOPHONE SOLOS: 1955-2005, By John Laughter & Steve D. Marshall, p. 30
2 Source: THE HISTORY OF TOP 40 SAXOPHONE SOLOS: 1955-2005, By John Laughter & Steve D. Marshall, pp. 29-30
One of the reasons I didn’t like the Beatles was the passing of the saxophone in rock and roll music.
I just remembered The other sax player in Allen Freed’s band was Sam (the man ) Taylor
BTW, the video’s aren’t playing Maybe it’s a copy write thing
When I was a kid, way back in the late 50s early 60s I went to the Allen Freed R&R shows. I heard Big Al Sears, Red Prysick ( Hand Clappin’ ) and one other sax player, can’t remember his off hand. I love R&R and R&B sax.
8) Where can I get a copy of Big Al Sears outstanding recording of Honky Tonk? The website “http://tamingthesaxophone.com/blues-saxophone” has an excellent sample of this recording.
Hi Jim. Welcome to my site.
Actually, it wasn’t Al Sears who played Honky Tonk, it was Cliff Scott. The samples are below the artist’s names. Big Al played Huffin’ and Pufffin’. 😉
That said, here is a link to a YouTube version to the 45 (parts 1&2): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MAn4eyQpwSI
Not sure where you can get an record—if that’s what you’re looking for—but I’m guessing eBay. You’d have to search for Bill Doggett though, since he was the artist who recorded the song. Al Sears was just a sideman on the recording. (See my article above.)
In the meantime, if you’d like to save the YouTube recording onto your computer, check out this link.