What is the Best Saxophone Song?

TheStatutoryApe · Jul 3, 2009

My friends and I sometimes play guess that song and I could not believe that they did not even recognize Ray Charles voice.

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Astronuc · Jul 3, 2009

The Verve - Bittersweet Symphony
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zx3m4e45bTo

Interesting story behind this song. The violin instrumental was part of an old 60's tune, an instrumental variation of the Rolling Stone's "The Last Time" done by the Andrew Oldham Orchestra in 1966. The Verve had problems with the song.

Allmusic.com said:

Even at their peak, however, the curse of the band's past lingered on, as legal hassles awarded 100 percent of the song's publishing rights to ABKCO Music, which controlled the Stones' back catalog.

The Andrew Oldham Orchestra - The Last Time

George Jones · Jul 4, 2009

Great live performance. Got into a groove and soared off into the stratosphere.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dHq4laFwAEM

Borek · Jul 4, 2009

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZ87TSn7RLg

Unfortunately, I can't find "Call me a train" which I like best.

rootX · Jul 24, 2009

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QXzg2y6qmAM

Lyrics and the mood are bad but her voice / the music is so beautiful.

TheStatutoryApe · Jul 24, 2009

Borek said:

Unfortunately, I can't find "Call me a train" which I like best.

That's really cool Borek.
Have you ever seen/heard a japanese drum team?
I got to hear one from a local japanese school at my step grandparents anniversary several years ago. They were really amazing.

Here's a good looking video I found...
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chhitiz · Jul 25, 2009

drudkh is a fairly new band, but please listen to this:

don't look at the video though
also this:
i like it coz i am such a big metallica fan
is pretty good
agalloch:

forrest stream:
http://www.last.fm/music/Forest+Stream/_/Autumn+Elegy i couldn't find a proper link to it
swallow the sun:

these are new bands and i don't think many have listened to them but they're awesome

maverick_starstrider · Jul 25, 2009

George Jones said:

Great live performance. Got into a groove and soared off into the stratosphere.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dHq4laFwAEM

Woah, the lead singer of that band looks like new crazy rapper Joaquin Phoenix.

maverick_starstrider · Jul 25, 2009

B. Elliott · Jul 25, 2009

Ten years after - I'd love to change to world
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jzrUqAtUcpU

Stealers Wheel - Stuck In The Middle With You
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gy6cqFIljQo

Portishead - Glory Box
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qnUFhrmk3Os

B. Elliott · Jul 25, 2009

B52s - Rock lobster
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Ard8V_EV6o&feature=PlayList&p=2695784921033803&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=45

GeorginaS · Jul 25, 2009

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zU97n-HuAJA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_NpxTWbovE

fuzzyfelt · Jul 25, 2009

Astronuc said:

The Verve - Bittersweet Symphony
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zx3m4e45bTo

Interesting story behind this song. The violin instrumental was part of an old 60's tune, an instrumental variation of the Rolling Stone's "The Last Time" done by the Andrew Oldham Orchestra in 1966. The Verve had problems with the song.

The Andrew Oldham Orchestra - The Last Time

As much as I like Bittersweet Symphony and sympathise, I think The Last Time has a lot that Bittersweet Symphony lacks. It was great to listen to them one after the other, thanks for that!

Kronos5253 · Jul 25, 2009

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/GUn4jXZko5E&hl=en&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/GUn4jXZko5E&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>

Symphony X - Set the World on Fire - Metal, sounds like Dream Theater. The guitarist is amazing!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/TQJ1k2HMoRU&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/TQJ1k2HMoRU&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>

Classical Gas as played by Tommy Emmanuel.. I someday wish to be that good at guitar lol Original song is by Mason Williams, which is an excellent version as well, but I like Tommy's better.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/td-v6vG2Xhs&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/td-v6vG2Xhs&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>

And of course, like a true devoted metal-head (for the most part anyway lol), Pantera - Floods.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/tWLw7nozO_U&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/tWLw7nozO_U&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>

Stevie Ray Vaughan - Texas Flood

So many others... But I'll end it there.. lol

Astronuc · Jul 25, 2009

fuzzyfelt said:

As much as I like Bittersweet Symphony and sympathise, I think The Last Time has a lot that Bittersweet Symphony lacks. It was great to listen to them one after the other, thanks for that!

They are really two different songs. IMO, the Verve did a very different song and used a very small part of the Andrew Oldham Orchestra. Oldham version of The Last Time was dormant for 30 years. The company who owned the rights to the Rolling Stones Tunes should not have gotten 100% royalties, and IMO The Verve should have fought it.

The point of copyright is to protect the author/creator, and to ensure that the author/creator gets reasonable compensation for his or her creativity. However, in modern times, the laws have changed to protect the 'owner' rather than the creator, and that leads to a loss of innovation. Owners do not create - they simply make money - for themselves.

fuzzyfelt · Jul 25, 2009

Astronuc said:

They are really two different songs. IMO, the Verve did a very different song and used a very small part of the Andrew Oldham Orchestra. Oldham version of The Last Time was dormant for 30 years. The company who owned the rights to the Rolling Stones Tunes should not have gotten 100% royalties, and IMO The Verve should have fought it.

The point of copyright is to protect the author/creator, and to ensure that the author/creator gets reasonable compensation for his or her creativity. However, in modern times, the laws have changed to protect the 'owner' rather than the creator, and that leads to a loss of innovation. Owners do not create - they simply make money - for themselves.

I agree and had expressed myself badly- putting thoughts that didn’t follow into the same sentence. They are two different songs, and unrelated to the case, I just feel the Verve’s song misses the discords of the bells, for example. I’d like to hear a greater combination of the songs.

turbo · Jul 25, 2009

Astronuc said:

The point of copyright is to protect the author, and to ensure that the author gets reasonable compensation for his or her creativity. However, in modern times, the laws have changed to protect the 'owner' rather than the creator, and that leads to a loss of innovation. Owners do not create - they simply make money - for themselves.

That factor really ticked me off when Michael Jackson and others bought the rights to the Beatles' songs and traded them like investments. It's pretty standard these days, and it's sad. As a musician, I know how much personal effort and sacrifice (as well as joy) can go into composing music, and it ticks me off when I see corporations and millionaires making fortunes off the creative talents of others.

In one particular band line-up, we relied on lots of guitar-work similar to the Allman brothers or Molly Hatchet and the other lead player was using a humbucker-equipped Gibson and a tube amp, just as I was. Our rhythm guitarist was using a cleaner guitar through a SS amp (think Doobie Brothers) so we could pick him out of the mix pretty well. The complications came when we played back the reel-to-reels of our rehearsals and Dave and I couldn't figure out which one of us played which leads. It's like we were bluesy-rock twins and were so in-tune and synched that 2 guitars could sound like one. During the play-back of rehearsal tapes either he or I would often say "wow! I can't believe you pulled that off", and the other would say "no, that was you there".

Somehow I don't see the CEO of SONY, MJ, or others who control corporate copyright holdings in that position. They are just pushing the bucks around, and the artists get pennies. It was much worse decades ago, when musicians (especially poor black blues players) would get paid a flat sum to play in a recording studio and the studio would rake in big bucks on the hits. Bonnie Raitt has been on a campaign for about 20 years or so to try to get these musicians (performers and composers) some money. Ain't happening.

Ivan Seeking · Jul 25, 2009

I don't understand. Didn't the creators of the music get paid already? If they sell their rights to the music, I don't see what is unfair about it. It would seem that they just made a bad business decision and went for the short buck.

Also, not to be underestimated is the risk associated with promoting music. THAT risk is [historically] taken by the record companies. It is a bit like the inventor who thinks inventing is how money is made. Wrong! Sales is where money is made. And making sales means taking risks.

arildno · Jul 25, 2009

I don't know if I've posted this before, but Diana Damrau's performance as The Queen of the Night is just magical:

B. Elliott · Jul 25, 2009

Martin Sexton - Diner (Scrubs)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_66FSnIUc3Q

OmCheeto · Jul 25, 2009

arildno said:

I don't know if I've posted this before, but Diana Damrau's performance as The Queen of the Night is just magical:

Wow.

One would not think such a voice could be humanly possible.

More opera please.

GeorginaS · Jul 25, 2009

arildno said:

I don't know if I've posted this before, but Diana Damrau's performance as The Queen of the Night is just magical:

Fantastic.

Kronos5253 said:

Classical Gas as played by Tommy Emmanuel.. I someday wish to be that good at guitar lol Original song is by Mason Williams, which is an excellent version as well, but I like Tommy's better.

Classical Gas is one of the greats, isn't it? That's an outstanding rendition of it. Thanks.

Astronuc · Jul 25, 2009

Ivan Seeking said:

I don't understand. Didn't the creators of the music get paid already? If they sell their rights to the music, I don't see what is unfair about it. It would seem that they just made a bad business decision and went for the short buck.

Also, not to be underestimated is the risk associated with promoting music. THAT risk is [historically] taken by the record companies. It is a bit like the inventor who thinks inventing is how money is made. Wrong! Sales is where money is made. And making sales means taking risks.

True - sales are where the money is made. But in this case, the Andrew Oldham version just sat dormant. There was no effort on the part of ABKCO to re-release the Oldam version.

AllMusic.com said:

The Verve sampled a bit for "Bittersweet," and all hell broke loose when the song was being issued as a single shortly after the release of Hymns. The copyright holders of the Stones' '60s catalog, ABKCO, informed the Verve that they were not going to give the band clearance for the sample they used. The Verve's manager even contacted Mick Jagger and Keith Richards personally to see if they'd help out, but both refused to get involved in a dispute with ABKCO (run by their former manager, Allen Klein). Eventually, ABKCO agreed to let the Verve use the sample, but at a very steep price — they'd have to surrender 100 percent of the royalties to the Stones' copywriters. Without much choice in the matter, the band agreed and the single was finally released, helping propel the album to the top of the charts worldwide.

The Verve took a bar from the Oldham version, which really was a reinterpretation of the Stone "The Last Time". The violins in Bittersweet Symphony took that piece and repeated it throughout the song, and Bittersweet Symphony is a completely different tune.

Ashcroft wrote new lyrics, but added Jagger's and Richards's names out of courtesy.

This is one of those classic - 'money for nothin' situations.

arildno · Jul 25, 2009

OmCheeto said:

Wow.

One would not think such a voice could be humanly possible.

More opera please.

Okay, then:

This is an oldie, Kirsten Flagstad doing Dido's Lament from Purcell's "Dido and Aeneas".

Aeneas, escaping wounded from the burning of Troy, is healed back to life by the powers and love showered upon him by Dido, Queen of Carthage.

The manly bastard that he is, he takes advantage over her, and then abandons her and goes off to found Rome.

In her despair and unending grief, Dido throws herself on the pyre, after performing this gem:

Take note of the exquisite text as well.

TheStatutoryApe · Jul 25, 2009

Ivan Seeking said:

I don't understand. Didn't the creators of the music get paid already? If they sell their rights to the music, I don't see what is unfair about it. It would seem that they just made a bad business decision and went for the short buck.

Also, not to be underestimated is the risk associated with promoting music. THAT risk is [historically] taken by the record companies. It is a bit like the inventor who thinks inventing is how money is made. Wrong! Sales is where money is made. And making sales means taking risks.

I suppose it depends on your perspective but the creation is really the hard work.
Until recently the recording companies held the industry hostage. They made it incedibly difficult for anyone to become successful without them and so were capable of demanding more or less what ever they wanted from musicians similar to the publishing companies before them. The 90's were possibly the height of this problem where music became intensely commercialized and band after band were signed, squeezed for what they were worth as quickly as possible, then kicked to the curb. Because of this we saw an incredibly large surge in independant labels during the ninties. Musicians were just sick and tired of dealing with major labels and enough of them were pissed enough about getting screwed that they decided to try taking the industry back. Now with cheaper equipment, quality computers and software for personal recording, and the internet its a lot easier for musicians to get along on their own though they can not really expect to make anything like the money the major labels make.

What happened during the ninties was the recruiters and record companies would ride the fads. They would go out and find new talent, sign them up without them paying much attention to the contract by waving big money in their faces, then they would have them on the hook. The bands had to play the music that the recording companies wanted them to play or they were in breach of contract. They had to record the number of songs that they wanted them to or they were in breach of contract (because of CDs most albums had a minimum of about 12 songs and some up to about 20). And the biggest problem was the tour. They were under contract to do a certain number of concerts. The bands typically needed to purchase new instruments. They would also have to find themselves transportation from one concert to the next, lodging in each location, and even their own roadies to help with moving and setting up equipment. By the end of the tour they were usually broke from the expense, and that's after they got paid. That's what happened to most of the bands in the ninties. They typically weren't even around a year later.

B. Elliott · Jul 30, 2009

Not sure if I would call it a 'best song ever', but it's a newer one I'm pretty fond of...

My Morning Jacket - "Touch Me I'm Going To Scream Part II"

rootX · Aug 6, 2009

My! My! Time Flies!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wkgwTghzWmI

I couldn't quite understood the song meaning but regardless I liked it.

yhnsun · Aug 6, 2009

Good song choice, Enya songs are always very soothing and I like her voice. This one, I've never heard before but it still sounds just as great.

rootX · Aug 6, 2009

yhnsun said:

Good song choice, Enya songs are always very soothing and I like her voice. This one, I've never heard before but it still sounds just as great.

This one is from her album And winter came ...:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/And_Winter_Came..."

I particularly liked the lyrics.

My! My! Time flies! One step and we're on the moon, next step into the stars
My! My! Time flies! Maybe we could be there soon, a one way ticket to mars

My! My! Time flies! A man underneath a tree, an apple falls on his head
My my time flies a man wrote a symphony, it's 1812

My! My! Time flies! Four guys across abbey road, one forgot to wear shoes
My! My! Time flies! A rap on a rhapsody, a king who's still in the news, a king to sing you the blues

My! My! Time flies! A man in a winter sleigh, white white white as the snow
My! My! Time flies! A new day is on its way, so let's let yesterday go
Could be we step out again
Could be tomorrow but then,
Could be 2010

Loren Booda · Aug 9, 2009

White Bird by It's a Beautiful Day - I often feel like dying as I play it.

Love Child by Diana Ross and the Supremes - when I join in, I feel like I know the sacrifice of poverty.

Echoes by Pink Floyd - much of this song have beautiful poetry and swooning electric instrumentals.

Black by Pearl Jam - tie me to the mast.

Far from the Home I Love from Fiddler on the Roof - when the daughter follows her husband to Siberia.

Heroes by David Bowie - lovers are heroes.

Close to You by The Carpenters - remember Homer & Marge?

The Guitar Man by Bread - a blue guitarist fades into eternity.

Showdown by ELO - a haunting orchestral from my stoner days.

Our Lips are Sealed by the Go Go's - a exceptional eighties girl's perspective.

Born to Run by Bruce Springsteen - I dreamt a friend played the lead guitar on the stereo while I slept to this.

Limelight by Rush - one of the songs that got me though undergrad purgatory.

Wild Night by Van Morrison - "the wind catches your feet and sends you flying."

More to come?

thomasxc · Aug 10, 2009

morrissey-irish blood ,english heart.
eclectic, but catchy.at least for me.

rootX · Aug 12, 2009

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJ58dTCNw3I

Astronuc · Sep 8, 2009

Loren Booda said:

White Bird by It's a Beautiful Day - I often feel like dying as I play it.

Geez - I haven't heard that in about 3+ decades. I remember when that one came out originally - in 1968. That was one of the most mellow tunes back then. Those were the days.

I don't think this one has been mentioned.

Roger Daltrey - Say It Ain't So Joe HQ

Entwistle on bass and Moon on drums. Townsend is absent.

Quincy · Sep 9, 2009

In Bloom - Nirvana

Sorry! · Sep 9, 2009

Quincy said:

In Bloom - Nirvana

Any nirvana song or rhcp would make it for me :D

Here's a great song that I listen to a lot lately, most of you probably don't listen to this type of music but HEYYYYY what cha gon' do.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hb0KowdtK6Y

What is the Best Saxophone Song?

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