Boots Randolph
Boots Randolph was the first to ever play sax on recordings with Elvis, and the only one to ever play solo with him, in addition to recording on the soundtracks for eight of his movies. Boots also played on such diverse recordings as Roy Orbison's "Oh, Pretty Woman", Al Hirt's "Java", REO Speedwagon's "Little Queenie", and Brenda Lee's "Rockin' 'Round The Christmas Tree". In fact, he has a 30-year history of playing on records with her, including "I Want To Be Wanted" and "I'm Sorry". An array of other artists who have added the Yakety Sax touch to their recordings include Chet Atkins, Buddy Holly, Floyd Cramer, Alabama, Johnny Cash, Richie Cole, Pete Fountain, Tommy Newsom, and Doc Severinsen.
His unique style of sax, coupled with tremendous popularity on Music City sessions in the sixties, made Randolph a major player in creating the now-famous "Nashville Sound". Without question, its was Randolph's particular blend of Dixieland jazz....along with some Swingin' honky-tonk...which helped Nashville music makers turn hillbilly records into a hybrid sound that literally transformed Nashville into the Country Music Capitol of the World!
Throughout his career, Randolph had more calls for his "Saxy" sound at studio sessions than he could handle. While most people only associate Randolph with his self-written, multi-million seller, "Yakety Sax", he also had other big hits in the form of Gold Records (a half-million in sales) on "The Shadow of Your Smile" in 1966. Plus, he "hit gold" numerous other times through recordings made with others, including "Honey In The Horn", "Java", and "Cotton" by Al Hirt, not to mention the countless consecutive Gold records by Elvis. In addition, Randolph had smash hit singles on "Hey, Mr. Sax Man" and "Temptation". He also has over 40 albums to his credit on the Monument label. On top of that, Randolph spent 15 years touring with The Master's Festival of Music, which teamed him with fellow instrumentalists Chet Atkins and Floyd Cramer.