#2 RETURN TO SENDER-ELVIS PRESLEY - BOOTS RANDOLPH - BARITONE
All of my research over the years indicates that Boots played the bari on this one. I also recall an email from his web site years ago that stated that it was him. His web site also supports it;
http://www.bootsrandolph.com/
However, I found this interesting site which gives Bobby Keys the credit, however it has since been removed;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobby_Keys
In Bobby Keys' book titled "Every Night's A Saturday Night", copyright 2012, Keys states on page 38 that he went to the L.A. studio with his old baritone sax and recorded the sax line on "Return To Sender". He indicates that Elvis Presley was in the studio.
This "claim" is also stated on many other websites by using the name of the song and his name.
The following statement appears on Rolling Stones Sax Master Bobby Keys Remembered:
"Keys has claimed he played on Dion's hit "The Wanderer" (1961). But Keys' part may have been re-done on the Dion record by tenor player Buddy Lucas".
It was, in fact, Buddy Lucas who played the solo on that recording.
"Another saxophonist, Bobby Keys, claimed he performed the solo at the instigation of pianist Glen D. Hardin, in his 2012 memoir Every Night's A Saturday Night. However, Hardin did not meet Presley until February 1970, when he joined his touring band. In addition, his claim is not supported by RCA, Ernst Jorgensen (the official archivist for Presley's recordings), or session logs".
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Return_to_Sender_(song)
"JOHN, AS YOU MAY OR MAY NOT KNOW, STEVE DOUGLAS AND JAY MIGLIORI WERE THE SAX BASE FOR PHIL SPECTOR AND THE WALL OF SOUND. I HIRED MANY GREAT SAX PLAYERS, AND YOU HAVE COVERED THEM ALL.
I DON'T RECALL THE NAME BOBBY KEYS (PERHAPS HE WAS FROM A DIFFERENT LOCAL, AS WAS BOOTS, WHO CAME OUT FOR MANY OF THE ELVIS SESSIONS). I DON'T SEE MR. KEYS ON MY PERSONAL CONTRACTORS LIST OR THE LOCAL 47 DIRECTORY. I DID HIRE STEVE DOUGLAS FOR THE SIDELINE OF "RETURN TO SENDER" (YOU'LL SEE US ON CAMERA WITH ELVIS). MR. KAHGAN ASKED ME TO CONTRACT THE SIDELINE MEN FOR THE FILM). I CAN'T REMEMBER IF STEVE DID THE BASIC TRACK WITH US.
THE CONTRACTOR IN THIS CASE WAS PARAMOUNT PICTURES HOUSE CONTRACTOR. THE GENTLEMAN, WHO HAS SINCE PASSED AWAY, WAS ONE OF THE GREAT CONTRACTORS IN L.A. HE DID ALL OF THE HIRING FOR FILMS IN L.A. FOR PARAMOUNT. HE WAS THE MAN THAT OWNED ALL OF THE PROPERTY THAT PARAMOUNT PICTURES SITS ON TODAY. PART OF THE SALE WAS THAT HE WOULD BE THEIR MUSICAL CONTRACTOR FOR A MINIMUM OF 50 YEARS. HE MADE IT TO ALMOST 60 YEARS. HIS NAME WAS PHIL KAHGAN.
I HAVE NO IDEA WHO MIGHT HAVE ALL OF THOSE PARAMOUNT CONTRACTS TODAY OR IF THEY EVEN STILL EXIST. I WISH THAT I COULD HELP YOU ON YOUR GIGANTIC WORKS. IT ALL LOOKS GREAT. I CAN ONLY WISH YOU THE VERY BEST IN YOUR ENDEAVOR. LOOKING AT ALL THAT STUFF WAS A GREAT TRIP DOWN MEMORY LANE FOR ME AND I'M SURE THAT IT WILL ALSO BE FOR MANY FOLKS."
,,,, HAL BLAINE
7/9/2009
According to Ernst Jorgnsen; "Bobby Keys DID NOT play the sax on the "Return to Sender" track. Boots Randolph was flown to Los Angeles with Scotty Moore and D. J. Fontana a few days before recording began and rehearsed the songs that had been chosen for the movie. Elvis arrived a few days later and would record them with Boots, Scotty, D. J., and some session musicians from Radio Recorders".
