Well, when I saw the thread starter title I immediately thought of Van Morrison.
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Prepare your ears for the world's worst saxophone solo

There’s nothing wrong with minimalist solos. Though some of the most celebrated players, regardless of genre, are acclaimed for exhibiting incredible technical skill during solos, this is not the only approach. A good solo can sound meandering or amateurish and end up capturing the heart of a...

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The bari solo on Bowie's Modern Love just basically reprises the principle melody, then adds some monotonous tonic triplets, broken with a single perfect fourth. And yet it sounds great, really growls, and has become kind of iconic. Maybe it's precisely what the song (already an ironic paeon to soulless lifestyles of the '80s) called for?

 

spandau ballet song true.

 

Second this! Dude sounds like a dying swan......

 

Laying down a really good solo, particularly as a 'hit-man' who has never heard the song before, is a rare talent. Plas Johnson and Pete Christlieb come to mind but of course there are many others who seemingly did an iconic solo almost subconsciously and were never heard of again. Some 'solos' are actually written, like the baritone solo in Leslie Gore's 'Maybe I know' which just consists of the melody line that is rather unenthusiastically played by the session bari.
I'm another Van Morrison critic although some say the solo (Moondance) was actually played by some other hack - the most abrasive sound I have ever heard come out of an alto sax and a totally noodling solo.

 

believe me you wouldn't want to hear van morrison fumbling tru moon dance on alto. few could make the alto sound sweet on the brillhart level air which was all that was aval for live rock playing back then. sanborn of course is the exception. even edgar winter sounds harsh on one.

 

There's an old Traffic or maybe Steve Winwood recording that makes me wince every time I hear it. Poorly played and horribly out of tune, but damned if I can remember the name of it...

I have noticed a lot of sax solos over the years seem to have been played by someone who's first instrument is not sax. Or perhaps somebody's cousin or girlfriend...

 

Well not every sax solo has to be like Coltrane's Giant Steps. In fact as far as pop/rock music is concerned the simpler the better. But it still requires playing in tune, having a good tone and playing on or near the beat. Having and understanding of harmony is a plus but not the end all. Again, for this genre of music the solo can be written out and be fine. As far as Van Morrison and Edgar Winter are concerned, they are not sax players, and it's a basic indulgence on their part to record themselves on sax. Miles Davis took it as an affront when Ornette Coleman started playing trumpet, he thought he sucked and that he should have known as a sax player what process it took to become proficient musician on any instrument.

And on a last note, the majority of people that listen to pop/rock music wouldn't know the difference between a good or bad sax solo, because for them it's only the guitar solo that counts.

 

Which solo wins the award? Moondance or alto on Days like This

 

edgar winter was indeed a very good sax player

 

His alto work on his solo album "Entrance " was very good.

 

The band and album is killing, but the sax is just...uninspired and imo the worst part of this album.

 

And you...you can't really use ska because there will be too many examples... (I was in a ska band for 7 years and there are some truly horrendous (and funny) solos). Not their fault since so many of First Wave just picked up whatever they could find!

 

Ghost in the Machine is one of my favorite albums of all time. Even with Sting on alto playing some rather grating riffs throughout, it works rather well. But on Re-Humanize Yourself... he's just blowing freakin' noise:

 

This goes back a ways, Rosie and The Originals, Angel Baby, sax solo at 1:40. I've heard that the real sax player couldn't make it and somebody's cousin or nephew or something was recruited on short notice. Considering the high quality of so many 50's sax solos that would make sense.

 

This goes back a ways, Rosie and The Originals, Angel Baby, sax solo at 1:40. I've heard that the real sax player couldn't make it and somebody's cousin or nephew or something was recruited on short notice. Considering the high quality of so many 50's sax solos that would make sense.

I've always loved that song but I forgot about the horrid sax solo. Yeesh.

 

I think sometimes what we, as saxophone players, would consider a "bad" solo (out of tune, out of time, harsh sound etc.) becomes part of the song and people enjoy it and love it despite it's possible short comings.

I can think of some great recordings with really out of tune horns and solos, but I wouldn't change them and they totally work!

Usually in pop record the solo brings something to the table - energy, vibe, timbral change, whatever - and serves the music even if the playing isn't particularly accomplished.

 

sometimes there are, otherwise good players, who are overestimating themselves when it comes to saxophone , van Morrison was certainly one of these.

Rory Gallagher was also a less than fantastic saxophone player

 

sometimes there are, otherwise good players, who are overestimating themselves when it comes to saxophone , van Morrison was certainly one of these.

He may well have done, but that can apply to so many musicians. Didn't seem to do him any harm.

so to keep harping on the same old on the few occasions where he had a go at the alto sax himself is tiresome and negative. Not an easy person to be around apparently, so perhaps there were occasions where no - real - sax player was around.

Indeed not an easy person to be around, but that doesn't mean he couldn't have insisted on a different saxophone player for that solo. I don't see what is wrong with it in the context. For me it has more "soul" and meaning within the song itself than the noodling piano solo. In spite of the piano being in tune and no obvious notes that people might call "wrong."

 

At least Van Morrison is an out of this world song writer with unique timing. There are loads of technically brilliant instrumentalists lacking a story to tell. I know which I prefer. And save for a few tunes, Van Morrison has played with Pee Wee Ellis and other great saxophonists, so to keep harping on the same old on the few occasions where he had a go at the alto sax himself is tiresome and negative. Not an easy person to be around apparently, so perhaps there were occasions where no - real - sax player was around.

 

Double post.

 

Some lovely stuff on here!

The flip side of this might be best terrible sax playing on recording. For instance, Captain Beefheart just squeals like a maniac, I doubt he could play a major scale, but to me he's perfect on Trout Mask Replica.

 

Regarding Captain Beefheart.....

 

John Fogerty would never win anything for sax playing either but simply as it may be, his solo on "Long as I can see the light", one of the greatest rock tunes of all time, is very effective.

The solo starts at 1:13

 

Yeah, he has clear direction and ideas in that solo that move the song along and help tell a story. It seems simple, but there are some really concise, distilled, digestible nuggets in there (the blues).

I think a lot of players of all levels do themselves a disservice by striving for superficial complexity, instead of challenging themselves to say the most with the least.