Yesterday, November 6, was National Saxophone Day. It is celebrated on November 6, on the birthday of Antoine-Joseph ‘Adolphe’ Sax, the inventor of the saxophone. This soulful instrument has a rich history and musical range. It was prominent in many rock and roll records in the early 50’s; it always seemed to be featured as a solo instrument in the Big Band songs of the 40’s; and what would Wham’s Careless Whisper be with out the sax?
Maybe it is the “band geek” in me, but I love cool instrumentals. Today’s Tune Tuesday song features a fantastic saxophone player and basically one big sax solo. The song is called Hand Clappin’ by Red Prysock.
Red was born in 1926. He served in the US Army in World War II, where he learned how to play the saxophone. According to Wikipedia, he gained recognition by playing lead saxophone in Tiny Bradshaw’s band in 1952. He went on to lead his own band and in 1954 signed with Mercury Records. It was there that he had his biggest hit, our featured song, in 1955. That same year, he joined a band that played at DJ Alan Freed’s (the man who coined the phrase “Rock and Roll”) stage shows.
Speaking of “DJ’s,” many used Hand Clappin’ as their “Theme Song” throughout the 50’s and early 60’s. It is definitely what Jerry Lewis’s Nutty Professor character would call a “toe tapper.”
My dad is the one who introduced me to this one. We were out with my grandma one day garage sailing. My dad found the Mercury 45 in a bin of records and was amazed to have found it. He was so excited about it. We went home and he immediately put it on the turntable. It was like nothing I’d ever heard before. Give it a listen and let me know your thoughts.
Various Ramblings of a Nostalgic Italian 
I love the sax
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This is such a crazy and fun song
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good playing there! Definitely had the late-’50s or early-’60s sound that you could imagine being a TV theme or running in a comedy movie of that era over a busy, goofball-antics style scene , a Benny Hill sort of moment.
Sax can really add a lot to a song. I thank Raphael Ravenscroft for doing the work on Gerry Rafferty’s ‘Baker Streer’ which I think is not only a brilliant record, but made the pop/rock world wake up to the instrument’s potentials… and of course, like you say, ‘Careless Whisper’ heightened its appeal.
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The sax is one of those underrated instruments. They were used so well in those early 50’s and 60’s songs as well as in the 70’s and 80’s.
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That’s a great tune, love the Saxophone and mourned the loss of it’s prominence in Rock and Roll. Thanks to Clarence Clemmons and Bruce it was kept alive.
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Absolutely! Clarence was awesome!
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