Can you name a musician who played with numerous singers/groups but received little recognition?

Question

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.
RIP Boots

Thank You,
AJ

Answer 1

Jim Gordon was a fantastic session drummer who played with numerous artists during the 60's & 70's either on their songs, albums, or their tours including:

The Everly Brothers

Duane Allman

The Byrds

The Carpenters

The Beach Boys

Glen Campbell

Joan Baez

Bread

Jackson Browne

Joe Cocker

Eric Clapton

Bonnie & Delaney

Derek & the Dominoes

John Denver

Neil Diamond

Donovan

Dr. John

Hall & Oates

George Harrison

John Lennon

Dave Mason

Carole King

The Monkees

Randy Newman

Manhattan Transfer

Harry Nillson

Tom Petty

Leon Russell

Linda Ronstadt

Carly Simon

Steely Dan

Traffic

B.B. King

Alice Cooper

Frank Zappa

along with many others!



The sad thing was that it all came to a terrible end when he went crazy and killed his mother with a hammer and butcher's knife. He was hearing voices in his head and his physician mistakenly diagnosed that he had alcohol abuse instead of mental illness and his condition worsened which led to her murder.

He is still in jail.

Answer 2

Chuck Rainey- The most outstanding bass player i've ever seen or heard. Has been a studio musician for over 40 years and played with some of the greatest artists ever:



Isley Brothers

Jimi Hendrix

Little Richard

Steely Dan

Quincy Jones

Temptations

Four Tops

Aretha Franklin

Marvin Gaye



Just to name a few.

And also played the intro music to the tv shows "Barney Miller" & "Sanford & Son"

Answer 3

Grab the phone book, and call up the college. From the 1st person, you can go in 2 directions - 1 is thru the music college, the other is thru a posting or job board. Also check the newspaper, and consider posting. The colleges probably have a campus newspaper. Either way list the type of music/instruments you want. Be ready to travel to hear them play (they are colege students - will not want to travel for an audition for 1 day, and you don't want to rely on an audition tape). Also have some recorded music as backup regardless of who you use. Don't want o be stuck because someone ran into an emergency. Can also check with the churches - they may have someone they regularly use.

Answer 4

Warren Haynes fronts both The Allman Brothers Band and Gov't Mule. He played guitar on the 2009 Dead tour and has played with Umphrey’s McGee, Tea Leaf Green, Les Claypool, Jack Bruce, Marc Ford, Jimmy Herring, Widespread Panic, Mike Gordon & Page McConnell from Phish, Roger Glover, John Entwhistle, John Scofield, Bernie Worell, Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Flea (RHCP), Jack Cassady, Victor Wooten, David Hildago, Bootsy Collins, John Popper and Blues Traveler, Colonel Bruce Hampton, Chris Squire, Audley Freed, Larry Graham, The Bottle Rockets, Susan Tedeschi, David Allen Coe, Jeff Austin, The Dave Matthews Band, Sonny Landreth, Karl Denson, Trey Anastasio, Bela Fleck, Ivan Neville, George Porter, Jr., Billy Gibbons, Living Colour, Jorma Kaukonan, Little Feat, Ani DeFranco, Counting Crows, Bruce Hornsby, Phil Lesh & Friends, Coheed & Cambria, Ben Harper, John Paul Jones, Joan Osborne, Steve Earle, William Bell, Travis Tritt, Johnny Winter, Robben Ford, Tal Wilkenfeld, Jerry Joseph, Peter Frampton, Don Michael Sampson, Marty Stuart, Taj Mahal, Joe Bonamassa, Galactic, Steve Kimmock, Grace Potter, Pat Travers, Levon Helm, Glenn Tilbrook, Matisyahu, The Disco Biscuits, Citizen Cope, Toots Hebert, Robert Randolph, Jackie Greene, Ray Lamontagne, Hill Country Review and Taylor Hicks.

Answer 5

Donald "Duck" Dunn bass player that played with the following just to name a few



Booker T. & the M.G.'s, The Blues Brothers, Muddy Waters, Freddie King, Jerry Lee Lewis, Eric Clapton, Tom Petty, Wilson Pickett, Sam & Dave, Guy Sebastian, Rod Stewart, Bob Dylan and Roy Buchanan

Answer 6

Bass guitarist Carol Kaye probably received little public recognition but she is well known within the industry.



"As a session musician Kaye was the bassist on many Phil Spector and Brian Wilson productions in the 1960s and 1970s. She played guitar on Ritchie Valens' "La Bamba" and is credited with the bass tracks on several Simon & Garfunkel hits and many film scores by Quincy Jones and Lalo Schifrin. Among her most often cited work Kaye anchored the Beach Boys' album Pet Sounds."



"Kaye played 12-string guitar on Frank Zappa's groundbreaking album Freak Out!. She also played on a few songs for his following album but declined to continue, saying she found some of the lyrics offensive. Kaye later said Zappa was good-natured and understanding about her qualms and they remained on friendly terms."

Answer 7

Jim Keltner

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Keltner

Answer 8

Paul Carrack

Joe Lynn Turner

Answer 9

The Funk Brother - Especially James Jamerson, Motown's greatest hits could be called the Jamerson song book....



Elvis's TCB band - Especially James Burton: got his start playing with Ricky Nelson (where he did some very influential work) . Played with both Elvie....



Danny Thompson - Folk, Prog Folk the guys has played it all

Answer 10

Not such a build-up as you gave, but Zoot Horn Rollo for his work with Captain Beefheart in The Magic Band. Check out "Big Eyed Beans from Venus"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUlDmpoE6rg&feature=related

Answer 11

Billy Preston

Answer 12

Buckethead.

Answer 13

drummer josh freese, wiki/google him.