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Author Topic: The reeeeeally long sax solo on Seems So Long Ago + sax on other '80s BB songs  (Read 1096 times)
CenturyDeprived
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« on: May 04, 2017, 05:13:20 PM »

I've been getting more into Carl's solo albums lately, but one thing that jumped out at me is the sheer length of the sax solo on "Seems So Long Ago". The solo itself clocks in at almost 2 minutes long!  I love Carl, but that's just nuts!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lbRwupsc_Q#t=2m55s

Is that the longest instrument solo in the entire studio catalog of the band? Pretty sure it gets that award. What would even come close as 2nd longest? It's virtually an equal duration as the entirety of Denny's Drums, which of course is just a drum solo and nothing more.

While I'm certainly not someone who hates 1980s sax (which was so prevalent during that time period),  I'll certainly concede that it was an overused trick by many bands, including The BBs. I'm curious what everyone thinks of The BBs' use of sax during this period. Were they copycats jumping on a trend? Or trendsetters, with sax solos on tracks like Goin' On as early as 1980?

Certainly, by the time of Kokomo and the songs that came in the following few years, it seemed like they were just following a formula. How far past the expiration date of the sax solo trend actually being a popular thing did the band keep pushing it? They were doing some pretty heavy sax stuff in 1992 on the song Summer in Paradise, including probably the oddest and unintentionally hilarious usage of a big, prominent, "happy" sounding sax part right when Mike sings the lyric "toxic waste":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FEZRgjojp8g#t=1m15s
 
« Last Edit: May 04, 2017, 05:15:24 PM by CenturyDeprived » Logged
Lonely Summer
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« Reply #1 on: May 04, 2017, 11:47:47 PM »

The sax solo on "Seems So Long Ago" might be long, but it never feels that way. It was a musical statement, no need to cut it off before it was finished. On the other hand, when McGuinn's 12 string is mixed up for the solo on "California Dreaming", I want it to continue, but instead that 80's sax (that they would recycle for Ko-Ko-Mo) takes over. Disappointing.
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JK
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« Reply #2 on: May 05, 2017, 03:58:19 AM »

Is that the longest instrument solo in the entire studio catalog of the band? Pretty sure it gets that award. What would even come close as 2nd longest?

Logically, the only two BB instrumental workouts over a repeating figure. Ricky's Moog solo on "Leaving This Town" is just under the one-and-a-half-minute mark (including the long deep A at the beginning). So is the instrumental section of "Feel Flows", but that's a mix of instruments (guitar, flute, sax, Moog)...     
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« Reply #3 on: May 05, 2017, 08:04:01 AM »

While not in the studio, it sure seems like some of the Charles Lloyd flute solos for "Feel Flows" lasted about 37 minutes in concert in the late 70s.
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