Story by Greg Phillips and Christie Eliezer

So you think guitars and drums are the essence of rock – and the nerdy kids lugging their huge trombones or tubas to school music lessons are uncool? Wrong!

Australian Musician talks brass with: -JACK HOWARD - TRUMPET -JOE CAMILLERI-SAXOPHONE

Some of rock’s most respected recordings have survived the test of time, because they feature fat, bold horn and reed sounds provided by these former 'nerds'.

Would the classic Rolling Stones' Exile On Main Street' be one of rock music's greatest achievements without the famous brass section of the great Bobby Keyes and Jim Price? Can you imagine Gerry Rafferty’s Baker Street without Raf Ravenscroft's stunning sax intro?

Did you know that Eric Clapton’s concept of his early playing was to imitate saxplayers in blues ensembles, and substitute his guitaring for the brass lines? The Who’s bassist John Entwistle’s first instrument was French horn, which he played on tracks like 5:15 and My Wife.

Closer to home, how about the Saints’ Know Your Product or the Masters Apprentices’ Turn Up Your Radio’?

When rock’s most influential band, The Beatles, thought of becoming "another" band for their most famous album, it was a brass band known as Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band. But even before then, they used Alan Civil to do a French horn solo on For No One from the ‘Revolver’ album, the opening of All You Need Is Love, and featured a brass band on Yellow Submarine. In 1968, Paul McCartney used sessions players to play brass on Lady Madonna and his ode to his sheepdog, Martha My Dear.

When the Beatles started their own record label, Apple Corp, Paul signed a brass band Black Dyke Mills Band – who alas were a flop. But they returned on Wings’ ‘Back To The Egg’ album in 1979.

While the New Vaudeville Band had a hit with Winchester Cathedral in 1967, some songs used the concept of a brass band. Blue Mink used it on 1971’s The Banner Man: "And the drums went boom! as the cornets play/ And the tuba "umpa’d" all the way/ And the kids and dogs were laughing as they ran."

A year later, Peter Skellern’s chart topper You’re A Lady used a brass band. 1997’s film ‘Brassed Off’ brought them in vogue, briefly.

The brass section has its origins in American swing, jazz and blues. In the 19th century, Adolphe Sax first heard his saxophone played in military bands. Then jazz cats like Charlie Parker and John Coltrane, looking for new sounds, adopted brass. During the great depression in the 1930s, small nightclubs were forced to close down as people could no longer afford such a luxury. Clever entrepreneurs discovered that if the venues were larger and could accommodate more customers, they could then charge less at the door. To achieve a sound big enough to fill the giant halls, they needed to add more players. That’s how the big band era arrived.

Standard instrumentation of the time was five saxophones, two altos, two tenors, a baritone, four trumpets and a rhythm section, providing a fat sound in anyone's language. Band leaders Glen Miller, Tommy Dorsey, Benny Goodman and Artie Shaw became legends of swing. World War II however put a stop to the momentum. In the fifties, brass musicians made a name for themselves in other genres –jazz, bop, blues. Louis Armstrong, Dizzy Gillespie, Chet Baker, and Miles Davis were the new kings of cool.

The sixties was doo wop and soul. Stax and Motown. Behind every Four Tops, Temptations or Otis Redding record was a hot brass section, creating arrangements that are regarded as standards today.

It wasn't until the early seventies that the real 'brass section for hire' ethos took off. The Rolling Stones, Van Morrison, Janis Joplin and Joe Cocker looked to those original brass players to back them on their rock recordings and then took those brass musicians out on the road.

The quintessential brass section from the era was The Memphis Horns. Trumpeter Wayne Jackson and Tenor saxophonist Andrew Love played on almost every disc the Stax label recorded. Some of their work includes: Elvis Presley (Suspicious Minds), Otis Redding (Dock of the Bay), Aretha Franklin (Respect) , Wilson Pickett (In the Midnight Hour), Neil Diamond (Sweet Caroline), Sam and Dave (Soul Man), and in later years, our own Diesel (Come to Me) and You Am I (#4).

"For about ten years, we were making number one records daily," says Wayne on the Memphis Horns' website. "It would be King Curtis one day, Tony Joe White the next day, Dionne Warwick the next and then Elvis." Their service are still available today to anyone willing to pay the price.

The Tower of Power is another famous horn section. Credits include Santana, Little Feat, Janis Joplin, Elton John, Rod Stewart, BB King and Aerosmith. . The Tower of Power had their own hit in 1972, You're Still A Young Man.(See www.bumpcity.com)

In the late ‘70s, Blood, Sweat and Tears and Earth, Wind and Fire were brass and class. Chicago were the most successful. With trumpet, trombone and woodwind up front, Chicago were an exciting live act, churning out chunky brass classics like 'Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is' and '25 or 6 to 4' before they went all lame with ballads like 'If You Leave Me Now'.

As mentioned in the introduction, Bobby Keys (who was born on the same day as Keith Richards) and Jim Price are responsible for some of the most memorable brass sounds in rock including The Stones' 'Exile on Main Street' and 'Sticky Fingers' albums. Keys' sax solo on Brown Sugar is revered in rock circles.

Keys and Price were also the brass section behind Joe Cocker's infamous 'Mad Dogs and Englishman' tour. In 1970 Cocker arrived in America to chill out after a world tour. However without telling Cocker, his manager had booked a seven week tour. The US musician' union and immigration authorities warned that if the tour didn't go ahead, Cocker would be banned from performing in America in the future. Singer/songwriter Leon Russell came to Cocker's rescue and put together an extraordinary band of up to 36 members, including Keys and Price. The tour was documented on film and the soundtrack is a must for anyone's collection.

The Brecker Brothers, Michael and Randy are another high profile brass section. Their work on classic recordings by Paul Simon, Eric Clapton, Elton John and Parliament should also be sought out.

One of the first superstars of brass in pop music was Herb Alpert. At the close of the sixties, Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass were behind only Sinatra, Elvis and The Beatles in album sales. His band raked up 14 top 40 singles between 1962 and 1969, and in one particular week had four albums in the top ten. Alpert later became a powerful executive, setting up A&M Records with Jerry Moss (he’s the A).

The late seventies and early eighties saw an improvement in recording facilities and more concentration on the sound quality of albums. Emerging out of this atmosphere was the LA fusion scene. Spyro Gyra, LA Express, and The Yellow Jackets were successful with their silky smooth, blend of jazz and pop elements. Prominent players of the time were David Sanborn, Tom Scott, Wayne Shorter, Plas Johnson and the aptly named Jim Horn. Some of them appeared on classic Steely Dan albums like ‘Aja’ and ‘The Royal Scam’, two more must-have albums for those seeking fine examples of brass and wind in rock.

In the UK, the revival of ska and reggae saw brass used extensively by the Specials, Madness and UB40.

Closer to home rock bands like Midnight Oil occasionally added a brass section to their live sound. Of course brass was such an integral part the mighty Hunters and Collectors’ sound, as it was for the Allniters and Strange Tenants. Even seminal Aussie punkers The Saints turned to brass later in their career. Of the individuals, James Morrison (pictured left) stands head and shoulders above all. Although he's not considered a rock player, Morrison can play anything in any style and is truly a world great. Not only that but he also invents his own instruments.

One of the greatest live bands ever to come from Australia was Jo Jo Zep & The Falcons, which saw Joe Camilleri and Wilbur Wilde trade sax licks to the excitement of the crowd.Camilleri didn’t start playing until he was 23, but was heavily influenced by the US records he imported by bluesman Lightning Hopkins (whose band had no bass player but a saxman), tenor saxplayer King Curtis and Junior Walker.

Today, MIDI brass sounds, and brass samples seem to be the order of the day on much of the current rap, hip hop and R&B recordings. If anyone, probably Outkast, is the closest to carrying the torch for brass music in rock. Next time you're thinking about using a brass sample on a recording, call in a real horn player!

RECOMMENDED BRASS IN ROCK LISTENING:

Exile on Main Street -Rolling Stones (album)

Mad Dogs and Englishman-Joe Cocker (album)

Chicago Transit Authority-Chicago (album)

Collected Works-Hunters and Collectors (album)

Body and Soul-Joe Jackson (album)

It's Too Late To Stop Now-Van Morrison (album)

Songs in the Key of Life-Stevie Wonder (album)

'Zanzibar" -Billy Joel (for Freddie Hubbard trumpet solo) (album track off 52nd Street)

‘Angels of Harlem’-U2 (Memphis Horns) (album track off Rattle and Hum)

Let's Fall In Love-Jack Howard and The Long Lost Brothers (album)

Screaming Targets-Jo Jo Zep and the Falcons (album)

I Believe To My Soul/ Best of 1977-2003-Joe Camilleri (album)