# Where were the British horn bands of the 60s and 70s? (If any....) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** music\ **Created:** [August 5, 2021, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-were-the-british-horn-bands-of-the-60s-and-70s-if-any/948097 "2021-08-05T12:38:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ZonexandScout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zonexandscout/32/544_2.png) [@ZonexandScout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZonexandScout)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2021, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-were-the-british-horn-bands-of-the-60s-and-70s-if-any/948097/1 "2021-08-05T12:38:01Z")
Horn bands (Chicago, Blood Sweat & Tears, The Electric Flag, among others) were pretty common in the USA in the 60s and 70s. Many other bands used horn sections on some of the songs they recorded (including The Doors and Spirit). And, of course, horns were a big part of Spector’s productions, as well as many Motown hits. Did the British have a similar affection for horn bands and horn sections in that period? I’m really straining to name some. (Answers should include primary sources and citations in proper format. Notarized statements are preferred, but not required. Keyboard horns and synthesizers do not count. “British” means “East of NYC.” Offer not valid in MN.) ---
**Author:** ![TCMF-2L](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tcmf-2l/32/16553_2.png) [@TCMF-2L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TCMF-2L)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2021, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-were-the-british-horn-bands-of-the-60s-and-70s-if-any/948097/2 "2021-08-05T12:52:38Z")
The late seventies and into the eighties saw a huge amount of chart success in the UK for ‘Horn-Tastic’ pop ska bands. Perhaps the most successful (in terms of singles success) were **Madness** but large amounts of hits also for **The Selector** , **The Specials** , the **Beat**. Not really ska but early **Dexys Midnight Runners** (before the ‘Oirish’ fiddles of **Come On Eileen** ) had brass and their song **Geno** is superb. There were many others. TCMF-2L ---
**Author:** ![TCMF-2L](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tcmf-2l/32/16553_2.png) [@TCMF-2L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TCMF-2L)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2021, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-were-the-british-horn-bands-of-the-60s-and-70s-if-any/948097/3 "2021-08-05T12:58:16Z")
Coming to think of it **Gerry Raferty** ’s **Baker** **Street** has one of the most famous sax solos PLUS it’s the basis of a HILARIOUS (to UK people of a certain age) ‘fake truth’ that it was performed by Bob Holness. If you’re not British, don’t ask. Also **Ian Dury and the Blockheads** used brass. TCMF-2L ---
**Author:** ![TCMF-2L](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tcmf-2l/32/16553_2.png) [@TCMF-2L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TCMF-2L)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2021, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-were-the-british-horn-bands-of-the-60s-and-70s-if-any/948097/4 "2021-08-05T13:01:22Z")
**ELO** ( **Mr Blue Sky** is well known?) used brass. TCMF-2L ---
**Author:** ![TCMF-2L](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tcmf-2l/32/16553_2.png) [@TCMF-2L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TCMF-2L)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2021, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-were-the-british-horn-bands-of-the-60s-and-70s-if-any/948097/5 "2021-08-05T13:06:56Z")
**ELO** spun off from **The Move**. The Move main man, **Roy Wood** formed **Wizzard** who had a big hit with their song **I Wish It Could Be Christmas Every Day**. Plenty of horns in there. And it’s been played every Christmas since. TCMF-2L ---
**Author:** ![ZonexandScout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zonexandscout/32/544_2.png) [@ZonexandScout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZonexandScout)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2021, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-were-the-british-horn-bands-of-the-60s-and-70s-if-any/948097/6 "2021-08-05T13:15:20Z")
Great responses! But I was trying to zero in on actual horn bands. ELO, for example, didn’t usually tour with horns and concentrated primarily on cello and violin. Plenty of songs used a sax or two, so I don’t really think of “Baker Street” as being an example of Rafferty as a “horn band.” Again, even The Doors used a horn section and sax on occasion (both live and in the studio) and nobody considers them to have been a horn band. But some of the others are good suggestions. ---
**Author:** ![TCMF-2L](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tcmf-2l/32/16553_2.png) [@TCMF-2L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TCMF-2L)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2021, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-were-the-british-horn-bands-of-the-60s-and-70s-if-any/948097/7 "2021-08-05T13:18:57Z")
Something of a novelty one hit wonder pair: **Brighouse and Rastrict Brass Band** had a big hit with **The Floral Dance**. They only reached Number 2 in the charts because **Wings** mega hit **Mull of Kintyre** held Number 1. Meanwhile the Dutch Private Eye TV show **Van Der Valk** theme tune, **Eye Level** , was a genuine Number 1 hit performed by a full orchestra. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/zvesdlGe-EI/hqdefault.jpg "SIMON PARK ORCHESTRA - "EYE LEVEL" \*T\*O\*T\*P\*1973") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zvesdlGe-EI) TCMF-2L ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2021, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-were-the-british-horn-bands-of-the-60s-and-70s-if-any/948097/8 "2021-08-05T13:21:08Z")
> [@ZonexandScout](#): > > ELO, for example, didn’t usually tour with horns and concentrated primarily on cello and violin. Yeah, their “orchestra” was a string section in the studio, or, when on tour, two cellists and a violinist. On their first album, they experimented with wind instruments like oboes and clarinets, but otherwise, very little in the way of horns, and anything that one hears on one of their albums that sounds like a horn might well have been a synthesizer. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2021, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-were-the-british-horn-bands-of-the-60s-and-70s-if-any/948097/9 "2021-08-05T13:28:17Z")
The Beatles’ opening act on their 1965 tour was the British act Sounds Incorporated which featured 3 saxophones. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2021, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-were-the-british-horn-bands-of-the-60s-and-70s-if-any/948097/10 "2021-08-05T13:43:28Z")
The Stones in their classic phase often had horns, in the studio and at stage. Sax player Bobby Keys was kind of an unofficial sixth band member (and a big buddy of Keith). Here’s a great example: [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/_lNP-x94-SE/hqdefault.jpg "Rolling Stones - Rocks Off (1972)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_lNP-x94-SE) ---
**Author:** ![ZonexandScout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zonexandscout/32/544_2.png) [@ZonexandScout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZonexandScout)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2021, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-were-the-british-horn-bands-of-the-60s-and-70s-if-any/948097/11 "2021-08-05T13:49:22Z")
Yes, but I’m still trying to identify bands that had permanent horn sections/personnel and made the horns an integral part of their overall sound. The Grass Roots’ “Midnight Confessions” was their first big hit and it certainly suggested that they were a Chicago-type horn band, but this was not the case at all. Another example of a horn band from the USA is Sly and the Family Stone, with sax and trumpet players. Of course, if we allow a sax as a “horn section,” we would also need to include The E Street Band. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2021, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-were-the-british-horn-bands-of-the-60s-and-70s-if-any/948097/12 "2021-08-05T14:06:08Z")
[![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/XkrDoOdxjbk/maxresdefault.jpg "Sounds Incorporated - It Sounds Like Movin' (1966)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XkrDoOdxjbk) ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2021, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-were-the-british-horn-bands-of-the-60s-and-70s-if-any/948097/13 "2021-08-05T14:08:26Z")
There’s [UB40](https://www.google.com/search?q=ub40+peforming&tbm=isch&ved=2ahUKEwixz7HOhpryAhUJIRoKHc1PDZMQ2-cCegQIABAA&oq=ub40+peforming&gs_lcp=CgNpbWcQAzoECAAQQzoFCAAQgAQ6BAgAEBhQp1lYqGtgn21oAHAAeACAAUKIAYQEkgECMTCYAQCgAQGqAQtnd3Mtd2l6LWltZ8ABAQ&sclient=img&ei=MfALYfHyEonCaM2ftZgJ&bih=1177&biw=1660&rlz=1C5CHFA_enGB869GB869#imgrc=vptDT_pXS15N3M), the late-70s reggae/pop band from Birmingham, who certainly used a lot of brass instruments. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2021, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-were-the-british-horn-bands-of-the-60s-and-70s-if-any/948097/14 "2021-08-05T14:13:44Z")
For British bands with horn sections of the 60s and 70s, the best resource is the career of sax player Dick Heckstall-Smith, he virtually played in all of them, including Blues Incorporated, the Graham Bond Organisation and Colosseum. > **[Dick Heckstall-Smith](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dick_Heckstall-Smith)** > > Pages for logged out editors learn more > > > > Richard Malden "Dick" Heckstall-Smith (26 September 1934 – 17 December 2004) was an English jazz and blues saxophonist. He played with some of the most influential English blues rock and jazz fusion bands of the 1960s and 1970s. He is known for primarily playing tenor, soprano, and baritone saxophones, as well as piano, clarinet and alto saxophone. > Heckstall-Smith was born in the Royal Free Hospital, in Ludlow, Shropshire, England, and was rai... ---
**Author:** ![alovem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@alovem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alovem)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2021, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-were-the-british-horn-bands-of-the-60s-and-70s-if-any/948097/15 "2021-08-05T14:30:14Z")
For the last few days, I’ve been re-enjoying Pick Up the Pieces by **Average White Band** , which I’d forgotten about for a long time. They sure don’t _sound_ like Scotland 😁 Seriously, what a cool, slinky sound! If you think about it, the guitar line and song structure aren’t too far from Stayin’ Aliive, which was released three years later. [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/FnH_zwVmiuE/hqdefault.jpg?sqp=-oaymwEmCOADEOgC8quKqQMa8AEB-AH-BIAC4AOKAgwIABABGGUgZShlMA8=&rs=AOn4CLAJDJP3rQUcrFr-gbB-7NEK0yYpxQ "Average White Band - Pick Up The Pieces") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FnH_zwVmiuE) ---
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2021, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-were-the-british-horn-bands-of-the-60s-and-70s-if-any/948097/16 "2021-08-05T14:52:02Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > Yeah, their “orchestra” was a string section in the studio, or, when on tour, two cellists and a violinist. On their first album, they experimented with wind instruments like oboes and clarinets, but otherwise, very little in the way of horns, and anything that one hears on one of their albums that sounds like a horn might well have been a synthesizer. Off topic, but I always wondered why ELO went with 2 cellos and 1 violin on tour instead of 2 violins and 1 cello. From videos I saw of their performances, one of the cellos would play falsetto. I’m guessing they were all mates who got together on the first couple albums before they could afford a studio orchestra, then the string players got phased out from the “official” lineup. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2021, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-were-the-british-horn-bands-of-the-60s-and-70s-if-any/948097/17 "2021-08-05T15:04:43Z")
> [@Knowed\_Out](#): > > I’m guessing they were all mates who got together on the first couple albums before they could afford a studio orchestra, then the string players got phased out from the “official” lineup. Well, it’s a bit more complicated than that: - On the first ELO album, it was mostly Roy Wood playing the baroque instruments, though they had another guy playing some horns, and a violinist - Starting with the second album, they had a couple of cellists and a violinist as official band members (including on tour), though the exact musicians changed a bit from album to album - Starting with their fourth album (_Eldorado_), they had a full string section in the studio, but still had the two cellists + one violinist who were actual band members. By that point, it was Mik Kaminiski on violin, and Melvyn Gale and Hugh McDowell on cello – those three were with the band for a number of years, and and they played on the albums as well as on tour. - They stuck with that arrangement for several albums, until around 1980, whe Jeff Lynne de-emphasized the string sound in favor of more synths; at that point, they stopped using the string section in the studio, and Kaminski, Gale, and McDowell only had minimal roles with the group from that point on. ---
**Author:** ![pjd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pjd/32/3009_2.png) [@pjd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pjd)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2021, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-were-the-british-horn-bands-of-the-60s-and-70s-if-any/948097/18 "2021-08-05T15:54:28Z")
Good question… none of the mentioned bands are what i’d call horn bands - ie having a dedicated horn section. Nearest i can think of is Van Morrison, but he’s not a band ! ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2021, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-were-the-british-horn-bands-of-the-60s-and-70s-if-any/948097/19 "2021-08-05T16:32:19Z")
So far I’ve been unable to find information about the horn players on The Beatles’ “Got To Get You Into My Life.” Were they a bunch of individual musicians who were brought together to play on that particular record, or were they already an established horn section? ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2021, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-were-the-british-horn-bands-of-the-60s-and-70s-if-any/948097/20 "2021-08-05T16:48:54Z")
The Bonzo Dog Band had two dedicated sax players (Rodney Slater and Roger Ruskin Spear), who also played brass when called for. Lead singer Vivian Stanshall played trumpet, among other things. The had started out as a trad (i.e. Dixieland) jazz band and several of their recordings were in that genre. [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/ABcNAwytrOY/hqdefault.jpg "Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band -Jazz, Delicious Hot, Disgusting Cold") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABcNAwytrOY) The Temperance Seven were successful into the 60s, playing trad jazz. [![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uwKO8VUORfU) Soft Machine regularly included brass and saxophone. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-were-the-british-horn-bands-of-the-60s-and-70s-if-any/948097.md?page=2)