Very sad. Because he was so close to Keith, many don't know that it was Mick who really discovered him for the Stones at least.

Plink wrote on Dec 5^th, 2014 at 11:53am:


I want to believe it's him on both recordings, but the lack of concrete proof leads me to believe it's not him.

Steel Wheels wrote on Dec 5^th, 2014 at 1:02pm:


There is an alternate take of The Wanderer ("Take 1", by Dion and the Del Satins according to the youtube cover shot) and the sax solo is similar but not the same as on the famous recording. How would the existence of an alternate recording alter (if at all) your stance?

sax solo @ 1:48
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wrMLRAMANiM

Also, that was a pretty specific story Bobby told about Boots' absence @ the Elvis recording session. Like I said, I believe the guy and I'll leave it at that. You choose not to, and that's OK too. Peace

The more I read about the Bobby/Elvis recording, the more I'm finding that most feel Bobby lied. Those sessions were heavily documented, and there's not one Elvis "expert" who claims it was Bobby. Also, Bobby's claims about that session are relatively new - timed right around his book.

I found this on the same webpage as the info below about Dion. It's taken from a book called "The History of Top 40 Saxophone Solos 1955-2011:

According to Ernst Jorgnsen, Bobby Keys DID NOT play the sax on the “Return to Sender” track. Boots Randolph was flown to Los Angeles with Scotty Moore and D. J. Fontana a few days before recording began and rehearsed the songs that had been chosen for the movie. Elvis arrived a few days later and would record them with Boots, Scotty, D. J., and some session musicians from Radio Recorders.

Who is Ernst Jorgnsen? I found this about him. If anyone knows Elvis sessions, it's him.

http://articles.latimes.com/2010/dec/24/entertainment/la-et-elvis-presley-box-20...

As for Dion, he's very active on Facebook and he has yet to mention that the supposed sax player on one of his all-time hits passed. I also found this bit on info, from that previously mentioned book.

From Dion himself:

“We had Bobby Gregg and Bucky Pizzarelli on guitar, Panama Francis and “Sticks” Evans on drums, Jerome Richardson—a monster player—played alto sax. Buddy Lucas played tenor sax and harmonica. Johnny Falbo played electric guitar on some of the blues things, and we had bunch of great musicians from the Apollo in Harlem”. Dion.

I hate to say it, but it appears Bobby wasn't being truthful about either recording session. To make it even worse, all of the sax players mentioned passed away BEFORE Bobby made the claims about playing on those tracks.

I feel Bobby lied about both sessions, as hard as that is for me to say.

I am all for people speaking their mind, but maybe this discussion is best for another thread and another time. Someone who gave all of us great joy died and the discussion is about if he lied about something. I'm not saying he didn't but this doesn't seem like the time.

Steel Wheels wrote on Dec 6^th, 2014 at 8:00am:



Ernst Jorgensen is probably the foremost authority on Elvis on the planet and has published several excellent books on his sessionographies. He's basically to Elvis what Mark Lewisohn is to The Beatles.

Bobby was a lovely guy, but he was telling a bit of a tall tale on this one. He never played on an Elvis session.

He claimed that Glenn D Hardin (Elvis pianist) got him the session gig - Hardin never met or worked with Elvis until about 1970, and these sessions took place in 1962. They only lasted a couple of days for the whole album, so its not comparable to, say, a Stones session, where you could conceivably have had different people playing over sessions lasting for weeks and months.

Its only a fib, he's hardly the first or last musician to do it (hello, Keith!) and it ain't no hangin' matter. I actually find it quite funny.

Agree its best to just concentrate on paying tribute to the man.

Sharing details about my brief meeting w/ the fabulous Bobby Keys:

I met Bobby backstage after a Winos show in ’93 (a connected friend had arranged for the passes). We were in an area with a lot of people milling about, but no Keef. I was hoping to personally hand Keith some photos I’d taken of him, but things weren’t looking too promising, so I was disappointed. Then I spotted Bobby standing in a circle with approx. 4 other guys (one of whom looked exactly like an older, short-haired version of Waddy Wachtel and was wearing some sort of makeshift yacht captain/naval outfit complete w/ cap - odd!). I approached the circle, made eye contact w/ Bobby, and he said “Hey there young lady! Your hand is empty – I think you need a drink in it!”. He was drinking wine & offered to get me a glass but I declined because I had to drive. I did ask him for a sip of his, though. Then I said, “I just realized I’m drinking an Expensive Wino’s wine!”. Yes, it was a dumb line… We spoke for a few minutes and he was super friendly and fun. I just wish I recalled more specifics about the chit-chat. After a while, I remembered the issue of my photos and asked Bobby if he would be so kind as to pass them along to KR. He said, “I’d take you to meet him right now so you could give ‘em to him yourself if he wasn’t sleeping”. He went on to say that Keith often falls asleep for a couple of hours after a gig (and there’s HELL to pay if anyone disturbs him) but if I hung around, he would introduce me to him when he woke up. Bobby & others were sticking around for Keith to awaken because they were then planning to head out to a French restaurant that was going to stay open late for them (still remember the name of it – “La Poubelle”). I declined to wait that long for the introduction (SAY WHAAAT??? - IDIOT!!!). Why? Because I was beyond exhausted from my school schedule and squeezing in travel to the show, and also because the friend who accompanied me was not a fan and was getting bored & increasingly cranky. Stupid reasons! I truly believe the fatigue had grossly impaired my decision-making. I left the pics w/ Bobby to give to Keith. I’m so glad I had the chance to meet him briefly – he couldn’t have been nicer or more charming, and it’s a fond memory I’ll keep with me. It still absolutely boggles my mind that I chose not to wait a couple of hours to be introduced to Keith Richards by his #1 Soul Brother, Bobby Keys!!!
‘Scuse me while I kick myself…

The New Barbarians goin' nutz, 1979 (Mojo Magazine) Bobby with a Mexican Poncho... "not a Sears Poncho"

^^^^ great shot by May Pang - nice find!

There certainly are some great pics & vids here - thank you to everyone who posted them.

Here's an interview w/ Bobby done backstage in Chicago, 2013
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qRyEY28z9Jg