Bobby Keys

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Bobby Keys
Background information
Born	December 18, 1943 (1943-12-18) (age 65) Slaton, Texas, U.S.
Genres	Rock
Occupations	Session musician
Instruments	Saxophone
Years active	1950s—present
Associated acts	Rolling Stones, Buddy Holly, Elvis Presley, Keith Richards, Eric Clapton, Delaney & Bonnie, George Harrison, Ringo Starr, Joe Ely, Sheryl Crow, John Lennon, Leon Russell, Plastic Ono Band, Harry Nilsson

Bobby Keys (born December 18, 1943, Slaton, Texas) (sometimes credited as Bobby Keyes) is an American saxophone player and together with Jim Price and occasionally Jim Horn formed the most in-demand^{[citation needed]} horn section of the 1970s. They appear on albums by The Who, The Rolling Stones, George Harrison's All Things Must Pass, Eric Clapton, and Joe Cocker's Mad Dogs and Englishmen. Keys was born the same day and in the same year as Keith Richards. Keys has been on the road as a touring musician since 1956.

Keys started touring at age fourteen with Bobby Vee and fellow Texan Buddy Holly. Keyes is best known as being the main saxophone player for The Rolling Stones, playing on every album from 1969 until 1974, and from 1980 to present, and performing on all Stones tours since 1970 except for the 1981 US Tour when Ernie Watts (no relation to Charlie Watts) replaced him. Keys has played on hundreds of recordings, including many unaccredited performances such as on Dion's "Runaround Sue."

He is known for playing the saxophone solo on the 1971 hit "Brown Sugar" and for the film shot of him and Keith Richards (born the same day as Keys) throwing a television set from the 10th floor of a hotel somewhere during the 1972 American Tour, as seen in the Stones' unreleased 1972 concert movie Cocksucker Blues. He is also featured in the 1971 concert movie Mad Dogs and Englishmen narrating the story of his early life while driving around downtown Dallas. Another famous recording by Keys is the baritone saxophone on Elvis Presley's "Return to Sender".

Keys came into the Rolling Stones around 1969. Keys, with the addition of Mick Taylor, changed the sound of the Rolling Stones. Both horns and Mick Taylor made their debut on Let it Bleed. Keys became Richard's new partner in crime, as well as brilliantly complementing Richard's guitar playing on numerous Stones classics. Jagger was always dubious of Keys' entrance into the Stones because it enhanced Richard's leadership. Jagger and Keys, however, would become close in the early 1970s, with Keys serving as an attendant at Jagger's wedding.

From 1973-1975, Keys participated in John Lennon's famous Lost Weekend in Los Angeles along with Ringo Starr, Harry Nilsson, and Keith Moon. Keys had played with Lennon in the Plastic Ono Band and while in Los Angeles he played on Lennon's albums Walls and Bridges and Rock 'n Roll. Additionally, Keys took part in the last known recording session between Paul McCartney and Lennon; this session is known as A Toot and a Snore in '74.

In the late 1980's, Keys became the musical director for Ronnie Wood's Miami club Woody's On the Beach. The first week the club opened, Keys booked Jerry Lee Lewis, Fats Domino, and the Crickets.

Keys released two albums in the 1970's. In 1972, Keys released a self-titled instrumental album on Warner Bros. Records that featured Ringo Starr, George Harrison, and Eric Clapton. Keys released his second album Gimme the Key on Ringo Starr's record label Ring O'Records in 1975.

Selective discography

• The Rolling Stones: Let It Bleed, Exile on Main St., Sticky Fingers, Goats Head Soup, Emotional Rescue, Stripped
• Joe Cocker: Mad Dogs and Englishmen
• George Harrison: All Things Must Pass
• John Lennon: Some Time in New York City, Walls and Bridges, Rock 'n' Roll
• Keith Richards: Talk Is Cheap, Live at the Hollywood Palladium
• Ringo Starr: Ringo, Goodnight Vienna
• Ronnie Wood: 1234, Gimme Some Neck, Mahoney's Last Stand
• B.B. King: B. B. King in London
• Barbra Streisand: Barbra Joan Streisand
• Carly Simon: No Secrets, Hotcakes
• Chuck Berry: Hail! Hail! Rock 'n' Roll
• Delaney, Bonnie & Friends: On Tour with Eric Clapton
• Donovan: Cosmic Wheels
• Dr. John: The Sun, Moon & Herbs
• Eric Clapton: Eric Clapton
• Faces: Long Player
• Harry Nilsson: Nilsson Schmilsson, Pussy Cats
• Humble Pie: Rock On
• Joe Ely: Lord of the Highway
• John Hiatt: Beneath This Gruff Exterior
• Kate & Anna McGarrigle: Kate & Anna McGarrigle
• Keith Moon: Two Sides of the Moon
• Leo Sayer: Endless Flight
• Lynyrd Skynyrd: Second Helping
• John Lennon and Paul McCartney: A Toot and a Snore in '74
• Marvin Gaye: Let's Get It On deluxe edition
• Sheryl Crow: The Globe Sessions
• Yoko Ono: Fly
• Jim Carroll: Catholic Boy