Lee Allen (1926 – 1994) was an American tenor saxophone player born in Pittsburg, Kansas.
A key figure in the New Orleans rock and roll scene of the 1950s, Allen recorded with many leading performers of the early rock and roll era. He was semi-retired from music by the late '60s, but in the late '70s, returned to music intermittently until the end of his life.
Biography
Raised largely in Colorado, Allen played saxophone from his childhood. A combined athletics and music scholarship from Xavier College led to his relocating to New Orleans in the early '50s.
He fell into the city's thriving music scene, performing or recording with dozens of musicians in the early days of rock music and rhythm and blues. Notable are his recording with singers Fats Domino and Lloyd Price; Allen also was the sax soloist on most of Little Richard's epochal hits from 1955 and '56. His own instrumental song "Walkin' With Mr. Lee" was a minor hit in 1958 due in part to its frequent play on the television program American Bandstand.
By the mid-1960s, Allen was semi-retired from music, performing only occasionally after moving to southern California to work at an aircraft manufacturing plant. The rockabilly revival of the late 1970s found younger musicians seeking Allen's distinctive saxophone. He recorded with the Stray Cats, and was a member of The Blasters for their two final albums and associated tours in the early to mid '80s. He also played three shows in October 1981 with the Rolling Stones: on October first at the Metrocenter (Rockford, Illinois), and on the third and the fourth at Folsom Field (Boulder, Colorado).
After Allen's death, Blasters member Dave Alvin dedicated the song "Mister Lee" to Allen.
External links
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