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boots randolph?

12K views 41 replies 30 participants last post by  John Laughter 
#1 ·
Does anybody know what kind of mouth piece Boot's Randolph used? What kind of tenor he used?
thanks
 
#2 ·
I've read that early in his career he used a Brilhart of some sort (Velvet-Tone, I think?), then he switched to a Dukoff D-chamber, don't know what size. There are pics of him playing a Selmer Mk VI, but I don't know if that was the horn he used all the time or not.
 
#3 ·
Per Boots Randolph's book Rock-and-Roll Saxophone, Boots has always played Selmer horns, I reckon back to when he started sax in 1944. He used Otto Links early on. Used the Hawkins Otto Link and Dukoff Hollywood for metal mpcs. Decided the Otto Link just wasn't giving him the harmonics he wanted. Guess he got a case of GAS!! Then he got ahold of a Dukoff D7. Liked it. Tried a D8 with #2 Rico reeds, I believe. Tried the D9 at Dukoff's insistence. Moved to a 3 reed and that's what he played since - the Dukoff D9, #3 Rico reeds and his last horn was the Selmer SA80 Series II.

(Well, that's what is currently on his website and documented back in 1998. I'd be interested to hear if anyone has any updates! I do understand he may have had a Mark VI but I don't know the time frame.)
 
#6 ·
Ok, here's the last paragraph from his bio on bootsrandolph.com.

"Over the years, this legendary musician had written chapter after chapter of music history...forever etched in sound... entertaining audiences with the same enthusiasm he had since day one. It was in his blood! Boots was his name and SAX was his game! His horn was a Selmer Super 80 Series II with a Bobby Dukoff D-9 mouthpiece, and a #3 Rico reed."

That should put this to rest.
 
#14 ·
Greg Piccolo plays a Link and and gets a great R&b tone.
 
#15 ·
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Pictures of one of Boot's old mpc's. He could go through some Dukoff's. He would wear them out and go to the next one. They might last him 4 years? I've worked and recorded with Boots. Woodwind master, Billy Puett, gave me this old Boots mpc back in the late 80's. I'm not sure which person tried to scrap the outside? Boots was a great guy and saxophone player. Could wail from an altissimo D to a sub tone low Bb in one line, both notes being huge. And he could do it in a way that the common audience could relate to. He was practicing and playing up to the end. I would always walk away amazed and saying to myself "that man can play the saxophone!"
 
#29 ·
View attachment 42498
Pictures of one of Boot's old mpc's. He could go through some Dukoff's. He would wear them out and go to the next one. They might last him 4 years? I've worked and recorded with Boots. Woodwind master, Billy Puett, gave me this old Boots mpc back in the late 80's. I'm not sure which person tried to scrap the outside? Boots was a great guy and saxophone player. Could wail from an altissimo D to a sub tone low Bb in one line, both notes being huge. And he could do it in a way that the common audience could relate to. He was practicing and playing up to the end. I would always walk away amazed and saying to myself "that man can play the saxophone!"
I'm curious....how do you wear out a mouthpiece?
 
#21 ·
I had a Link STM 5* that played huge. It could get as gritty as I ever needed. The NY STM that I have now can get pretty edgy, as well. I miss that 5*, though.
 
#28 ·
"No, you do not understand the difference between the truth and politically-correct BS."

Wow -- wee!

Where does "politically-correct BS" come into a discussion about a dead guy's mouthpiece?

jrvinson45 cited authority, and if you go there, you will see that it is correctly quoted.

They claim to be "THE OFFICIAL BOOTS RANDOLPH SITE" so the source of the authority sounds OK.

If a mistake has been made, perhaps the site is not really official, or perhaps there is a more authoritative source of information.

I did not quite follow the next step in the reasoning for correcting whatever mistake was made ...
 
#30 ·
That's a valid question. Hard playing I guess. But I think Boots would generally like to listen and play on new things, just to keep things fresh. One time he brought me back to the green room to play me a new lick he had learned that day. And this was when he was 78 years old! (I think it was a diminished lick from a Red Holloway CD) He was always trying to listen and learn something new. But on the flip side, he would always say that you have to play what the folks want to listen to, you can't get too advanced for the audience. So he kept it palatable for his audience. He had a Selmer endorsement, so they sent him horns every 8-10 years or so? With the last batch of horns, he decided he liked the intermediate horn over the professional model horn that Selmer sent. So the last 4-5 years of his life he was playing on an intermediate level Selmer horn!
 
#31 ·
Dukoff mouthpieces are made of 'silverite', which someone on here found out was basically pewter. Pewter is quite soft--plus after a couple years of hard use is no longer 'shiny'. Part of being an entertainer/musician is that how you look becomes part of your onstage persona. I can't imagine any of those guys from that era playing on a ratty looking horn or guitar. Playing on old, well-used equipment didn't become part of the Nashville scene until the mid-seventies when Willie and the 'outlaw' guys started dressing down.
 
#32 ·
Dukoff silverite mouthpieces eventually wear out. I think that it was Kirk Whalum that bit one in half, basically. That stuff is soft and, like me, ain't pretty with a little age on it. :)
 
#39 ·
I read this assertion as:

"Randolph could play sax at a higher level, but did not do so out of choice. Other people sounded better than Randolph, even though they could not play as well, b/c Randolph chose to play below his level."

But the assertion is perplexing.
 
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