Saxophone player Boots Randolph – born Homer Randolph III in Paducah, Kentucky on June 3, 1927 – was best known for his 1963 instrumental hit “Yakety Sax,” which was later used to great effect on the UK comedy series The Benny Hill Show. As a young child, he performed with his family band, who would enter talent shows to earn money during the great depression. His musical career began after high school when he served in the US Army at the end of WWII. There, he played saxophone, vibraphone, and trombone in an army band until he was discharged in 1946. He spent the rest of the 1940s and the first half of the 1950s playing in various bands around Decatur, Illinois and Louisville, Kentucky. He relocated to Nashville, Tennessee in 1957 and signed to RCA Victor the following year. His solo releases were not successful, but Boots Randolph became a studio musician and a member of the Nashville A-Team. He played on hits by Brenda Lee, Roy Orbison, Al Hirt, Johnny Cash, Elvis Presley, Chet Atkins, and many others. Signing a deal with Monument Records in 1961, he reached the Top 40 as a solo artist with “Yakety Sax” in 1963. However, that was Boots Randolph’s only hit although he did have several songs land in the Top 100 including “Hey, Mr. Sax Man” (1964), “The Shadow of Your Smile” (1966), and “Temptation” (1967). “Yakety Sax” remained one of the most identifiable instrumentals in rock history when British comedian Benny Hill started using it as the theme to his TV series The Benny Hill Show until the late 1980s. The song is still heard during reruns of the series. Boots Randolph continued doing over 200 sessions and performances annually for many years. He died from a brain hemorrhage on July 3, 2007.
