Yakety Sax

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (May 2009)

"Yakety Sax"
Single by Boots Randolph
B-side	"I Really Don't Want to Know"
Released	1963
Format	45 rpm
Genre	Zydeco
Length	1:59
Label	Monument Records
Writer(s)	Boots Randolph, Spider Rich
Producer	Fred Foster
Boots Randolph singles chronology
- "Yakety Sax" (1963)

"Yakety Sax" is a 1963 45 rpm single written by Boots Randolph and James Q. "Spider" Rich, and recorded by Boots Randolph.

The composition includes pieces of assorted fiddle tunes such as "Chicken Reel", and written for a performance at a venue called The Armory in Hopkinsville, Kentucky. There is also a bar of "Entrance of the Gladiators" worked into it.

The song is not to be confused with the Leiber and Stoller song "Yakety Yak", recorded in 1958 by The Coasters. The tunes are similar, and both feature the "yakety sax" sound, but have distinctly different melodies. Randolph had recorded an earlier version of "Yakety Sax" that year for RCA Victor, but it was not until his rerecording for Monument Records that it became a standard.

Contents 1 Other noteworthy performances 2 Television and film 3 Internet meme 4 References

[edit] Other noteworthy performances

• Guitarist Chet Atkins recorded a variant version of "Yakety Sax" in 1965 called "Yakety Axe". Atkins' version used a similar tempo and showcased his country guitar picking style in place of a saxophone. The title change referred to the colloquial term for an electric guitar as an "axe". In 1990 he collaborated with Mark Knopfler on the album Neck and Neck where he recorded a slower-tempo version, with verses that he recited rhythmically to the music.
• Bill Haley & His Comets recorded "Yakety Sax" on three occasions: for Orfeon Records of Mexico in 1964, for Guest Star Records of the US in 1964, and for Sonet Records of Sweden in 1968. and it was a staple of their live performances, usually featuring saxophonist Rudy Pompilli.

[edit] Television and film

"Yakety Sax" is often used in television and film as a soundtrack for outlandishly humorous situations. It is frequently used to accompany comedic chases, most notably in the sketch comedy program The Benny Hill Show,^[1] where it accompanied otherwise silent, rapidly paced comedy sequences (often involving a chase scene).

The song is featured in the 2005 film V for Vendetta, playing during a TV comedy skit Gordon Dietrich writes without censor approval^[2]. The song is also used in the 1987 comedy film Rags to Riches with Joseph Bologna and Douglas Seale. Also, a variation of the theme was used in an episode of animated TV series Back at the Barnyard.

[edit] Internet meme

Yakety Sax is often given the reputation of making any video clip that it is put with instantly humorous, no matter how serious or violent the scene is.

[edit] References