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Doc Elliot has been playing professionally since 1963 when he was part of a band called “The Malibus”. The band won a “battle of the bands” competition earning them the spot to play at Tan-Tar-A Resort’s Grand Opening. He also played on Russ Carter’s “St. Louis Hop” TV Show, and in fact was on the first color transmission of the show! He also played with “The Disciples of Soul” from 1966 to 1970, “Stash” from 1970-79 (playing regularly on the old Admiral excursion boat, as well as serenading “Miss Budweiser” and the Busch Stadium crowd at “Teen Night”). From 1983-96 he was in several poplular St. Louis bands: “El Rondo & The Jades”, “Cruzen”, and “Full Blown Cover”. With “Cruzen” Doc opened and was the backing band for “Martha Reeves & the Vandellas” and “Gary U.S. Bonds”, and also played at one of Baseball-Hall-of-Famer Stan Musial’s birthday parties. Doc played and wrote horn arrangements on the “Mama’s Pride” Guard Your Heart CD and co-wrote horn arrangements on “Butch Wax” Good Rockin’ CD. He also looks forward to playing with Steve Davis’ “Tribute to Elvis” at the Pageant each January, commemorating Elvis’ birthday, because it’s such a full-blown event, with backup singers, costume changes, and a variety of dynamic performers.
Butch Wax Highlight
One of the best moments “Doc” has had with BW & H, was flying to Houston with Johnnie Johnson and his wife Frances, “where, we were treated like royalty, real unlimited room service.” Another, was helping with Gene Ackmann’s “Gotta Go to Work” project that eventually lead to playing the Super Bowl Victory Parade in St. Louis, celebrated by more than a half-million Rams fans on a freezing Market Street for more than five hours on a Monday evening.
Favorite Butch Wax Story
“I’ll never forget the time several of us were riding with Tom O’Brien heading up to a BW & H gig in Cedar Rapids. Being somewhat ‘direction impaired’, we called someone half way through the trip to check directions, they said, ‘Take it to 67’, but we thought they said, ‘Take 267’…so we ended up 2 hours away and practically in Chicago.”
On the death of Oliver Sain 10-28-03:
“One of the great side benefits of playing music is for the places it takes you and the people you get to meet. The year before I joined BW & H I was between bands and the leader of the Baby Boomers called and wanted to know if I could do New Year’s Eve with three other horn players, himself included. And when I learned that it was Oliver Sain I said, ‘Sure! Any rehearsals?’ ‘None. — I’m in.’
“I thought back to when I first saw Oliver playing his tenor saxophone at a teen town. De Salles I think; I was about 18, and when I told him this later, he said, clowning, ‘I ain’t that old!’ and told me it couldn’t have been him and ‘…must be someone else.'”
“But what I remember about his playing, was that before Kenny G , David Sanborn, or even Michael Brecker, Oliver had mastered the art of circular breathing. It’s Zen-like in its application; like Yoga, in its control. It’s where the horn player is able to breathe in, while still blowing a note, or a line of notes. It’s as if that one universal limitation for all wind instruments (having to breathe while using one’s breath to make the tones) has been overcome. Circular breathing (blowing out, while inhaling), completes a perfect cycle, and, in theory, allows one to play an unending note, or passage, indefinitely, and without a break.”
“So, for giving me a chance to record at your studio many years ago when I was with The New Blend in the IMF (Incredible Music Force) Group, (our theme song was the theme from the TV program, Mission Impossible) and for giving many musicians in St. Louis a chance to work, and for showing a novice trumpet player what “being into it” was all about . . . I say ‘Thanks.’ and I know that somewhere in this universe those tones and those soulful renditions are reverberating through the cosmos, forming a perfect cycle, an unending passage of circular breathing from the past through eternity. This is what I think of when I think of Oliver Sain. He was someone who took the time to remove the limitations of his artistry, by learning to play an unlimited note, by overcoming that which seems to most of us to be impossible, by working hard at his craft.”
“Oh, and by the way, you still owe me fifty dollars from that New Year’s Eve, (remember how you ‘renegotiated’ the horns’ pay at the end of the night?) No. Come to think of it, you paid me that…many times over. Thanks again.”
“More recently, I enjoyed the outstanding performances of Billy Peek and Michael McDonald when I played trumpet with Billy Peek and we opened for Michael McDonald at the Pageant in 2005. Then, there was the amazing concert at the Sheldon in 2005 that I played with Billy Peek and Bonnie Bramlett and Robbie Montgomery. Billy Peek mesmerized the audience, and I’ve never seen such crowd participation, with 100% of the audience actively involved. It was an amazing phenomenon. Both Bonnie and Robbie are ex-Ikettes with Ike and Tina Turner, and they brought the crowd that night to their feet with such classics as ‘River Deep Mountain High’ and ‘Proud Mary’. It was a thrill to be part of that musical experience. You will recall that Bonnie had considerable success in the Rock and Roll world with Delaney & Bonnie and Friends (of ‘Only You Know and I Know’ and ‘Soul Shake’ fame). And, of course, it was my honor to play at Johnnie Johnson’s wake, which was really a celebration of his life, where people came from all over the globe to pay homage to him through music.”
Doc can be emailed at: elliot@Butch Wax.net
Professional Equipment: Schilke B3 Trumpet
“All Along the WatchTower” – Bob Dylan
“Live at Jimmy’s” – Maynard Ferguson
“Abraxas” – Santana
“Born to Run” – Bruce Springsteen
“Credit” – Tower of Power
“At This Moment” – Billy Vera and the Beaters
“Giant Steps” – John Coltrane
“Moonlight Sonata” – Beethoven
“Stella by Starlight” – Miles Davis
“River Deep Mountain High” – Ike & Tina Turner |
