JAMMING WITH ICONS

ON BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN’S BORN TO RUN

David Sanborn played baritone saxophone on Bruce Springsteen’s 1975 classic as part of the album’s impressive horn section and contributed to the song, Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out, among others. “I always found him to be a really great guy,” Sanborn says. “I remember the pressure he was under making that record. You could feel the tension and pressure he was under. I’m not sure what all the sources of that pressure were, but it was very clear the moment you walked into the door. People had their jaws clenched. They were serious. There was a lot riding on it. They invested a lot of money or it was a real critical moment in his recording career, I don’t know really know what the source was. It seemed there was a lot riding on that record. Fortunately, it turned out to be monumental. It’s a great record. The energy and the passion of that record is astounding. He really delivered the goods.”

ON DAVID BOWIE’S YOUNG AMERICANS

The most famous pop-rock sax solo of the 1970s? Certainly, Sanborn’s iconic work on the title track of David Bowie’s 1975 classic is up there with the best of the era. “Bowie had not really toured America prior to this tour he did called the Diamond Dogs tour, which he did right after he made that album. That was my first experience with him. During the course of that tour, he started writing the music for the Young Americans and I think he was obviously inspired by Philadelphia soul music and decided to actually got to Philadelphia and record in the same studio that a lot of those Philly soul records were recorded in.”

ON STEVIE WONDER’S TALKING BOOK

Sanborn worked with Wonder during his tour opening for the Rolling Stones and subsequent work on the 1972 classic, Talking Book. Sanborn was a guest on Talking Book alongside artists such as Ray Parker Jr. and Jeff Beck. “It was obviously a big deal, because the Stones had been going for almost 10 years at that point. They were obviously an established band. We were playing these big venues, Madison Square Garden and places like that. But Stevie Wonder, at that point, was not a big deal. He was just coming off of being Little Stevie Wonder. When he made Talking Book, which was the album that really exploded for him, he was doing that while we were on the road with the Rolling Stones. I played on one song on that record.”