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I'm doing some horn arranging for the band I play in, but am a bit out of my league. Part of my crash course will entail listening to examples of how it's done well. This is in the rock and roll vein, so I'm looking for examples along the lines of "Monday" or "Tumbling Dice." All your erudite help is much appreciated!

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I can't see some of the posts that are on here (blocked at work) but how about "Got to get you into my life" by The Beatles or "Can't hardly wait" by the Replacements?

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I'd ignore the whole Rock thing - all rock bands that use horns are doing so because they want to sound like soul bands. The key is to use them as the rhythm section, so really they should be working off the bass and drums - once you are solid with that, then you have them do a few lead parts.

 

Check these out for examples - notice they are mainly acting to boost the rhythm section. It's all punchy and simple - it's far more important to get them driving the rhythm than it is to have them showing off, although doing both would be good.

 

Van 1

Van 2

Anything Van Morrison in the early to mid 70s is what you should be aiming for.

 

Neil Diamond's Bang recordings always have great horns. Listen to this from 0.41 - that's a good loud example of what works with rock/pop horns. It's also got a good example of how that basic sound can turn into a solo later on in the song.

(ignore the dancing owls and listen to the horns from 2.51 - that's a good loud example )

 

or . . .

you can use them to play the hook like this:

Otis 1

although at the end, you can hear how that then turns into driving the rhythm section forward.

 

oh, and allen toussaint, back in the day was hard to beat:

Allen 1

the band used him for the last waltz - which just shows that all these rock bands were basically taking their sound from the soul style

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^^ One of my all-time favorite songs.

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^^ One of my all-time favorite songs.

That's because your taste is fucking impeccable.

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Here's some more in a pop/rock vein:

 

The Rolling Stones - Rocks Off, Bitch...

Fleetwood Mac - Tusk

Steely Dan - My Old School

Love - Alone Again Or

Sloan - Everything You've Done Wrong

Chicago - 25 or 6 to 4

Harry Nilsson - Take 54

 

and some R&B/Reggae/Ska stuff:

 

Prince - Slow Love, Housequake...

Sly & The Family Stone - Dance to the Music, Runnin' Away...

Jimmy Cliff - You Can Get It If You Really Want

Specials - A Message To You Rudy

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A couple that stand out for me (things that don't blend into the background)

 

Joe Jackson's "Body and Soul" has some good jazzy/big band kinds of horns in it.

 

Radiohead's "The National Anthem" has some rather non-traditional stuff.

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