Was Bill Clinton actually a good saxophone player?

[tbn.al]

Bill Clinton was a decent HS sax player. I don't think took the audtion stuff too seriously. I never saw him at Allstate, but then again I never hung with the saxes. He was into playing in dance bands, which was easy to do in Hot Springs. There were eight or 9 AAA HS's in the whole state and he was an officer of some kind in the Hot Springs band while I was the same in the El Dorado band, two horrible bands BTW. We would occaisionally cross paths at football games. I'm not sure he even marched his senior year. Don't recall seeing him after Boys State. LSS Even in HS he was a better policitian than a sax player.

[eupher61]

He was All State at least once, not sure if it was concert band or jazz band. Decent, certainly not earth shattering.

[tbn.al]

Further research indicates that he was a member of the 1963 Arkansas All State Band, which was the year I missed. Apparently there is a video of some type, we barely had super 8's back then, in the Presidential Library in Little Rock that corroborates the fact. He was known as a pretty good jazz/rock ten sax in HS. I never played with him but later played with quite a few guys that did. They said he played a decent tenor.

[djwesp]

Further research indicates that he was a member of the 1963 Arkansas All State Band, which was the year I missed. Apparently there is a video of some type, we barely had super 8's back then, in the Presidential Library in Little Rock that corroborates the fact. He was known as a pretty good jazz/rock ten sax in HS. I never played with him but later played with quite a few guys that did. They said he played a decent tenor.

That is correct kind sir! I have seen a program of said All-State, with Mr. Clinton in it. My close friend, of whom you probably know, was there (Robert Nelson).

From several accounts Clinton was a slacker on his straight chops and was obsessed with jazz and blues.

When I was in middle school, then governer Clinton, played saxophone for us in a band rehearsal. He sounded really good, but then again my perspective was very flawed.

[The Big Ben]

He got pretty far for a sax player... Just think of what he could have done if he was a brass player....

[tbn.al]

If he had been a brass player I might have voted for him at least once. We should probably confine our discussion to his relative musical merits or lack thereof or Shawn might shut us down as soon as my radical political leanings surface.

BTW, I do know Robert, but not from Tech. He was already gone by the time I got there. He did help me a lot when I was a greenhorn at Cotter in '69. Great guy.

[djwesp]

If he had been a brass player I might have voted for him at least once. We should probably confine our discussion to his relative musical merits or lack thereof or Shawn might shut us down as soon as my radical political leanings surface.

BTW, I do know Robert, but not from Tech. He was already gone by the time I got there. He did help me a lot when I was a greenhorn at Cotter in '69. Great guy.

Don't worry. I had you pegged as considerably younger than Mr. Nelson. Figured he had probably just started in MH (since he was at... searcy? before that) when you rolled into the area.

[THE TUBA]

We should probably confine our discussion to his relative musical merits or lack thereof or Shawn might shut us down as soon as my radical political leanings surface.

I think that it is Sean that we have to worry about.

I wonder if any of America's other presidents were musicians/liked to play an instrument/had played an instrument at one time or another...

[Nick Pierce]

I know one vice president wrote music. I saw a Larry Zalkind recital not to long ago, and he played a transcription of a piece written by said vice president. I can remember neither the piece nor the V.P. Anyone have anything else to add?

[tbn.al]

[quote="THE TUBA"]I think that it is Sean that we have to worry about. /quote]

Sounds the same.

[The Big Ben]

I know one vice president wrote music. I saw a Larry Zalkind recital not to long ago, and he played a transcription of a piece written by said vice president. I can remember neither the piece nor the V.P. Anyone have anything else to add?

I'll take a guess and say Richard Nixon. Nixon was a passable parlor piano player and he might have tried to put pen to paper when he was a VP.

[tubatooter1940]

Heard him play tenor on T.V. one time. He sounded pretty cheesy.

[Carroll]

John Quincy Adams played Flute (as did many gentlemen of the time)
Thomas Jefferson played Violin, Cello and Clavichord.
Chester Arthur played Banjo.
Woodrow Wilson played Violin
Harry Truman played Piano.
Richard Nixon (as was mentioned above) played Piano and Accordion.

also of note Benjamin Franklin played many musical instruments, among them Guitar and Violin. Patrick Henry played Flute and Fiddle. Ross Perot played the Accordion and Condeleeza Rice was destined to become a Concert Pianist before getting into politics. Mahatma Gandi played the Concertina and Sir Edward Heath was an Organist and Conductor (London Symphony 1971).

[Carroll]

George W Bush was a cheerleader... does that count?

[Nick Pierce]

I know one vice president wrote music. I saw a Larry Zalkind recital not to long ago, and he played a transcription of a piece written by said vice president. I can remember neither the piece nor the V.P. Anyone have anything else to add?

I'll take a guess and say Richard Nixon. Nixon was a passable parlor piano player and he might have tried to put pen to paper when he was a VP.

Looked it up. It was Charles Gates Dawes, VP to Calvin Coolidge, who wrote several different tunes, one that became quite popular. Here's the info copied from wikipedia (take that as you will.)

"Dawes was a self-taught pianist and composer. His 1912 composition "Melody in A Major," became a well-known piano and violin piece, and was played at many official functions as his signature tune. It was transformed into a pop song ("It's All In The Game") in 1951, when Carl Sigman added lyrics. The song was a number one hit in the UK chart in 1958, for Tommy Edwards (Hatfield 1997: 360), and has since become a pop standard recorded hundreds of times by artists including The Four Tops, Van Morrison, Cliff Richard, Nat "King" Cole, Brook Benton, Elton John, Barry Manilow, and Keith Jarrett. He was also a member of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, the national fraternity for men in music."

[The Big Ben]

I know one vice president wrote music. I saw a Larry Zalkind recital not to long ago, and he played a transcription of a piece written by said vice president. I can remember neither the piece nor the V.P. Anyone have anything else to add?

I'll take a guess and say Richard Nixon. Nixon was a passable parlor piano player and he might have tried to put pen to paper when he was a VP.

Looked it up. It was Charles Gates Dawes, VP to Calvin Coolidge, who wrote several different tunes, one that became quite popular. Here's the info copied from wikipedia (take that as you will.)

"Dawes was a self-taught pianist and composer. His 1912 composition "Melody in A Major," became a well-known piano and violin piece, and was played at many official functions as his signature tune. It was transformed into a pop song ("It's All In The Game") in 1951, when Carl Sigman added lyrics. The song was a number one hit in the UK chart in 1958, for Tommy Edwards (Hatfield 1997: 360), and has since become a pop standard recorded hundreds of times by artists including The Four Tops, Van Morrison, Cliff Richard, Nat "King" Cole, Brook Benton, Elton John, Barry Manilow, and Keith Jarrett. He was also a member of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, the national fraternity for men in music."

Well. Whaddya know... I am humming that tune right now...

[OldsRecording]

John Quincy Adams played Flute (as did many gentlemen of the time)
Thomas Jefferson played Violin, Cello and Clavichord.
Chester Arthur played Banjo.
Woodrow Wilson played Violin
Harry Truman played Piano.
Richard Nixon (as was mentioned above) played Piano and Accordion.

also of note Benjamin Franklin played many musical instruments, among them Guitar and Violin. Patrick Henry played Flute and Fiddle. Ross Perot played the Accordion and Condeleeza Rice was destined to become a Concert Pianist before getting into politics. Mahatma Gandi played the Concertina and Sir Edward Heath was an Organist and Conductor (London Symphony 1971).

I heard somewhere that Warren Harding played tuba.

[Uncle Buck]

In 1988, after Clinton gave the infamously long nominating speech for Dukakis, he was on the Tonight Show making fun of himself for that speech.

He performed a solo with the band. According to my memory (not the best), it seems like after the fact Doc described him as a "pretty good amateur" or something like that.

[Dan Schultz]

..... Chester Arthur played Banjo....

I guess I ought to be ashamed of myself but I had to 'Google' this guy to find out which president he was!

[Carroll]

I heard somewhere that Warren Harding played tuba.

Not sure if he was a player or just a poser...