Lee Allen

Lee Francis Allen (July 2, 1927 – October 18, 1994) was an American tenor saxophone player. Phil Alvin, Allen's bandmate in The Blasters, called him one of the most important instrumentalists in rock'n'roll. Allen's distinctive tone has been hailed as "one of the defining sounds of rock'n'roll" and "one of the DNA strands of rock."

Allen was a key figure in New Orleans rock and roll of the 1950s and recorded with many leading performers of the early rock and roll era. He was semiretired from music by the late 1960s, but in the late 1970s returned to performing intermittently until the end of his life.

Biography Allen was born on July 2, 1927 in Pittsburg, Kansas, and raised largely in Denver, Colorado. Notable are his recordings with the singers Fats Domino and Lloyd Price. Allen also was the sax soloist on most of Little Richard's epochal hits from 1955 and 1956. Earl King, whom Allen backed, recalled that Allen was "part of the wallpaper" at Cosimo Matassa's studio, and that Allen was on all the records by Huey "Piano" Smith.

In October 1981, Allen played three shows with the Rolling Stones: on October 1 at the Metro Centre, in Rockford, Illinois, and on October 3 and 4 at Folsom Field, in Boulder, Colorado. Allen found it difficult to adjust to the stadium size shows of the Stones and was replaced with Ernie Watts and Bobby Keys for the remainder of the tour.

Allen continued to tour with Fats Domino into the 1990s. In late 1992, he took part in studio dates for what would be his final album: The Ultimate Session, released by High Street/Windham Hill in 1994. The group of New Orleans all-stars featured Palmer, Alvin Tyler, Dr. John, and Allen Toussaint. He was survived by his wife, Birdie, as well as five children from a previous marriage: Lee Jr., Patrick, Emmanuel, Aaron, and Karen.

After Allen's death, Blasters member Dave Alvin dedicated the song "Mister Lee" (on the 1996 album Interstate City) to his longtime friend and bandmate. Alvin noted that melody was Allen's passion, and that it was what separated him from less sophisticated honkers. Earl King added that whereas other saxophonists would get too jazzy, Allen had commercial appeal.

Discography Rockin' At Cosimo's // Shimmy (Aladdin 3334, Sep 1956) Walkin' With Mr. Lee // Promenade (Ember E-1027, Nov 1957) Walkin' With Mr. Lee / Teen Dream // Promenade / Big Horn Special (Ember EEP-103-45, 1958) Lee Allen And His Band: Walkin' With Mr. Lee (Ember ELP-200, 1958; CD reissue: Collectables COL-5083, 1994; second CD reissue [with 10 bonus tracks]: Acrobat ACMCD-4267, 2008) Strolling With Mr. Lee // Boppin' At The Hop (Ember E-1031, Feb 1958) Tic Toc // Chuggin' (Ember E-1039, Aug 1958) Jim Jam // Short Circuit (Ember E-1047, Nov 1958) Jim Jam // Funky (Ember E-1047, Nov 1958) re-release Creole Alley // Cat Walk (Ember E-1057, Oct 1959) Lee Allen And His Band: Down On Bourbon Street [reissue of ELP-200 with 2 bonus tracks] (Nola NLP-16, 1985)