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Q: Movie roles ( Answered 5 out of 5 stars,   0 Comments )
Question  
Subject: Movie roles
Category: Arts and Entertainment
Asked by: lou1-ga
List Price: $2.00
Posted: 16 Aug 2002 15:25 PDT
Expires: 15 Sep 2002 15:25 PDT
Question ID: 55427
Who was Elvis Presley's saxaphone player in 1965's "Girl Happy"??
Answer  
Subject: Re: Movie roles
Answered By: pinkfreud-ga on 16 Aug 2002 18:21 PDT
Rated:5 out of 5 stars
 
There are two correct answers to this intriguing question.

The actor who portrayed "Doc," the saxophone player, onscreen in "Girl
Happy" was Jimmy Hawkins:

"Director Boris Sagal had seen Hawkins' work and thought he would be
just right to play Elvis Presley's sidekick in his upcoming film, Girl
Happy. The movie would feature three bandmembers - and Sagal realized
that Jimmy's personality would make him a good choice for any one of
the three. The director gave Jimmy the privilege of picking whether he
would rather play Andy, Doc, or Wilbur. After reading the script,
Hawkins chose the character of Doc, because he thought he could
probably play him best. Doc played guitar and sax in the band - the
latter of which Hawkins did not really know how to play. To get an
idea of the technique needed to portray a sax player, the actor
visited night clubs to observe other saxophone players in action.
After his work in Girl Happy, Jimmy was suggested for another Elvis
film Tickle Me, but he lost the role to Jack Mullaney. Meanwhile, he
appeared on the television series Gidget. "

http://www.angelfire.com/tn2/elvisgirl/girlhappy.html

Since Jimmy Hawkins could not play the saxophone, the sax music you
hear in the movie was recorded by famed saxman Boots Randolph,
according to the liner notes from the "Girl Happy" album:

GIRL HAPPY personnel: Elvis Presley (vocals); Scotty Moore, Tiny
Timbrell, Tommy Tedesco (guitar); Boots Randolph (saxophone); Floyd
Cramer (piano); Bob Moore (bass); D.J. Fontana, Buddy Harman, Frank
Carlson (drums); The Jordanaires, The Carole Lombard Trio, The Jubilee
Four (background vocals).

http://half.ebay.com/cat/buy/prod.cgi?cpid=1756150&domain_id=1876&ad=1881

You can find a bit more about the actors and the music of "Girl Happy"
on this page:

http://www.phillip.chandler.btinternet.co.uk/dbase/movies/f17.htm

Google search strategy:

"elvis" + "girl happy" + "saxophone"
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=elvis+%22girl+happy%22+saxophone

This was an interesting question to research; as The King would say...

Thankya. Thankya verra much.

Cordially,
pinkfreud
lou1-ga rated this answer:5 out of 5 stars
Thorough and informative!  Great service.  I'll be back.

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