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Alan Parsons - Winding me up

A nice and short recorder solo from studio wizzard Alan Parsons. This recorder is played through a chorus effect, but changing tone character and articulation convince me that it’s a real instrument.

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The Association - Windy

A typical 60s band, hippy influences, and flowery lyrics, and recorders fit in this quite well. Interestingly the player looks unconfortable with the recorder, and much more convincing in another video where he plays a high fife-like flute.

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The Association - Along comes Mary

The player from “Windy” looks a lot more confident on what is definitely a recorder here. Note the impressive breath pressure on the low notes.

Billy Joel - Rosalinda’s Eyes

Kudos to mr Joel for having a whole recorder solo. An early version of this track has a sax solo that is very similar, so I suspect the sax player from doing the recorder solo. He definitely has vibrato wide enough to fly a B-52 through. And pretty crappy breath control.

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Bonzo Dog Band - I’m the Urban Spaceman

The Bonzo Dog “Doo Dah” Band was a 1960 satirical psychedelic pop group, led by weird person Vivian Stanshall (the emcee voice of Tubular Bells), and with Neil Innes (who wrote the soundtrack of Monty Python and the Holy Grail) on keys. They feature plenty of wind instruments, including recorder, such as here.

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Janet Beazley - the Silver Swan

On an album of bluegrass music can be found this song, maybe a folk song? It features a duet between recorder and a dark sounding flute, maybe an Irish model?

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The Carpenters - Sing a Song

This track starts in the very first second with a recorder playing the melody. But more interesting, later there is some excellent two-recorder harmonizing against Karen’s voice. Well arranged and well played by some players who really knew what they were doing. Clean and great breath control.


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David Cassidy - Daydreamer

David Cassidy was a 70s heart throb, first in the Partridge Family, later with a solo career. His song Daydreamer is an excellent piece of 70s MOR, featuring a pretty bad recorder solo at the end. I’m suspecting a studio flute player who didn’t really know his way around the recorder.

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Fraternity - Seasons of Change (1971)

Fraternity is the Australian band fronted by the subsequent singer of AC/DC. Yet their music is different. Similar to English prog-rock groups they sometimes used very un-rock instruments. This track has two recorders in the beginning, of which one seems to have a slide?! Pretty rare, the singer is seen (but not so much heard) playing a bass recorder later in the song.

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Gentle Giant - Advent of Panurge (1974)

GG was another British progressive rock group. Most members were multi-instrumentalists, as can be seen here when we have 3 recorders being played live. (This is the end of a much longer recorder segment.)

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The Forester Sisters - We will not pass this way again

This country quartet of sisters, among my favorite 90s stars, have some beautiful compositions to their name. This charming song features a short soprano recorder solo. The player is clearly very skilled, possibly with a background in Irish flute or whistle. Check out the slide, tasteful ornamentation, and complete control of vibrato. Bravo!

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Grand Funk Railroad - I’m your Captain (1970)

Rock band GFR used a recorder on the transition between the rock and the orchestral half of their song “I’m your Captain (Close to my Home)”. The recorder echoes the vocal “I’m getting closer to my home” giving a lovely melancholy feel.

The playing is suspiciously smooth, but the vibrato makes me suspect a real instrument rather than a synth.

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Led Zeppelin - Stairway to Heaven (1971)

The quiet part of this song has a great recorder intro, which is repeated to harmonize under the vocal melody. It seems a soprano and alto or tenor. The light vibrato is pleasant, but a high note shows lack of breath support.


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Rolling Stones - Ruby Tuesday

The early Stones were not afraid of some experimentation. Here we have Bill Wyman on cello, and Brian Jones on recorder. There is a healthy dose of echo on it, and possible a second track.

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Rolling Stones - Gomper (1967)

This is one of their more psychedelic compositions. Jangling guitars evoke a Sitar, but the Tablas seem real enough. Somewhere halfway Brian Jones starts a very “out there” solo, with lots of flutter tonguing.


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Siouxsie and the Banshees - Green Fingers (1982)

New wave / punk is probably one of the less likely genres to find recorder playing. On “Green Fingers” guitarist John McGeoch of Siouxsie and the Banshees plays recorder with all the requisite energy. A certain lack of finesse is entirely forgivable, sacrificed to the energy of the track.

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The Undertones - Hannah Doot

The Undertones were a 70s/80s Irish rock band. The track Hannah Doot uses an alto recorder to good effect, unfortunately by a player who did not know about fork fingerings.

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Recorder in pop and rock

Recorders are only occasionally used in pop and rock music.

Sometimes they are used for their clear connotations of being simple or rustic. That is certainly the case in 60s hippy music such The Association’s Windy.

Similar but different, British progressive rock of the 1970s had lots of folk music influences, so groups such as Gentle Giant and Gryphon, used recorders amony many other non-traditional rock instruments.

In other cases the recorder is used as just another wind instrument, taking a solo spot in a song. See David Cassidy’s “Daydreamer” and Billy Joel’s “Rosalinda’s Eyes”. Unfortunately, in such cases the instrument is usually played by a flute or sax player, and the performance leaves a lot to be desired. That is certainly the case in those two aforementioned examples.

Finally,sometimes the recorder is use for providing an unusual texture. See The Undertones’ “Hannah Doot”.

Songs that do not have a recorder despite some people claiming they do:

King Crimson: Dance of the Puppets. I’m guessing a Mellotron or other keyboard.

Kraftwerk: Autobahn. The 20 minute version has nice flute playing. No recorder.