"How many years have I been doing this?" I repeated his question incredulously. "Why do you ask?"
In a way, it was bizarre. I've been in this business for years. A voice on the blower says be at such-and-such recording studio, on a particular date and time. I turn up, and I play what they tell me to play. Then I climb in my Rover 3-Litre and motor away. Now there's this youngster from one of the heavyweight musical monthlies demanding an interview.
"Isn't it true that you played that famous solo on the hit 'Edgware Road'?" He asks eagerly.
While he pauses, settling back on the recording studio sofa I pose a question of my own.
I smile and we finish with a few more trivial questions. The journo picks up his tape machine, shakes my hand, and leaves. I'm due in studio B in twenty minutes so I grab the score and a coffee from the machine. A single run through and I've got the whole solo by heart.
"Well you're, sort of, semi-legendary" the scruffy young music journo replied. "You're the sessionman's sessionman. I mean, how busy have you been recently?"
"I've played on three albums today"
"That's what I mean!" he came back excitedly. "Whenever anyone wants a sax player your name is always in the frame."
"I keep busy, I've got a good agent. He should be, I've made him a rich man over the years. I'm booked up a lifetime ahead."
I've heard this one before. "I can't possibly say. It's a sessionman's secret. It certainly wasn't me on Top Of The Pops."
"Oh come on." He's all disbelief and intense."Everyone knows it was you"
"You may say that, I can't possibly comment"
"Well what about the Pink Floyd gigs?" He changes tack to try and put me off guard.
"I have worked with them, yes."
"Aha!" Amazing, he thinks he's caught me out. "And Bowie?"
"No. He's a perfectly good player himself" Well, with my help, I smirked to myself.
"Why the sudden interest? Who cares about a tenor playing session man?"
"It's to do with the rise of Loungecore and the John Barry/Burt Bacharach revival" he explains.
Loungecore? Schmoungecore! I played with these guys. It was a production line. Not that I complain about the sudden increase in royalty payments you understand.
"You, and players like you are news."
Ye gods, has it come to this?
The band were new to recording and a bit nervous.
"Are you sure this geezer's ok? I mean, he's getting on a bit." worried the lead singer.
"Cool it, man." The recording engineer had been around a while himself. "This guy's the best when it comes to stuff like this"
That evening when the band sat through the playback of the afternoon session the singer had to agree. "Hey, you were right. He was good!"
"Told you, man. Now pass that over here while I rewind the tape."
Next morning the band were settling into the studio with the engineer to start the mixing down. Suddenly the door of the control room burst open, the studio manager entered and said "Have you heard about Terry?"
"What the sax player?"
"Yeah."
"No, man. What's the deal?"
"He's dead. Heart attack yesterday morning on the way here to the studio"
"Wow, man. What a bummer"
The singer suddenly looked up. "Did you say yesterday morning?"
"Yes, why?" The SM looked puzzled.
"That can't be right. He laid down some tracks for us yesterday afternoon, they're here on the tape."
With shaking hands the engineer started the machine and out of the monitors came the distinctive sound of a tenor saxophone. In the control room they all looked at one another and their faces went white.
"They want me to work on the afternoon after I'm dead..."
© Steve Grantham (With grateful acknowledgement to Messrs Atkin & James)