747 live Gene Barge, R&B Saxophonist Who Played on Landmark Hits, Dies at 98

Gene Barge, one of the last surviving saxophonists of the golden age of R&B, whose career ran the gamut of 20th-century Black popular music, died on Sunday at his home in Chicago. He was 98.

His death was confirmed by his daughter Gina Barge.

Known by the nickname Daddy G, Mr. Barge played on landmark hits of the rock and soul era, beginning with Chuck Willis’s swinging remake of the blues standard “C.C. Rider.”

Galvanized by Mr. Barge’s moaning tenor saxophone, “C.C. Rider” reached No. 1 on the R&B chart in 1957 and stalled just outside the Top 10 on the pop chart. In 1963, Mr. Barge was featured on Jimmy Soul’s calypso-derived “If You Wanna Be Happy,” a No. 1 pop and R&B hit.

Mr. Barge also played the wailing tenor part on Fontella Bass’s “Rescue Me” (1965) and supplied the rhythmic drive, with members of the Motown house band the Funk Brothers,phtaya casino for Jackie Wilson’s “Your Love Keeps Lifting Me (Higher and Higher)” (1967). Both records topped the R&B chart and crossed over to become Top 10 pop hits.

gtb77 slotImageMr. Barge’s greatest acclaim came in 1961 with “Quarter to Three,” a No. 1 pop single recorded with the R&B shouter Gary U.S. Bonds.Credit...Legrand Records, via J.P. Roth Collection

His greatest acclaim, though, came in 1961 with “Quarter to Three,” a No. 1 pop single recorded with the R&B shouter Gary U.S. Bonds. Hoping to capitalize on the success of “New Orleans,” his first big hit, Mr. Bonds created “Quarter to Three” by adding lyrics to “A Night With Daddy G,” a churning instrumental that Mr. Barge had recently written and recorded with his band the Church Street Five.

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She is spending far more money than he is — nearly three times more in August.747 live