Peter Coe

As a member of Georgie Fame's Blue Flames, Peter Coe contributed the intense tenor saxophone solo so integral to the group's chart-topping British smash "Yeh Yeh." Two years later, he achieved international immortality as a member of the brass section that buoys the Beatles' soul-influenced perennial "Got to Get You into My Life." Born November 21, 1930, in Cambridge, England, Coe studied illustration at the Cambridge School of Art but also pursued saxophone, honing his skills in a series of local dance bands. After completing his exams he suffered a physical and mental breakdown, and following an extended period of recovery he joined the Royal Army Educational Corps, rising to the level of sergeant instructor. Coe returned to civilian life to accept an illustrator position with the Ministry of Agriculture, but resigned after four years to mount a music career, playing saxophone during the summer season at the vacation resort Butlins Skegness.
Upon returning to London, Coe split his time between graphic design and music until 1963, when he signed on with emerging blue-eyed soul singer Georgie Fame, the former Billy Fury backing pianist who assumed control of his band, the Blue Flames, after Fury sacked the group. A series of minor hits including "Do the Dog," "Green Onions," and "Bend a Little" preceded the blockbuster "Yeh Yeh," previously recorded by Latin jazz giant Mongo Santamaria -- Fame's rendition hit number one in the U.K. in January 1965, breaking the Beatles' stranglehold on the top spot. Coe resurfaced on Fame's smash follow-up "Getaway," and his gritty, impassioned solos -- profoundly influenced by the sound and sensibilities of American R&B -- are essential to the soulful authenticity of Fame's finest moments.
In the summer of 1966, Coe entered London's Abbey Road Studios, joining fellow tenor saxophonist Alan Branscombe and trumpeters Eddie Thornton, Ian Hamer, and Les Condon to contribute the Stax-inspired brass arrangement for the Beatles' "Got to Get You into My Life," the penultimate track on the classic LP Revolver. A longtime fan favorite, the song was finally issued as a single in 1976, entering the U.S. Top Ten six years after the Beatles split. By that time, Coe was long since out of popular music -- after a yearlong stint as a big-band contractor and director for Polydor Records, he resumed his illustration career in 1970, forming his own design firm. He nevertheless led an occasional jazz quartet in and around London, and his semi-pro orchestra won the BBC big-band championship on three separate occasions. Coe relocated to Spain in 1987, playing for six years at Magnum's Jazz Bar near Marbella. He died on March 16, 2009, at the age of 78. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Music Guide