Stones vs. Chicago: How Their Early 70s Horn Sections Sounded So Different

The quickest way to hear the difference is to drop the needle on “Brown Sugar” and then on Chicago’s “25 or 6 to 4”. Bobby Keys’ sax on the Stones track punches in for one iconic riff and a few backup lines — it’s a spice, not the main course. Chicago’s three-man horn section (with Terry Kath on guitar) functions as a lead voice, carrying melodies, counterpoint, and full solos as naturally as a guitar or keyboard. Both are integrated, but on completely different levels.

Chicago was a horn-driven band in the way that a big band or a soul revue is: the horns are the identity. The Rolling Stones, by contrast, used saxophonists like Bobby Keys (and later, the Uptown Horns) as session ringers to add R&B urgency and a loose, party atmosphere. Keys wasn’t a permanent member — he’d show up, play a few lines, and leave. That casual, non-arranged feel is part of what makes the Stones’ horn work feel like a wild card, not a structural pillar.

The integration question comes down to arrangement philosophy. Chicago’s James Pankow and Lee Loughnane wrote every horn part into the song’s DNA; without them, the song collapses. The Stones’ “Live with Me” or “Can’t You Hear Me Knocking” use horns to build tension or punctuate a groove, but the song still works as a straight guitar-and-dr