King Curtis

Induction Year: 2000

Induction Category: Sidemen

King Curtis was a dynamic tenor sax player whose work graced countless rock and roll and R&B records. Born Curtis Ousley in Fort Worth, Texas, his trademark was a honking Texas tenor sound inspired by his main influences Illinois Jacquet, Earl Bostic, Arnett Cobb albeit with a rock and roll edge. He moved to New York in 1952 and played with Lionel Hampton’s and Horace Silver’s jazz groups. He began doing session work for R&B and rock and roll artists in the mid-Fifties. One of his most memorable solos, and the one that sealed his reputation as a rock and roll sideman, appeared in the Coasters’ 1958 smash, “Yakety Yak.” King Curtis can also be heard on such seminal early sides as “A Lover’s Question,” by , “Boys,” by , and “Reminiscing,” by (which he cowrote). As part of Atlantic Records’ stable, he played on sessions for , , Solomon Burke, Don Covay, , and others. In later years, he also produced (or coproduced) albums for Roberta Flack, Donny Hathaway, Delaney and Bonnie, Freddy King and Sam Moore (of ).
Pursuing a career as a solo artist all the while, King Curtis recorded under his own name for the Prestige, Enjoy, Capitol and Atlantic labels. He cut such instrumental hits as “Soul Twist” (#1 R&B, #17 pop) and “Memphis Soul Stew” (#6 R&B, #33 pop). In the late Sixties and early Seventies, he crossed paths with rock icons like (who performed on King Curtis’s “Teasin’” in 1970) and the Band (who paid tribute to King Curtis by incorporating his “Soul Serenade” into their “You Don’t Love Me” during a New York performance shortly after his death). King Curtis was revered by his fellow musicians, especially Duane Allman of the Band (a fellow Atlantic Records sideman), and Robbie Robertson of , who has cited him as a major influence.

King Curtis was working as ’s musical director and had also recently done sessions for John Lennon’s Imagine album when he was stabbed to death by a drug addict with whom he argued outside his New York City apartment on August 13, 1971. “He wasn’t only a rock and roll saxophone player,” Atlantic’s noted at King Curtis’s funeral, which attracted such luminaries as , , Duane Allman and Rev. Jesse Jackson. “He was a very good jazz player and a very sensitive virtuoso.”

TIMELINE

February 7, 1934: Curtis Ousley (a.k.a. King Curtis) is born in Fort Worth, Texas.

1950: King Curtis tours with jazz bandleader Lionel Hampton.

1956-1971: As a sessionman and touring musician, King Curtis backs an estimated 125 artists ranging from rock and roll and R&B to jazz and pop.

March 17, 1958: record “Yakety Yak,” which is highlighted by King Curtis’s honking sax solo. It hits #1 on both the pop and R&B charts, and King Curtis becomes a mainstay of Atlantic Records’ soul and R&B sound.

February 17, 1962: “Soul Twist,” an instrumental by King Curtis, enters the charts, subsequently reaching #1 R&B and #17 pop. The song merits a mention by later that same year in his hit “Havin’ a Party.”

April 28, 1962: King Curtis hits #1 on the R&B chart and #17 on the pop chart with “Soul Twist”.

April 1, 1965: goes to New York with ’s band and takes a room at the Theresa Hotel. Over the next several months, he will play with , King Curtis, Joey Dee and the Starlighters and . He also takes a job with a club band called Curtis Knight and the Squires.

May 1, 1971: ’s recording of “Bridge Over Troubled Water,” which includes King Curtis on sax, tops the R&B singles chart.

August 13, 1971: King Curtis is stabbed to death outside his apartment on New York’s Upper West Side.

September 1, 1971: John Lennon’s Imagine album, featuring King Curtis on several tracks, is released.

March 6, 2000: King Curtis is inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame at the fifteenth annual induction dinner. Mike Leiber and Jerry Stoller are his presenters.

Essential Recordings

Soul Serenade (King Curtis)
Boys (Shirelles)
Memphis Soul Stew (King Curtis)
Reminiscing (Buddy Holly)
Teasin’ (King Curtis)
What Am I Living For (Chuck Willis)
Bridge Over Troubled Water (Aretha Franklin)
A Lover’s Question (Clyde McPhatter)
Soul Twist (King Curtis & the Noble Knights)
Yakety-Yak (Coasters)

Recommended Reading

Instant Soul: The Legendary King Curtis
King Curtis. Razor & Tie, 1994. (Note: The booklet included with this compilation contains biographical and discographical information.)