King Curtis

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King Curtis
Birth name	Curtis Ousley
Born	February 7, 1934 (1934-02-07) Fort Worth, Texas, United States
Origin	Fort Worth, Texas, USA
Died	August 13, 1971 (aged 37) New York, United States
Genre(s)	Soul, R&B, rock, soul jazz
Occupation(s)	Saxophonist, bandleader
Instrument(s)	Saxophones
Years active	1950s–1971
Label(s)	Capitol, Atlantic
Associated acts	Aretha Franklin, The Coasters

For the professional wrestler, see King Curtis Iaukea.

Curtis Ousley (February 7, 1934 – August 13, 1971), who performed under the name King Curtis, was an American tenor, alto, and soprano saxophonist and session musician who played rhythm and blues, soul, Rock and roll, and soul jazz. He was also a Musical Director and Record Producer. He is best known for his distinctive sax riffs and solos on such hits as The Coasters' "Yakety Yak"(which later became the inspiration for Boots Randolph's "Yakety Sax"), and his own "Memphis Soul Stew".

1 Career
2 Death
3 Partial discography
4 References
5 External links

[edit] Career

Curtis was born in Fort Worth, Texas. During the 1950s and early to mid 1960s he both worked as a session player on such records as "Yakety Yak" and recorded his own singles. He played on the Buddy Holly song "Reminiscing," after Buddy himself personally hired him to do some studio work. His best known singles from this period are "Soul Twist" (Enjoy Records) and "Soul Serenade" (Capitol Records). In 1965 he moved to Atlantic Records, where his most successful singles were "Memphis Soul Stew" and "Ode to Billie Joe". He led Aretha Franklin's backup band, The Kingpins, and produced records, at first with Jerry Wexler and then by himself. He also recorded for Groove Records.^[1]

One of his last releases was the critically acclaimed^[2] Live At Fillmore West which boasted heavyweight live versions of "Memphis Soul Stew" and Led Zeppelin's "Whole Lotta Love" and Stevie Wonder's "Signed, Sealed, Delivered". Musicians Billy Preston (organ), Jerry Jemmott (bass), Cornell Dupree (guitar; Curtis had a long standing relationship with Dupree), Pancho Morales (percussion), Bernard Purdie (drums) and The Memphis Horns backed up Curtis. The album's live version of Procol Harum's Whiter Shade of Pale was used as the title music in the seminal 1980s British comedy film Withnail & I.

Curtis also played a rousing sax solo on "It's So Hard", a song featured on John Lennon's Imagine album, which was released just weeks after his death.

[edit] Death

On Friday August 13, 1971, at the height of a New York heat wave, King Curtis was carrying an air conditioner unit into his apartment at 50 W.86th St. He found his access blocked by two men administering drugs to themselves. He asked them to move. There was a scuffle, and one of the men, later identified as Juan Montanez, stabbed King Curtis in the heart with a knife.^{[citation needed]} (According to Sam Moore, the attack was witnessed by Aretha Franklin and Moore himself, both of whom were arriving at Curtis's apartment to discuss recording sessions he was producing for them.)^{[citation needed]} Curtis was hurried to Roosevelt Hospital, but was dead on arrival. The funeral was held four days later. As the mourners filed in, Curtis' Kingpins played an hour long version of "Soul Serenade" and a number of musicians got up to play. Jesse Jackson preached the service, and Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin, Cissy Houston, Brook Benton and Duane Allman were among those attending. Aretha sang the closing spiritual, 'Never Grow Old'. The Atlantic Records office closed for the day.^{[citation needed]}