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King Curtis
Six months after this recording was made, ‘King’ Curtis Ousley would be stabbed to death while standing in front of his New York City apartment building. This tragic violence brought a premature close to a career that had recently projected to new heights, and seemed poised to go just about anywhere. Active since the early fifties, King Curtis moved easily from jazz to soul to rock and roll. To put things in perspective, you should know that when Sam Cooke sings “Play that one called ‘Soul Twist’” in “Having a Party,” he’s referring to a King Curtis tune. The man was ubiquitous, but usually stayed behind the scenes, serving as a bandleader, producer or back-up musician for an endless number of performers, including the Coasters, the Isley Brothers, Bobby Darin and John Lennon. In 1971, he was acting as bandleader for Aretha Franklin (see my review for “Aretha Franklin Live at the Fillmore West”) and racking up a few hits of his own. “King Curtis Live at the Fillmore West” culls the highlights from his own sets at this venue, and it also marks a high point of his recording career.
The band alone justifies the price of admission. Billy Preston plays keyboards and Cornell Dupree plays guitar, while Jerry Jemmott and Bernard Purdie make up the rhythm section. Fattening out the rich sound of Curtis’ own baritone saxophone are the Memphis Horns, making this ensemble a dream team of funky soul-music brethren. Even when the material is lacking, the band manages to transcend mundanity with spirited interpretations. Would you expect “Ode to Billie Joe” to have a fatback groove? I wouldn’t have. Could you even imagine a baritone sax handling Robert Plant’s vocal line for “Whole Lotta Love”? I didn’t think so. This version in particular brings the song full circle, taking it closer to its roots as a Willie Dixon composition. The best tune here, though, is “Memphis Soul Stew,” a gorgeous eight-minute rhythmic workout that virtually defines the funky/loose and yet stop-on-a-dime/tight spirit of contemporary soul music. It is a virtual primer in everything anyone would need to know about cooking up a hot rhythm and letting it simmer until it boils over with intense energy. Throw in a bonus track that features Billy Preston molding “My Sweet Lord” into something uniquely his own, and you will have to wonder how on Earth anybody could claim George Harrison’s composition as a derivative of “He’s So Fine.”
King Curtis had a lengthy career, but it still ended much too soon. Catch this set and you’re also bound to wonder how soul music would have progressed had we not lost such a talented force at the peak of his powers.
Grade: 
 
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