The Pop Corporation

To many, King Curtis is the emotional saxophone at the start of Withnail & I, as his take on ‘A Whiter Shade Of Pale’ drifts over the two unfortunate souls in ’60s London. To others, he’s the blistering sound that made Aretha’s ‘Respect’ pop so hard, as well as ‘Yakety Yak’ by The Coasters and his own records like ‘Memphis Soul Stew’ and ‘Soul Twist’.

There’s no doubt that King Curtis was a bona-fide session legend, and with hits of his own, what the hell happened to him? Well, his story is a sad and interesting one, which we’re going to look at right now.

In 1971, at St Peter’s Lutheran Church on Lexington Avenue and East 54th Street, a sign on the door read; “Soul is the feeling of depth, the ability to reach someone. It’s being part of what today is all about”, and it was signed by Aretha Franklin. Around 1,000 people had congregated at the church to pay their respects to King Curtis who, on Friday 13th in August 1971, had been stabbed to death on his doorstep.

His chicken scratch sax had given an extra sprinkling of magic to many pop records before, and now, some of those people were paying their sombre respects to the great man.

To Franklin, Curtis was more than a mere hired hand – he was the bandleader and music director for the Queen of Soul, and he called her ‘little sister’, and he had friends in high places, opening for The Beatles at Shea Stadium and played with the great Sam Cooke. He was flown in for a session with Buddy Holly, who just knew that Curtis would bring the goods.

Ever heard the Mad Magazine novelty cut ‘It’s A Gas’? That’s your boy. The sax on John Lennon’s ‘Imagine’ LP? You guessed it.

Early in Jimi Hendrix’s career, Curtis was one who spotted his talent and hired him to be in the band, and ever the lover of rock ‘n’ roll, he found himself close friends with Duane Allman.

In an unusual move for the day, Curtis wasn’t phased by the apparent differences between jazz and rock ‘n’ roll. It was all a good time to him, and also, even if he didn’t think the music was all that, it was an honest paycheck.

He said: “I love the authentic rhythm and blues more than anything, and I also like to live well.”

Still a kid, Curtis went to New York to see if he could cut it against the big guns. And what better way than to get a gig at the infamous Apollo Theatre at the amateur night that has folded so many egos and wannabes. King Curtis took the crown by winning the competition in his first two outings.

People were drawn to his huge personality, as he strutted around NYC, dressed sharp, gold wristwatch and big furs. By the time March 1971 came around, he found himself at the Fillmore West with Aretha, which resulted in a pair of live LPs – ‘Aretha Live At Fillmore West’ and Curtis’ own ‘Live At Fillmore West’ (where the ‘Withnail & I’ cut comes from).

Curtis, a big time player with enough paychecks to buy a home, purchased a limestone building at 50 W. 86th Street, close to Central Park. It was here that Curtis would meet his maker.

In the basement, hanging with friends, Curtis was annoyed that the power kept going out, and it was thanks to an air conditioning unit that tripped the whole building.

Curtis and his assistant went to check the fuse box where they found a young man having a blazing row with a young woman on the stoop. The uninvited couple did not find a hospitable man, and Curtis is reported to have said: “you better get your trash out of here!” before breaking a torch over the kid’s head after some backchat.

It’s during the ensuing melee that Curtis takes a step backwards and there, he pulls a knife out of his chest. Before he falls to the ground, Curtis gets a couple of licks in and slashes his opponent a few times. He’s ultimately rushed to Roosevelt Hospital with a police escort.

At the hospital, King Curtis was pronounced dead, aged only 37 years old, while the man who stabbed him was arrested on the ward.

The loss felt in the community was huge, and at his funeral service, Stevie Wonder sang, and Jesse Jackson gave a sermon. It felt like Curtis was just about to hit a true peak of his whole musical career and become a real household name and legend, but a cruel twist of fate on Friday 13th had other ideas.

Of course, Aretha Franklin sang at Curtis’ funeral, performing ‘Never Grow Old’. Let’s listen to a reading of the song now, and then, go find out more about King Curtis’ incredible back catalogue.