King Curtis was born Curtis Ousley in Fort Worth, Texas in 1934. He started playing alto saxophone early, drawing from players like Charlie Parker and Cannonball Adderley. By the 1950s he was working as a session musician, recording with B.B. King, Aretha Franklin, and The Coasters.
He signed with Atlantic Records in 1960 and cut singles like 'Soul Twist' and 'Memphis Soul Stew' that mixed R&B, soul, and jazz into a loose, funky groove. In 1970 he played saxophone on Simon & Garfunkel's 'Bridge Over Troubled Water,' his solo lifting the title track into something more urgent. You can hear that same direct energy in his own versions of 'What'd I Say' and 'Do The Monkey.'
Keep it compact: a lyric you come back to, a live memory, or the part of the catalog you would point someone toward first.
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