Here's a double installment for all you blog fans out there. King Curtis Live At Fillmore West and Aretha Franklin Live At Fillmore West were recorded over three shows on March 5, 6 & 7 1971. King Curtis and the Kingpins were the opening act and the backup band for the headliner, Aretha Franklin. King Curtis was huge on the studio scene at the time, having written two tracks for John Lennon's Imagine album, written and performed the theme to Soul Train, played sax on The Coaster's massive hit Yakety Yak, and opened for the Beatles famous Shea Stadium concert in 1965 to name a scant few of his accomplishments (thanks Wikipedia!). Since he was tearing it up all over the place, he had his pick of the top studio musicians at the time to be in his band, and man did he choose well. Get a load of this: Bernard Purdie (drums), Jerry Jemmott (bass), Cornell Dupree (guitar), Billy Preston (organ), Truman Thomas (piano/electric piano), Pancho Morales (congas), and the Memphis Horns - Jack Hale (trombone), Roger Hopps (trumpet), Wayne Jackson (trumpet), Andrew Love (tenor sax), Jimmy Mitchell (bari sax) and of course King Curtis on sax.
I first heard about these albums when I first moved to the Bay Area, around 2000. For a short time I played in a band called Big Big Soul (yes, you read that correctly. <sigh> That goes down in history as one of the all time worst band names in the history of the universe) and the organist in the band turned me on to these knowing how much I loved classic R&B. And holy shit, how did I not know about these before? For years I had been digging through used CD bins looking for the Blue Note Rare Groove discs and I had been buying them based entirely on the players, so I knew immediately how ridiculous this lineup was. Then to have this kick-ass band play backup to Aretha Franklin at the height of her powers?
Ok, on to the actual recording. The King opens up his set with his biggest hit, Memphis Soul Stew. This is the most perfect introduction to the uninitiated into this unbelievable roster of musicians. Jerry Jemmott starts up the funk and just lays it down. Then comes the funk monster, Bernard Purdie, who simply destroys the scene in all of six bars. Then Cornell Dupree lays on the sweet soul before Billy-badass Preston brings us on down to gospel-town. Memphis Horns drop the soul bomb, Pancho Morales throws in the conga spice, and finally the King enters the groove for real. Man alive, they haven't even started into the real groove yet... wow. I'm sweating and we're only five minutes into the show!
They continue on with a cover of Procol Harum's Whiter Shade Of Pale, which while it's not my favorite of tunes, does provide the King with a great chance to blow. Then onto Led Zeppelin's Whole Lotta Love. Uh... what?!?! It's always so strange to me when soul bands cover rock tunes... Zeppelin ends up being some strange gospel/pseudo-rock hybrid mutant. The sax playing the melody and the horns hitting the chorus almost weird me out. I just have to keep in mind that they were covering radio hits of the time. Then again, all the weirdness is completely made up for with Bernard Purdie's excellent drum break and the following break down. Again, so bizarro that this is Whole Lotta Love....
I Stand Accused is a direct injection of some sweet gospel complete with Brother Curtis preaching at the top, with an extra special crispy crust of 70's fusion in the form of the King's wah-sax solo. Burning stuff to be sure, which blasts straight into Jimi Hendrix/Buddy Miles' Them Changes. Another strange choice, but this one is much more suited to the R&B/Soul arrangement that it's given and Jerry Jemmott kicks this tracks ass all over the place. Ode To Billie Joe gives out more wah-sax (which I'm a sucker for, honestly), and by Mr. Bojangles I'm starting to think that the wah-sax thing is a bit of a gimmick, but I'm still on board. They straight up murder Stevie Wonder's Signed, Sealed, Delivered (I'm Yours), and finish off the disc with Soul Serenade, a slow, sweet number that leaves you wanting more. And more you get, in the form of:
Alright, here we go. If you thought that King Curtis' disc left off on a bit of a low note, just wait until you hear the unbelievable tornado of fury that is Aretha's live version of Respect. Hot damn, fasten your seat belts, kids, the band is here to teach you the Gospel according to Sister Aretha. After warming up for an hour or so, the King steps aside and lets the Queen of Soul drive the bus for awhile and drive it she does, about 190 mph right up your ass. After preaching a bit, the Queen takes you for a ride through Stephen Stills-ville with a cover of Love The One You're With. While I wasn't so much a fan of King Curtis' rock/pop covers, this one is a perfect fit for Aretha's tent revival show. Billy Preston gets a nice moment in the middle of this one, and the rhythm section of Jemmott, Purdie, Dupree and Morales is just poppin'. Bridge Over Troubled Water seems like almost too obvious a choice, but in spite of it Aretha makes poor Art Garfunkel sound whiter than white by comparison. Truman Thomas gets a nice solo at the top, but this track belongs to Aretha.
Aretha drops some soul school on to Eleanor Rigby. How can Curtis' covers be so odd but Aretha's, by the same band, be so killin'? Certainly having three killer black chicks backing up arguably the greatest female soul singer ever helps. They keep it far too short before moving on to smoother territory with Make It With You. Don't Play That Song is dripping with soul, but it is a drop in the bucket next to Dr. Feelgood. Oh, mama... this reaches straight into my chest and holds on for dear life. I would kill to be in a band that is slaying it this much. I toured the country with a Mississippi blues band for over half a year playing 5 nights a week and in all of our travels, I NEVER saw a band or performer do what Aretha does on this track.
Spirit In The Dark is relatively straight forward (still burning of course, it's Aretha freakin' Franklin after all), and it's almost a bit of a come down from Dr. Feelgood until it morphs into a classic gospel rave-up, and then guess who shows up on the Reprise but the one and only Ray Charles! I think my brain might explode, folks, if my soul doesn't beat it to the punch.
Whew! They cap it all off with the sweet Reach Out And Touch (Somebody's Hand) which is actually the perfect place to end out this sweat-fest. Can you imagine being in Curtis' band and just played two burning sets only to have to repeat tomorrow night? And the next, and the next?
A couple of quick last little bits. King Curtis was stabbed to death only five months after these were recorded (and one month after they were released). While I have covered the original release here, both of these discs were re-released later with extra tracks, and in 2005 Rhino Records released Don't Fight The Feeling: The Complete Aretha Franklin & King Curtis Live At Fillmore West. I haven't gotten to the extended editions yet, but you can be sure that they'll be in my ever expanding collection sooner than later.
I hope you all enjoyed your trip to Soul School 1971. Until next time.
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