King Curtis – Soul Twist

As I was searching for 50s and early 60s songs for my painting playlist…I ran across this cool instrumental. I love that guitar and Curtis’s sax is really cool.  It has a dirty sound when it starts up and I find it quite infectious. The one guitar is playing that cool small riff and then the rhythm comes in to lift it up. Another new/old song to add to my playlist. John from https://thesoundofonehandtyping.com/ suggested it and I wanted to add to it anyway. 

Curtis was a great saxophonist who worked with many artists. He was on the Coasters Yakety Yak and Aretha Franklin’s Respect. He also worked with Buddy Holly, Nat King Cole, and The Shirelles to mention a few.

He also worked with Duane Allman and they formed a friendship. They worked on a few songs together but the one I like the best is their version of The Weight. Curtis’s sax sounds so good and clear in this version along with Duane’s slide playing.

In 1965, Curtis and the Kingpins opened for The Beatles at Shea Stadium. On August 13, 1971, King Curtis was tragically killed at the age of 37. He was stabbed during an argument outside his apartment in New York City. His sudden death shocked the music world, and Aretha Franklin sang at his funeral, along with other artists like Stevie Wonder and Duane Allman.

The song was successful…it peaked at #1 on the Billboard R&B Charts and #17 on the Billboard 100 in 1962. I have a playlist at the bottom that I made of instrumentals during my break. 

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Author: Badfinger (Max)

Power Pop fan, Baseball, Beatles, Alternative music, old movies, and tv show fan. Also anything to do with pop culture in the 60s and 70s... I'm also a songwriter, bass and guitar player. Not the slightest bit interested in politics at all.

25 thoughts on “King Curtis – Soul Twist”

    1. You bring up a good point. First thing I read is that he did Yakety Yak so I thought he would have a pop tone…and found out no… like you said… a very gritty tone.

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  7. This is a groovy tune. Guitar, sax, organ take turns. He’s got a mean twist on that horn. Did I hear a little yaketty sax in there? THANK YOU for the playlist. Lots of really good songs in there. Are these all instrumentals you’ve written posts on? I know “Rumble” by Link Wray is highlighted in a doc I watched a couple of months ago about Native American musicians. It doesn’t get more badass than “Rumble.”

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  8. Yep, it has that groove an instrumental needs- take away the words and you better get the tone and bones of the song spot on. Nice playlist of instrumental oldies too,( I’m big on ‘Red River Rock myself, big ballsy sax) If I may suggest another deeply buried oldie that I liked too, ‘Om’ by the Royal Guardsmen. (Yeah, before you say it I KNOW!!!) and a newer bluesy one Gwenifer Raymond ‘Sweep It Up,’ unless you’ve heard ’em before.

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    1. Funny you mentioned the Royal Guardsmen… I played on a bill with them before in Clarksville back in the late 80s.
      I just listened to OM… I love it.. it has a clear sound like Buckeroo by Buck Owens… I’ll add that to the list.
      Btw… yes I had the Snoopy and the Red Baron album.

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      1. On the same bill? That would have been something to remember, if not relish. I wonder if they felt the dull drag of cranking out ‘Snoopy’s Xmas’ with a pained smile for the ten thousandth time? Imagine being the band member chosen to chirpily say ‘Merry Christmas, mine friend’ yet again? That’s the problem with being a (near) one hit wonder I guess?

        Glad you liked OM. Sometimes a minor gem crops up on a ‘B’ side or buried as album filler and it just works. That said there WAS a lot of half-assed tosh dumped on a lot of albums in the 60s especially.

        And yes, as a naive kid, I heard and loved hearing’ ‘Snoopy’s Christmas’ all through December ’67. A year later I fear I’d moved on, and ten years later I’d clench my jaw on hearing it- inevitably in November- when I was in a mall or supermarket.

        And it remains a cult Christmas song here in NZ! Next week we roll into November… I can feel my jaw muscles flexing already.

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      2. Yes they were playing outside in Clarksville on a stage in the middle of town and we opened up for them. Nothing real big but hey…they at least had a name.
        I love clear guitar sounds like that song has. Yea any song to fill an album…well the Hey Hey Goodbye…or whatever it was called was a filler.
        I do remember that one about Christmas…it could have been the B side….it was one of those “Hit” oldies singles…
        Don’t grind your teeth too much come December!

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