Live at Fillmore West (Dlx)

King Curtis | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (July 11, 2006)
• Original Release Date: 2006
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Atlantic / Wea
• ASIN: B000FBG06C
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #109,755 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

No Description Available

Track: 10: My Sweet Lord bonus track King Curtis & Billy Preston,

Track: 11: Them Changes alt. version/bonus track,

Track: 12: Ode To Billie Joe alt. version/bonus track,

Track: 13: Soul Serenade alt. version/bonus track,

Track: 14: Memphis Soul Stew alt. version/bonus track,

Track: 1: Memphis Soul Stew,

Track: 2: Whiter Shade Of Pale,

Track: 3: Whole Lotta Love,

Track: 4: I Stand Accused,

Track: 5: Them Changes,

Track: 6: Ode To Billie Joe,

Track: 7: Mr Bojangles,

Track: 8: Signed Sealed Delivered (I'm Yours),

Track: 9: Soul Serenade
Media Type: CD
Artist: CURTIS,KING
Title: LIVE AT FILMORE WEST
Street Release Date: 07/11/2006
Domestic
Genre: JAZZ

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

37 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Original 'Kingpin' of Southern Soul, July 28, 2006

By 

Thomas D. Ryan "American Hit Network" (New York) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Live at Fillmore West (Dlx) (Audio CD)

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. A- Tom Ryan

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars What live music used to sound like, September 22, 2007

By 

J. Brodnicki "HypnoJoe" (Hendersonville, TN USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Live at Fillmore West (Dlx) (Audio CD)

The late 60s and early 70s gave us many music acts "Live at the Fillmore," a sign that the act had really arrived. By today's standards, the recordings were raw and, at their best, authentic to the sound and feel of the time.

King Curtis "Live at the Fillmore" is a satisfying mix of instrumental soul, R&B that combines the smooth melody of cuts like "A Lighter Shade of Pale" with some funky R&B (Memphis Soul Stew and others). While not every cut works (Led Zeppelin's A whole Loota Love), the CD shows a consistet level of musicianship and is a great sample of the musical experiments and fusion of the era.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Magic......Pure aural pleasure!, March 4, 2007

By 

C.J. (Norman, OK USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Live at Fillmore West (Dlx) (Audio CD)

From the moment I put on this recording, I was captivated. Six minutes into 'Memphis Soul Stew' listners are treated to an explosion of sound that wraps up in it the genres of soul, rock, jazz, and most likely some unearthly sound millions of light years away. From beginning to end, King Curtis and the incredible musicians brought together on this recording groove and interact in a manner that few bands achieve. If you own three live recordings in your life, this should be .333333.