Tune Tuesday – Yakety Yak

The song for today is a familiar one, despite its age. The reason I pick this one is to remember one of the greats who passed away on this day in 1971. Perhaps you don’t know him by his real name, Curtis Montgomery, or his adopted name Curtis Ousley. If you are a music lover, I would hope that you are familiar with his stage name – King Curtis. He was one of the all time great saxophonists and had quite a career.

Curtis began playing saxophone at age twelve and liked a variety of music. He turned down college scholarships to join up with the legendary Lionel Hampton band where he wrote and arranged music. In the early 1950’s he left the band to go to New York. He became an on call session musician for labels like Atco, Prestige, and Capitol Records. He recorded with Clyde McPhatter, Bobby Darin, Buddy Holly, Jimi Hendrix, Andy Williams and was on Waylon Jennings first record. He also made his own records like “Soul Twist” (with his Noble Knights) in 1962.

In 1967, Aretha Franklin covered Otis Redding’s Respect by flipping the gender and presenting it from the female point of view. The song featured Aretha’s sisters, Erma and Carolyn on the repeated “sock it to me” line and King Curtis on the saxophone solo.

In February of 1971, John Lennon started recording tracks for his Imagine album. When Lennon, Yoko Ono and Phil Specter were mixing and finishing the album, John must have felt that he needed something more on a couple tracks. Apple’s Allen Steckler said, “John knew he wanted a sax player and it was his idea to use King Curtis. He asked me to get him. I found his agent and booked him. John played him the tracks and told him the kind of feel he wanted. He went into the studio and played his ass off. John loved it, as did Phil Spector and all of us.“

Curtis recorded his parts for the album in July of 1971. He can be heard on Lennon’s “I Don’t Want to Be a Soldier Mama” and “It’s So Hard.”

Long before all of that, Curtis decided to move towards playing rhythm and blues in part because it was a more lucrative career choice, but he also loved the music. It was in 1958 that he became widely known for his unique saxophone work when he played on The Coasters hit “Yakety Yak.” The sound that Curtis unleashed earned him some fame and influenced the sound of R&B the saxophone. He developed a strong relationship with The Coasters, becoming their go to sax man and contributing to arrangements as well on a string of hits that included “Charlie Brown,” “Along Came Jones,” “Shoppin’ For Clothes,” and more.

Saxophonist Boots Randolph was so influenced by the “Yakety Yak” solo that he altered the melody a bit and made it his own song called “Yakety Sax” (which played prominently on the Benny Hill Show). That song only further exposed the King Curtis sound.

On the night of August 12, 1971, Curtis was attempting to access the fuse box to his house (his central air conditioning system was tripping the breaker) when he confronted Juan Montanez, who was loitering on Curtis’s front steps with an unidentified female. A fight ensued and Montanez stabbed him. Curtis was found on the steps outside his apartment and was taken to New York’s Roosevelt Hospital where he died early on the morning of August 13, 1971. He was 37 years old.

So today, on the 53rd anniversary of his passing, check out the great King Curtis with the Coasters on the classic, “Yakety Yak.”