Live at Fillmore West

by King Curtis

Product Description:

Personnel: King Curtis (saxophone); Cornell Dupree (guitar); The Memphis Horns (horns); Billy Preston (organ); Bernard Purdie (drums).

Recording information: Fillmore West, San Francisco, California (1971).

In March 1971, Aretha Franklin and King Curtis played a three-night stand at San Francisco's legendary venue, the Fillmore West. An LP of selections from tenor sax legend Curtis's opening sets was released in August of that year. Tragically, less than a week later Curtis was murdered in New York City. In 2004, the specialist collectors' label Rhino Handmade released a four-disc box set containing full sets of all three nights; this expanded edition of King Curtis's LIVE AT FILLMORE WEST is taken from those remasters, adding five tracks to the LP's original nine songs including a version of George Harrison's "My Sweet Lord," featuring the organ and vocals of Billy Preston. The set list consists almost entirely of torrid soul-jazz workouts of pop and rock tunes from the era, from Bobbie Gentry's "Ode To Billie Joe" to Led Zeppelin's "Whole Lotta Love."