King Curtis

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Albums / Singles

With his beginnings as a sessionman in the ?50s, King Curtis perfected his hard-playing tenor sax skills. After playing with Buddy Holly and on tracks like the Coasters' "Yakety Yak," he began cutting his own pop/soul/jazz records, ultimately scoring a hit with the swinging "Soul Twist" in 1962. His prolific output and session work continued ? Curtis offered a notable performance on John Lennon's Imagine, for instance -- until he was murdered outside his New York apartment in 1971.