[INTRO]
- [1965 STUDIO] - [DEMOS] - [1966
STUDIO]
- [1967
STUDIO] - [LIVE]
[PERSONNEL] - [PICTURES] - [INTERVIEWS]
- [BIO]
Intro
Curtis Knight
(Curtis McNear) already had a recording career going before he met Jimi Hendrix.
The earliest Knight recording that I know of is the 45 "Voodoo woman / That's
why" (Gulf 45-031) released in (august?) 1961. This shows up on the survey of New York radio station WABC, so possibly Knight was already part of the NYC
music scene at that time.
Two more singles that pre-date Knight's association
with Hendrix are:
"You're gonna be sorry / Little doe-doe" (shell
45-310) released 1962
"Gotta have a new dress / When you've got love"
(shell 45-312) released 1963
All three singles are co-written and the last 2 also produced by Sampson Horton, any information about him would be most welcome. What makes these particularily interesting is that Curtis Knight later re-recorded "Gotta have a new dress" with the Squires including Hendrix on guitar.
It would seem that sometime in 1965 Curtis Knight got a record deal with RSVP in New York resulting in a single "Ain't gonna be no next time / More love" (RSVP 1111), with producing credits going to Harold Thomas and Peter Orna (once again any info on these two gentlemen would be appreciated).
After that single was released Knight seems to have changed management again, this time hooking up with Ed Chalpin and his company PPX Enterprises, possibly sometime in late 1965. This association resulted in Chalpin producing "How would you feel / Welcome home" by Curtis Knight featuring Jimi Hendrix on guitar.
Hendrix was introduced to Curtis Knight in the lobby of the America Hotel in New York. According to Hendrix himself he recorded "How would you feel" with Knight the next day, so this would date the meeting to have taken place on the 5th of October. Several studio sessions and live gigs followed until mid 1966 when Hendrix started his own group Jimmy James & the Blueflames.
When Hendrix reached fame in 1967 with the Experience Ed Chalpin sued Reprise records and Hendrix for breach of contract, since Hendrix was legally still under an exclusive contract to Ed Chalpin. While the court process was still in progress Jimi for reasons never properly explained again recorded for Ed Chalpin in July & August 1967, working on Knight songs and participating in a jam session. Ed Chalpin later won the right to release all the studio recordings (the live recordings are a more complex case) featuring Hendrix in his posession, and he has been licencing these tapes to hundreds of companies over the last 30 years, creating the most confusing jungle of different mixes and edits of the material imaginable.
Special thanks for info on all things Curtis Knight go to Nate Edmonds Jr., Doug Bell, Univibes and Jimpress.
