Intro
Curtis Knight (also known as Curtis McNair - real name Mont Curtis McNear)1 was already a music business veteran when he met Jimi Hendrix. Since Curtis used at least three different names during his career a lot of the recordings he made are less than well known, I've tried to compile an as comprehensive as possible listing of all Curtis' pre-Hendrix recordings and post-Hendrix recordings up to 1970 on this introductory page but they may well be many more still out there.
If you want to go directly to the Curtis Knight & Jimi Hendrix -recordings you can start on the page "1965 STUDIO" instead.
Direct links to the different sections on this page:
The Statesmen
The Titans
Charles Fuqua's The Ink Spots
Solo (With Sampson Horton)
Sugar'N'Spice
Solo (On RSVP Records)
Solo (Post Hendrix)
THE STATESMEN
The group consisted of servicemen from the Tachikawa US Air Force Base in Japan and performed in 1955-1956 in and around Tokyo. The line-up of the band was Curtis McNair (vocals), Eddie Jones (vocals), Buddy Holt (vocals), Lee Ivory (vocals), Lester Culver (vocals), Bill Homans (guitar). See this YouTube channel for 7 songs by the group (recorded by Japanese radio?): www.youtube.com/user/anniehomans/videos
According to Kathy Knight-McConnell Curtis Knight also sang with the Love Notes.2 There could have been a misunderstanding here as according to Marv Golberg 5 Buddy Holt of The Statesmen was an ex-member of the Love Notes, the Statesmen in turn was a group that Curtis WAS a member of and they also performed Love Notes material.
The Titans
Between 1957-1960 Curtis recorded as a member of the The Titans. The band appeared in the 1957 film "Bop Girl Goes Calypso", a clip from this film with the band performing "So Hard To Laugh, So Easy To Cry" is available on YouTube (Curtis McNear aka Curtis Knight is 2nd from the right).
The following Titans discography has mostly been taken from the website
"MARV GOLDBERG'S R&B NOTEBOOKS".
The discography notes the lead vocalist on each track as follows:
CW = Charles Wright
CM = Curtis McNair (aka Curtis McNear aka Curtis Knight)
SB = Sam Barnett
LG = Larry Greene
DD = The Titans, backing Don & Dewey
Labels:
Vita Records, 1484 N Fair Oaks Avenue, Pasadena, California
Specialty Records, Inc., 8508 Sunset Boulevard, Hollywood, California
Class
Fidelity Records (note that Fidelity was another label owned by Speciality owner Art Rupe)
"So Hard To Laugh, So Easy To Cry (CW) / Rhythm And Blues (CM)"
(Vita Records 148) released January 1957
"G'wan Home Calypso (CM) / Look What You're Doing Baby (CM)"
(Vita Records 158) released April 1957
"Sweet Peach (CM) / Free And Easy (SB)"
(Specialty 614) released October 1957
"Just A Little Lovin' (DD) / When The Sun Has Begun To Shine (DD)"
Don And Dewey (with the Titans backing)
(Specialty 617) released November 1957
"Don't You Just Know It (SB/LG) / Can It Be (CM)"
(Specialty 625) released January 1958
"Arlene (SB) / Love Is A Wonderful Thing (SB)"
(Specialty 632) released April 1958
The Titans - unreleased Specialty session:
"Deep Down"
"April In Paris"
"I Swear By All The Stars"
"No Time (CM) / The Tootin' Tutor (ALL)
(Class 244) released January 1959
Listen to "No Time" on YouTube
Listen to "The Tootin` Tutor" on YouTube
"Everybody Happy (CM) / What Have I Done (CW)"
(Fidelity Records 3016) released January 1960
The Titans with Roy and Sonny: "Lonesome Mood (??) / Blues For Dee (??)"
(World Pacific Records X-818) released 1960
"Roy and Sonny" are Roy Porter on drums and Sonny Kenner on guitar, the band also features Bob West on bass and Joe Sample on piano. 14
Listen to "Lonesome Mood" on YouTube.
Library Of Congress copyright registration for the B-side 11:
BLUES FOR DEE; w Curtis McNear, m
Clarence M. Kenner. © Har-Bock Music
Publ.; 5May60; EU623546.
Thank you Marv Goldberg for the label scans.
Charles Fuqua's The Ink Spots
Circa 1960-62 Curtis was a member of the Ink Spots (calling himself Curtis McNair). This line-up of the group apparently released only one 45:
"Careless Love / Hawaiian Wedding Song"
7" (Ford Records 115) released 196?
It's not possible (at least not for me) to tell Knight's vocal apart from the others but he does appear in publicity pictures so he definitely did sing in the group at some point. Hear "Hawaiian Wedding Song" & see a slide show of promo pictures on YouTube.
Solo (with Sampson Horton)
Curtis released 4 solo singles co-written by Sampson Horton (who is also credited with producing two of the records) and co-wrote at least one track with him for another artist. Any information about Sampson Horton would be most welcome.
Curtis Knight: "Baby, That's Where It's At / You Don't Have To Tell Me"
Band Direction Of Sampson Horton, Vocal by Curtis Knight
7" (Horton Records 45-0001) released September 1960 16
This may be the earliest Curtis Knight "solo" recording released, amazingly I had no idea it even existed until Dave Jones kindly supplied me with a copy in February 2015. The label name & catalog number suggest that this was the first release on a label launched by Sampson Horton - and possibly the only one as no other "Horton Records" singles seem to exist.
The composer credit goes to Sampson Horton and "McNear". Up to this point all records that Curtis had appeared on had been credited to Curtis McNear or McNair. So this disc with the composing credited to Curtis McNear and a "vocal by Curtis Knight" may have been his first using the alias Curtis Knight.
The single was reviewed in Cash Box issue 24 September 1960:
Side A "Baby, That's Where It's At ":
"A delight for the teeners, vocally and musically. A stomping super-charged beat steamrolls Knight across the grooves in top shouting fashion."
Side B "You Don't Have To Tell Me":
"Again the beat's the thing, though the songster gives it a softer voiced display."
Disc matrix info:
Side A etched:
45-0001 A LW ("L" and "W" on top of each other)
Side B etched:
45-0001 B LW ("L" and "W" on top of each other)
"LW" stands for Longwear Stamper Corp., 36-41 36th St., Long Island City, N.Y.
Curtis Knight: "Voodoo Woman / That's Why"
7" (Gulf 45-031) released August 1961
"Voodoo Woman" was reviewed in Billboard magazine August 28, 1961 issue: "Blues-oriented and folkish is this novelty. Chanter sings the lyric with extreme voice breaks and gimmicks." It also shows up as a first entry at 65. on the 22 August 1961 survey of New York radio station WABC.
Listen to "Voodoo Woman" on YouTube.
Listen to "That's Why" on YouTube.
Library Of Congress copyright registrations for the tracks 6:
VOODOO WOMAN; w & m Sampson Horton &
Curtis Knight. © Saxon Music Corp.;
26Jun61; EU676776.
THAT'S WHY; w & m Sampson Horton &
Curtis Knight. © Saxon Music Corp.;
26Jun61; EU676777.
Bobby Keene: "Angel Or Devil / Gotta Go To School"
Vocal With Chorus And Orchestra Directed by Henry Jerome
7" (Coral 62290) released in late September / early October 1961
Listen to "Angel Or Devil" on YouTube.
Curtis Knight co-wrote the B-side. Reviewed in Billboard issue 9 October 1961 as having "moderate sales potential" 12. Library Of Congress copyright registration for the B-side 7:
GOTTA GO TO SCHOOL; w & m Curtis
Knight, Gregory Carroll & Sampson
Horton. © Emorey Music Corp.;
22Aug61; EU684101.
Curtis Knight: "You're Gonna Be Sorry / Little Doe-Doe"
7" (Shell 45-310) released February 1962
"You're Gonna Be Sorry" was reviewed in Billboard magazine February 24, 1962 issue: "Fervid chanting by Curtis Knight and femme group on feelingful gospel-flavored theme with fast-moving tempo"
Listen to "You're Gonna Be Sorry" on YouTube
Listen to "Little Doe-Doe" on YouTube
Library Of Congress copyright registrations for the tracks 8:
YOU'RE GONNA BE SORRY; w & m Sampson
Horton & Curtis Knight. © Saxon Music Corp.;
5Feb62; EU705387.
LITTLE DOE DOE; (Little Doe-Doe), w & m
Sampson Horton & Curtis Knight.
© Saxon Music Corp.; 30Jan62;
EU704773.
Curtis Knight: "Gotta Have A New Dress / When You've Got Love"
7" (Shell 45-312) released October 1962
Listed under "Reviews of New Singles" in Billboard magazine 27 October 1962 issue. Though the single was commercially released most of the copies out there seem to be promos. Only three more singles were released by Shell after this one, the last one of those in 1964.
Perhaps the disc didn't quite get the circulation that Curtis hoped for? Could this be a reason why the song was later re-recorded with Jimi on guitar (see the Curtis Knight 1966 Studio Recordings), was Curtis planning on giving it another go? It has always been a bit puzzling why this particular song was recorded again when it had already been released. Curtis (or someone else) must have believed at the time that it had much greater commercial potential than what the Shell release had achieved? Or was there a completely different reason for returning to this song when the band in 1965-1966 was mostly busy recording new / previously unreleased material?
Listen to "Gotta Have A New Dress" on YouTube.
Listen to "When You've Got Love" on YouTube.
Library Of Congress copyright registrations for the tracks 8:
GOTTA HAVE A NEW DRESS; w & m Sampson
Horton & Curtis Knight. © Saxon Music
Corp.; 30Jan62; EU704774.
WHEN YOU'VE GOT LOVE; w & m Sampson
Horton & Curtis Knight. © Saxon
Music Corp.; 12Mar62; EU710199.
At least three label variations exist:
- stock copy
- stock copy label but with "promotional copy" -text
- white label promotional copy
Disc matrix info for the white label promotional copy:
With "Bell Sound" stamped on the run out groove on side A (indicating where the disc had been cut) and the matrix numbers etched on each side:
Side A
HS 540 - 1E T1 [on opposite side of the label]
Side B
HS 541 - 1E T1 [on opposite side of the label]
Sugar 'N' Spice
An interesting single by Sugar 'N' Spice came out in 1964:
Sugar 'N' Spice - "Easy Squeezin' (Curtis McNear) / I Got A Man (Adeline Casarrubea-Josephine Casarrubea)" (Groove 58-0050) USA October? 1964 17
Producer Jim Foglesong
The single was reviewed in the 7 November 1964 issue of Cash Box:
SUGAR ’N’ SPICE (Groove 0050)
(B+) EASY SQUEEZIN’ (2:38)
[Regent BMI — McNear]
Rocka cha cha with pleasant melody.
(B) I GOT A MAN (2:33) [Re-
gent BMI—Casarubea] Nov-
elty thumper with plenty of spirit.
I haven't been able to find any direct connection between the artist(s) Sugar 'N' Spice, this 45 and Curtis Knight aka Curtis McNear. It is possible that Curtis had just submitted his song with a publisher / agent / producer and it was picked up and recorded for a single release. But it is of course also possible that Curtis Knight may have been in some way directly involved. To my ears "Easy Squeezin'" sounds very similar to the Curtis Knight demo recording "Everybody Knew But Me", the two are not exactly the same song but they are quite closely related - you can immediately hear that "Easy Squeezin' is a Curtis Knight composition.
Sugar 'N' Spice MAY have consisted of sisters Josephine Casarrubea and Adeline Casarrubea as they are listed as the composers of the song on the B side. The names are not very common, two girls by the name of Josephine Casarrubea and Adeline Casarrubea were both students at Nutley High School, Nutley, New Jersey and both were singers. An article in the 13 December 1963 issue of the Maroon And Gray (the school paper) shows that both girls were members of the Nutley High School Choralettes, an all female school choir.
None of this of course proves that the sister were in fact Sugar 'N' Spice, they may have just composed the song on the B side of the single. What supports the theory of them being purely songwriters? First of all both the A side and the B side of the single were published by Regent Music Corporation, so whoever chose the songs for the single may have just picked out two compositions from the Regent Music Corporation catalog. Secondly, the two Casarrubea sisters had copyrighted several songs in 1962: "King Of The Twist","My Sweetheart", "Shoo-Doo-Bee-Doo-Wah", "Tiny, With Only A Song" and "True Love" so they seem to have composed several songs together.19 Even so I've found no mention anywhere of their names in connection with Sugar 'N' Spice apart from the songwriting credit.
What possibly also supports the songwriters-theory is a version of "I Got A Man" by Lucille, retitled "que voulez-vous je suis faite comme ça" with French language lyrics by Manou Roblin (based on the label credits) released by Barclay (70828) in France circa 1965.
I have found no connection whatsoever between this EP and the American single - so it would seem likely that someone again just picked the song out from a selection of songs on offer? "I Got A Man" was not a hit, it was not written by well-known songwriters, it was not performed by a well-known artist - so why was it recorded and released in France?
The sisters did perform "solo" in public at least once (ie this is the only appearance that I could find), at a show presented by the Music Parents Association of Nutley. At a "Tops in Talent Show" held on 13 April 1962 in the Nutley High Scool auditorium the sisters appeared under their own individual names:
I've found one mention of a gig by what may be the same Sugar 'N' Spice as it was in the New Jersey area and in the right time frame - which again might suggest that the Casarruba sisters were in some way directly involved? This was a low profile gig (ie by a relatively unknown artist), a support slot for the American Beetles at Palisades Amusement Park on the 17th of April 1964:
So to recap, at the moment there's no actual evidence on who Sugar 'N' Spice were and nothing to directly connect them with Josephine Casarrubea and Adeline Casarrubea, Josephine and Adeline may have formed a singing sister duo and called themselves Sugar 'N' Spice - or they may just have been starting out as songwriters and had one of their songs recorded twice by different artists.
The Choralettes (featuring both Josephine Casarrubea and Adeline Casarrubea) however were, again according to the 13 December 1963 issue of The Maroon And Gray, about to cut a record for "Century Records, a subsidiary of Capitol Records" with the first recording session scheduled for January 1964. The director of the group was Raymond Kohera, and the school paper tells us that "Mr. Kohera reported that the record will be in stereo. He added that the new electronic method will be employed and the record will be cut in four tracks. It will have the quality of the best stereophonic records and include special anti-static material."
The 1 May 1964 issue of The Maroon And Gray reported that "The Choralettes this week completed recording the second side of their first album, "The Choralettes Sing." [...] the release date for the record will be in two weeks. [...] Because the album will not be released in the public market, it will be sold for $2.75. The initial order is for 500 records and additional printings of the album can be made in a week or a half or two weeks. [...] The initial side of "The Choralettes Sing," recorded in January, contains songs from their Christmas program."
And, finally, the 11 December 1964 issue reports that "A new supply of the '63-'64 choralettes' record has been ordered." 20
Josephine Casarrubea graduated in 1964 and Adeline Casarrubea in 1967 and their entries in the Nutley High Exit-yearbooks also mention their musical activities:
Josephine Casarrubea's yearbook picture caption says "Jo Jo enjoyed senior year, senior privileges and Choralettes most [...] ambition is to have a million seller and to be a doctor."
Adeline Casarrubea's caption says "she enjoyed Choralettes most in NHS...her favorite artist is John Cinquinoin" ("NHS" stands for Nutley High School)
Interestingly neither caption makes any mention of Sugar 'N' Spice - if this would have been their own group they surely would have mentioned it instead of the Choralettes? Unless of course they for some reason wanted to remain incognito.
John Cinquino whom Adeline named as her favorite artist graduated from Nutley High in 1966:
John Cinquino married Adeline Casarrubea in May 1968 in Nutley, New Jersey. 18 "John enjoys playing the guitar and being with Addie Casarrubea" so there's a good chance that he may have been in some way involved in the sisters' musical activities - but at the moment I don't have any information that would confirm that, pure speculation on my part.
A John Cinquino played guitar & bass on the album Dusty Roads released by Silver-Stevens in 1972. Some songs on the album were recorded in New York City but that's no proof that this is in fact the same John Cinquino.
Josephine Casarrubea also later married and became Josephine "Jodi" Merrill while Adeline Casarrubea came to be known as Adeline Cinquino. If anyone has any information about the Casarrubea sisters as composers or the true identity of Sugar 'N' Spice or on how a song composed by Curtis Knight aka Curtis McNear came to be recorded by Sugar 'N' Spice please do get in touch with me at
With thanks to Ken Voss for the tip on the existence of this single and Doug Bell.
Solo (on RSVP Records)
Sometime in late 1964 / early 1965 Curtis Knight got a record deal with RSVP in New York:
"Ain't Gonna Be No Next Time / More Love"
(RSVP 1111) released April 1965 15
The single was reviewed in Cash Box issue 17 April 1965:
Ain't Gonna Be No Next Time:
"Infectious monkey sound with some fine harmonica support."
More Love:
"Blues ballad side with catchy drumming."
The producing credits for this 45 go to Harold Thomas and Peter Orna (once again any info on these two gentlemen would be appreciated).
After the first RSVP single was released Knight seems to have changed management again, this time hooking up with Ed Chalpin and his company PPX Enterprises, Inc. sometime in late 1965. Both RSVP and PPX were located in the same building, 1650 Broadway.
Jimi 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 the Blueflame. The following two singles feature Hendrix on guitar, for details about the Hendrix & Curtis Knight -recordings see other sections of this site.
"How Would You Feel / Welcome Home"
(RSVP 1120) released April 1966
"Hornet's Nest / Knock Yourself Out"
As Curtis Knight & the Squires
(RSVP 1124) released 1966
After Hendrix reached fame with the Jimi Hendrix Experience Ed Chalpin sued Reprise Records and Polydor / Track Record 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, 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.
SOLO (POST HENDRIX)
Curtis Knight - "Fancy Meeting You Here / Love In" (RCA 1888) released 14 November 1969 USA 4
Curtis Knight - "Down In The Village / No Point Of View" (RCA 1950) released 1 May 1970 USA 3
Curtis Knight - "Down In The Village / High And Low" (Polydor 2050 030) released 1970 The Netherlands
Curtis Knight - "Down In the Village" (Paramount PAS 5023) - LP released 1970 USA
Curtis Knight - "Down In the Village" (Stateside C 062-92378) - LP released 1970 France
Curtis Knight - "Down In the Village" (Polydor 2441 009) - LP released 1970 The Netherlands
Some of these solo Curtis Knight releases were put out by Polydor who were also Jimi's label at the time!
SOURCES
Special thanks for info on all things Curtis Knight go to Nate Edmonds Jr., Doug Bell, Univibes and Jimpress.
1 postings by Kathy Knight-McConnell at snow-day.blogspot.com and www.myspace.com/memoriesofcurtisknight : "Curtis was born Mont Curtis McNear but changed his singing name to Curtis McNair early on (after his cousin Barbara McNair). When he left the service he changed his stage name to Curtis Knight, although in his very early years he used Curtis McNear."
2 postings by Kathy Knight-McConnell at snow-day.blogspot.com and www.myspace.com/memoriesofcurtisknight : "Curtis Knight sang with the Ink Spots, the Titans, the Love Notes and others"
3 A promotional 45 of Down In The Village was stamped "1 May 1970", unknown who stamped this and when but likely to have been done by the label before sending the discs out
4 A promotional 45 of Fancy Meeting You Here was stamped "14 November 1969", unknown who stamped this and when but likely to have been done by the label before sending the discs out
5 http://www.uncamarvy.com/LoveNotes/lovenotes.html
6 Library of Congress Copyright Office
7 Library of Congress Copyright Office
8 Library of Congress Copyright Office
Catalog of Copyright Entries 1962 Music Jan-June 3D Ser Vol 16 Pt 5
9 Library of Congress Copyright Office
Catalog of Copyright Entries 1965 Music Jan-June 3D Ser Vol 19 Pt 5
10 Library of Congress Copyright Office
Catalog of Copyright Entries 1965 Music July-Dec 3D Ser Vol 19 Pt 5
11 Library of Congress Copyright Office
Catalog of Copyright Entries 1960 Music Jan-June 3D Ser Vol 14 Pt 5
12 Review in Billboard issue 9 October 1961
13 Scans of the single label at www.45cat.com/record/62290
14 YouTube clip of the single A-side posted by user "OfficeNaps", the description lists the personnel: ""Lonesome Mood"'s massive groove is orchestrated by Porter, with support from Sonny Kenner (guitar), Bob West (bass) and Joe Sample (piano). And the striking unison vocal lead and jazzy harmonies come courtesy of Titans Larry Green and Curtis McNear (who would later record as Curtis Knight); I believe Porter is also contributing to the vocals."
15 the single was listed in Billboard magazine April 17, 1965 issue under "SPOTLIGHT WINNERS OF THE WEEK" and reviewed in Cash Box issue 17 April 1965.
16 the single was reviewed in Cash Box issue 24 September 1960, late enough in the month to make September 1960 the probable release date. With thanks to "jukebox george" who posted the Cash Box issue date on 45cat.com.
17 the single was reviewed in the Cash Box 7 November 1964 issue so an October 1964 release date seems likely but unconfirmed.
Another single by a group called Sugar N' Spice exists, released sometime around December 1964: https://www.45cat.com/record/2007us3
The phrase "sugar and spice" is of course VERY common so this may be another group with the same name - or it may be the same group. I think it's unlikely to be the same artist(s) as everything is different here: the label, the producer, the composers even though the single was released just two months after "Eezy Squeezin'". That doesn't rule out it being the same band but based on current evidence it doesn't look like it.
Groove Records also released several Curtis Knight & Jimi Hendrix -recordings in Argentina circa 1968. These releases used the same label design as the 1964 Sugar 'N' Spice single and technically they were released by the same label - both the US and Argentinian Groove Records were RCA Victor subsidiary labels. Groove Records however seems to have been a very fluid concept and it looks like it eventually was recycled by RCA as an Argentinian budget label. You can read about the history of the US Groove Records in the Billboard 9 October 1961 and 16 March 1963 issues.
18 Information from New Jersey Marriage Index 1968
19 comments added by user JUKEBOX GEORGE at https://www.45cat.com/record/580050 pointed out the 1962 song registrations and the cover version by Lucille
20 The Choralettes album "The Choralettes Sing" clearly does exist but I couldn't find any mention of a single copy of it being out there in the open. Based on the articles published in the Maroon And Grey it was recorded in January and April 1964 and was first issued in May 1964 by Century Records, "a subsidiary of Capitol Records". I'm guessing that this actually refers to Century Records Custom Recording Service, a pressing plant / company that produced custom records. Discogs.com lists a lot of high school bands and choral music albums in their catalog.
The track listing is as follows (or at least close to it):
Side A
Hosanna from the 'King of Kings' Theme
The Little Drummer Boy
Do You Hear What I Hear
Give The World, Thy Peace
Rouse Ye, Shepherds
Search of the Three Kings
We Wish You A Merry Christmas
Side B
Preludium
Yellow Bird
The Three Bells
A Blossom Falls
Anthem For Spring
Soon-a Will Be Done
September Song
In the Still of the Night
Smoke Gets in Your Eyes