ARTIST: King Curtis                                                                    

TITLE:  Soul Twist: The Complete Enjoy Sessions

YEAR RELEASED: Compilation

CHART ACTION: None

SINGLES: Soul Twist (#17, #1 R&B), Wobble Twist

OTHER SONGS YOU MAY KNOW: Piping Hot

LINEUP: King Curtis, the Noble Knights

WHAT’S IT ALL ABOUT: Jazz and session sax player moves to soul and R&B full time and hits it with the lead single.

SOME WORDS, PHRASES AND CLAUSES ABOUT THIS RECORD: After recording as a jazz sax player, and before he became the go-to in the Atlantic / Atco soul stable, King Curtis branched out and recorded a set of sides for the Enjoy label. One track, “Soul Twist”, made a big impression on the R&B and pop charts in 1962.

The rest of the tracks are in the same mode. Curtis’ sax wails but doesn’t overtake the sound of the Noble Knights, his backing band, especially on their version of “What’d I Say”. Curtis’ playing has a lot of jazz elements, of course, but stays within the soul / R&B idiom.

Curtis would later record for Capitol and then Atlantic / Atco before his unfortunate death in 1971. This was the introductory tracks to the pop market and it served well.

NOTES & MINUTIAE: He moved away from jazz to make more money. His career choices were always about getting paid.

IS THERE A DELUXE VERSION: No 

GRADE: B: Great for those who love 60’s souls sax.