In today's economy it's critically vital to get the most you can for your buying dollar. So there's no rationale to over pay for Lavern Baker when there are a lot of of them for sale on eBay. Plus, eBay is one of the leading and most trustworthy online shopping sites in the modern world. This site is approved by eBay to help you find the Lavern Baker you are searching for and show them to you. If you don't see the Lavern Baker you are searching for below. Use the search feature on the right to find the variety you want.
Curtis Ousley sure ended up with the perfect nickname! King Curtis was indeed the "king" of the rock & roll saxophone. His sound was big, rich, sweet and very expressive. One of the few that you just know who it is when you hear it.
Born in 1934, he was just a young teenager as the jump blues and rhythm and blues scene of the 40's gave birth to rock & roll by the end of that decade. He had made his move from Texas to New York in the early 50's and landed a gig with Lionel Hampton's band. This was the same band that Illinois Jacquet played with about 10 years earlier. Jacquet of coarse had rocked the sax world with his screaming sax solo on Flying Home with this same band.
King Curtis had noted alto players Earl Bostic, Louis Jordan, and 2 fellow Texan tenors, Illinois Jacquet, and Arnett Cobb as his main influences on the saxophone. He had his roots firmly planted in this honking and screaming rockin' R&B sax style that dominated this genre of music in the 40's and 50's. But as the 50's wore on, the music changed and so did King Curtis.
His versatility showed as he went from the swingin' big bands and smaller jazz combos like Horace Silver through the rock & roll groups like The Coasters and Buddy Holly to soul like Aretha Franklin and Wilson Pickett. One of the last recordings he did was in July, 1971 for the John Lennon album Imagine. Curtis was killed later that summer, August 13th.
Here are just a small handfull of the many album's King Curtis recorded. From left to right; Live at The Fillmore West, 1971 - Blow Man Blow!, 1962 - The Best of King Curtis, 1962 - Soul Meeting, 1960 - Live at Small's Paradise, 1957
There are close to 60 King Curtis albums counting all the compilations and imports. He was the most in demand session saxophonist of his time and appears on close to 220 other albums as a sideman!
Here is a small list;
Big Joe Turner - Buddy Holly - Ruth Brown - Delaney & Bonni
Aretha Franklin - Goerge Benson - Sam Cooke - The Rascals
Besides playing great sax solos on tons of records he produced and arranged many of his recordings and other artists as well. But the best thing about King Curtis is how lyrical his phrasing was and how beautiful his tone sounded. As a player he inspired every saxophonist who was interested in blues, R&B, rock & roll, jazz and soul.
Speaking of soul, he was obviously a big fan of Ray Charles. Much of the soul and R&B stuff he recorded had that feel to it. Like Curtis's version of One Mint Julep, a song also recorded by Ray Charles.
I don't know if he invented that "slapping" sound on the reed but he was the first guy I knew of who did it... it's a cool affect.
Al Caiola is a guitarist who was just as busy in the New York recording studio scene as King Curtis. These guys did many sessions together and finally in 1962 released a fantastic and fun instrumental called Guitar Boogie. This guy Al Caiola starts it with some really good rock & roll picking and King Curtis sounds like he picked the perfect reed that day... listen to a bit of Guitar Boogie with Al Caiola and King Curtis.
Long live the king!
*Note - This is a "text" article only. For the complete article with audio links got JohnnyFerreira.com
Here Are A Few Items From Amazon You Might Be Interested In.
Account limit of 2212 requests per hour exceeded.
Items recently purchased on this site:
335 LOT Northern Soul Doo Wop Hart Instant Funk Kilgore Kenner Contours Brown VG, Lavern Baker Tweedle Dee 1954 ORIGINAL 45 RPM, ~~LAVERN BAKER~~BUMBLE BEE~~1960~~SOUL~~R&B~~DJ COPY~~, Lavern Baker / Bernie Williams-Im The One To- MINT NORTHERN SOUL MOTOWN-HEAR IT, RARE POPCORN BLUES R&B LAVERN BAKER ...LISTEN, 33 rpm and 78 rpm vintage records-over 250 total, LaVERN BAKER-Bop-Ting-A-Ling b/w That's All I Need, LaVern Baker, Tweedle Dee / Tomorrow Night, Atlantic 1047, Yell Label, Fact Slee, LAVERN BAKER 45 RECORD SEE SEE RIDER/THE STORY OF MY LOVE, VA LP Boxed Set - Atlantic Blues (4-Double LP ) - Atlantic A1-81713 (S), La Vern Baker La Vern LP 1956 Mono Atlantic 8002, 10 ATLANTIC R & B 45 RECORDS ARETHA RAY CHARLES LAVERN BAKER JOE TURNER DRIFTERS, LAVERN BAKER (Blues Ballads) '59 Atantic #8030 ~ ORIGINAL MONO "BULLSEYE" LABELS, The London American Story RARITIES 180g HQ New Sealed GATEFOLD Vinyl 2 LP, Soul 45 LAVERN BAKER AND THE GLIDERS That's All I Need on Atlantic, VERY RARE THE CUES 78 " WHY / PRINCE OR PAUPER " UK CAPITOL CL14682 in sleeve EX, MEGA RARE LaVERN BAKER 78 " I CAN'T LOVE YOU ENOUGH / STILL" UK LON. HLE 8396 EX, LAVERN BAKER ROCK N ROLL V RARE ATLANTIC , LA VERN BAKER NM HER GREATEST RECORDINGS PROMO album lp, Box of 150+ old 45s- James Brown, Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, Kinks + more!, Lavern Baker - Shake a Hand / Manana - ATLANTIC # 2048, Lavern Baker - Bumble Bee / My Time will come - ATLANTIC # 2037, Lavern Baker - The game of Love / Jim Dandy Got Married - ATLANTIC # 1136, 50's 60's 7" LOT : The Webs Annnette Scot High Carl Mann Russ Damon Fats Domino, 45s - lot of 8 pieces, 45 RARE Lavern Baker Oh Johnny Oh Johnny - Itty Bitty Girl #2203 Atlantic, LAVERN BAKER WHEEL OF FORTUNE 45 SHADOWS OF LOVE ATLANTIC 2059, LAVERN BAKER AND JIMMY RICKS~MOD R&B SOUL POPCORN 45 Rare Original ATLANTIC Hear, LAVERN BAKER - YOU'RE TEASING ME //I WAITED TOO LONG - ORIGINAL DJ DOOWOP 45 , ~~LAVERN BAKER~~WHIPPER SNAPPER~~R&B~~SOUL~~1958~~, Rock & Roll Forever 1239 Atlantic Joe Turner Clyde McPhatter Ray Charles LP, HEAR R&B Northern Soul Popcorn 45 LAVERN BAKER Tiny Tim ATLANTIC 2041 FILLER!!!, LAVERN BAKER nice vg++ 78 on ATLANTIC, 1950'S, Northern Soul 45 LaVern Baker You're Teasing Me & I Waited Too Long ATLANTIC VG, La VERN BAKER ♫ SEE SEE RIDER ♫ JIM DANDY ♫ NM, LAVERN BAKER I Cried A Tear + Dix-A-Billy 45 US 1958 orig Atlantic 2007, Various: Rock Begins Volume 2 LP VG++/NM Canada Atco SD-33-315, Various: Rock Begins Volume 1 LP VG++ Canada Atco SD-33-314, Lavern Baker - The Best of... 1964 UK EP ATLANTIC, Lavern Baker - Real Gone Gal 12" Vinyl LP - Used, ROCK & ROLL FOREVER VOL II '57 MONO 2nd state lbl NM-, JACKIE WILSON 78 "REET PETITE" (UK#1 in 1986!) ORIGINAL UK VOGUE-CORAL Q72290 EX, THE RAELETS - TANGERINE - ONE ROOM PARADISE, Northern Soul 1958 LaVern Baker "I Cried A Tear / Dix-A-Billy" , LAVERN BAKER...SEE SEE RIDER...ATLANTIC-45, AUDIOPHILE ESTATE: Collection of (71) Soul, R&B, Jazz 45's, The Soul Years / Atlantic Records 25th / VVG-NEAR MINT nm SDC-504 / Sam & Dave !, LAVERN BAKER ST. LOUIS BLUES ATL ORIG. KILLER R&B STRONG, LAVERN BAKER ♫ SHADOWS OF LOVE ♫ WHEEL OF FORTUNE ♫ , Atlantic 1047 LaVern Baker "Tomorrow Night/Tweedlee Dee" VG+ Or Better/RARE, LOT OF 60 SOUL ,R&B, FUNK, MOTOWN ETC 45s FROM MOSTLY 60s70s MANY IN MANSHIP , Northern Soul 45 JACKIE WILSON & LAVERN BAKER Think Twice BRUNSWICK HEAR , R&B 45 RECORD LAVERN BAKER ON ATLANTIC RECORDS , LAVERN BAKER: PLAY IT FAIR & LUCKY OLD SUN; 1955 ATLANTIC 1075 YELLOW LABEL 45, VARIOUS - WILSON PICKET LAVERN BAKER = 3 INCH MINI LP, LAVERN BAKER: Saved (soul vinyl 45), LAVERN BAKER 45(ATLANTIC 1057)BOP TING A LING//1ST PRESSING, ESTATE SALE THE HISTORY OF RHYTHM & BLUES VOLUMES 3 TO 6 NICE , Atlantic Rhythm & Blues 5 2xLP by various vg++/vg+, Atlantic Rhythm & Blues 1947-1974 (V2 1952-1955) 2xLP by various still sealed,
