THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD
1,577) Curtis Knight (with Jimi Hendrix) — “How Would You Feel”
OK, this April ‘66 single
recorded in ’65 or ’66) is “a shameless ripoff” (Stephen Thomas Erlewine, https://www.allmusic.com/artist/curtis-knight-mn0001473142#biography) of Bob Dylan’s “Like a Rolling Stone”, but it is still “brilliant”, “righteous rawkus rock and roll preacher man style”, “[a] civil rights anthem”, “with righteous grandstanding verses and a killer solo”. (Steve for the Deaf, https://steveforthedeaf.wordpress.com/2019/05/28/how-would-you-feel-jimi-hendrix/) A solo? That would be a guitar solo . . . by Jimi Hendrix.
Richie Unterberger explains:
Before Jimi Hendrix went to London to become a solo recording star, he had recorded some material with journeyman soul singer Curtis Knight and signed a contract with record executive Ed Chalpin. When Hendrix became an international superstar in 1967, this contract backfired on him badly, as Chalpin leased recordings of the Knight sessions to Capitol Records . . . . Eight of these tracks were issued at the end of 1967 on Get That Feeling, which — despite featuring only a picture of Hendrix, in all his 1967 glory, on the cover — only features him as a guitarist session man, with Knight actually handling the vocals. . . .
https://www.allmusic.com/album/get-that-feeling-mw0001878861
In the cover of the album was a photo of Hendrix at the Monterey Pop Festival. “The move both embarrassed and infuriated Hendrix.” (https://www.jimihendrix.com/music/no-business-curtis-knight-the-squires-the-ppx-sessions-volume-2/)
Stephen Thomas Erlewine delves deeper:
If he is known at all, the Harlem-based ’60s soul singer Curtis Knight is remembered for his connection to a pre-fame Jimi Hendrix. Knight met a down-on-his-luck Hendrix living in a New York City hotel. The singer gave the guitarist a spare axe and hired him to play with the Squires, Knight’s band. A native of Kansas, Knight had previously spent time in California . . . before relocating to New York, where he worked the circuit with the Squires, a workaday party R&B band. It’s quite possible Knight saw something in Hendrix. Not long after Jimi joined the Squires, Knight whisked him into the studio to record “How Would You Feel” . . . and soon started writing with Hendrix. . . . Knight helped encouraged Hendrix to sign a deal with record man Ed Chalpin. Jimi later claimed he thought he was signing on to a role as a sideman, but the contract bound him to Chalpin’s PPX Records. This became a big deal once Chas Chandler signed Hendrix to a contract in 1969. Chalpin claimed he owned Jimi, so Chandler owed him money. This legal dispute became protracted, complicated by the fact that Hendrix inexplicably kept returning to the studio to cut sessions with Knight while he was in the thick of proceedings. These early singles and latter-day jams with Hendrix form the bulk of Curtis Knight’s catalog. A bunch were issued under Hendrix’s name on Capitol Records via a licensing agreement with PPX, but over the years they’d show up often, appearing under any number of variations on the names of Knight, the Squires, and Hendrix. . . . [I]t was this association with Hendrix that provided Knight with a career. He moved to London, forming a band called Currtis Knight, Zeus . . . . [H]e published a book named Jimi: An Intimate Biography in 1974. This was the splashiest attempt to ride Hendrix’s coattails Knight would ever attempt, but he kept grinding out a living in the U.K. and Europe, playing gigs and cutting the occasional record. He wound up settling in the Netherlands . . . .
https://www.allmusic.com/artist/curtis-knight-mn0001473142#biography
Here’s the alternate version from ‘67, in which Chalpin took the master of “How Would You Feel” and added new lyrics and vocals by Knight. (https://www.jimihendrix.com/music/no-business-curtis-knight-the-squires-the-ppx-sessions-volume-2/):
Pay to Play! The Off the Charts Spotify Playlist! + Brace for the Obscure 60s Rock Merchandise
Please consider helping to support my website/blog by contributing $6 a month for access to the Off the Charts Spotify Playlist. Using a term familiar to denizens of Capitol Hill, you pay to play! (“relating to or denoting an unethical or illicit arrangement in which payment is made by those who want certain privileges or advantages in such arenas as business, politics, sports, and entertainment” — dictionary.com).
The playlist includes all the “greatest songs of the 1960’s that no one has ever heard” that are available on Spotify — now over 1,000 songs. The playlist will expand each time I feature an available song.
All new subscribers will receive a Brace for the Obscure 60s Rock magnet. New subscribers who sign up for a year will also receive a Brace for the Obscure 60s Rock t-shirt or baseball cap. See pictures on the Pay to Play page.
When subscribing, please send me an e-mail (GMFtma1@gmail.com) or a comment on this site letting me know an e-mail address/phone number/Facebook address, etc. to which I can send instructions on accessing the playlist and a physical address to which I can sent a magnet/t-shirt/baseball cap. If choosing a t-shirt, please let me know the gender and size you prefer.
Just click on the first blue block for a month to month subscription or the second blue block for a yearly subscription.
Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! / Off the Charts: 60s Rock Revelations😊 