Curtis Knight and the Squires
{{Short description|American musical group}}
{{Infobox musical artist
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| label = Dagger Records, Experience Hendrix, Legacy, PPX, RSVP, Sony Music
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| current_members =
| past_members = Hank Anderson
Marion Booker Jr.
Nate Edmonds
Ace Hall
Henry Henderson
Jimi Hendrix
Curtis McNear
Ray Lucas
Lonnie Youngblood
Ditto Edwards
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Curtis Knight and the Squires were a New York band that was fronted by singer and guitarist Curtis Knight in the mid-1960s. Both Jimi Hendrix and sax player Lonnie Youngblood were members for a while.
Background
The band is referred to as a workaday party R&B band by Billboard.Billboard - [http://www.billboard.com/artist/6517243/curtis-knight-the-squires/biography ARTISTS / Curtis Knight & the Squires]
The line up of the group wasn't always with the same musicians. Sax player Lonnie Youngblood had been a member.Jimi Hendrix FAQ: All That's Left to Know About the Voodoo Child, By Gary J. Jucha - [https://books.google.com/books?id=DGJfAgAAQBAJ&dq=Curtis+Knight+and+the+Squires+lineup&pg=PT21 May, 1966, however ...] The line up pictured on the cover of the You Can't Use My Name: The RSVP/PPX Sessions album features Curtis Knight, Jimi Hendrix, Marion Booker and Ace Hall.Jimihendrix.com - [https://www.jimihendrix.com/news/you-cant-use-my-name-curtis-knight-squires-featuring-jimi-hendrix-released-march-24/ You Can't Use My Name – The RSVP/PPX Sessions To Be Released March 24]Daily Express - [http://www.express.co.uk/pictures/pics/3152/Jimi-Hendrix-guitarist-musician-Rockstar-September-18-1942-1970-pictures/Jimi-Hendrix-Curtis-Knight-and-the-Squires-71099 Remembering Jimi Hendrix 1942-1970, 11/13]
At some stage in 1964,Jimi Hendrix - from the Benjamin Franklin Studios, 3rd Edition, By Gary Geldeart, Steve Rodham - [https://books.google.com/books?id=JEdeJ6TcNM8C&dq=Curtis+Knight+and+the+Squires+You+Can%27t+Use+My+Name&pg=PA302 Page 302] Hendrix met Knight in the lobby of a Harlem residential hotel and they hit it off. Hendrix became a member of the band Curtis Knight and the Squires in October the following year.The New York Observer, 06/13/17 - [http://observer.com/2017/06/jimi-hendrixs-north-jersey-days/ Jimi Hendrix's North Jersey Days By Ron Hart] While with the band, Hendrix signed a contract with the owner of PPX Studios, Ed Chaplin for just one dollar. This would later cause major problems for Hendrix.Jimi Hendrix - from the Benjamin Franklin Studios, 3rd Edition, By Gary Geldeart, Steve Rodham - [https://books.google.com/books?id=JEdeJ6TcNM8C&dq=Curtis+Knight+and+the+Squires+You+Can%27t+Use+My+Name&pg=PA302 Page 302]
He finally left The Squires on May 20, 1966.Jimi Hendrix FAQ: All That's Left to Know About the Voodoo Child, By Gary J. Jucha - [https://books.google.com/books?id=DGJfAgAAQBAJ&dq=Curtis+Knight+and+the+Squires+lineup&pg=PT21 May, 1966, however ...]
Releases
In September 1966, "Hornet's Nest" bw "Knock Yourself Out" were released on the RSVP label, RSVP 1124. Hendrix co-composed them with Jerry Simon.45Cat - [https://www.discogs.com/Curtis-Knight-The-Squires-Hornets-Nest-Knock-Yourself-Out/release/4370857 Curtis Knight & The Squires – Hornet's Nest / Knock Yourself Out]Jimi Hendrix - From The Benjamin Franklin Studios Part 2, By Gary Geldeart, Steve Rodham - [https://books.google.com/books?id=eQxt7_w6cesC&dq=Curtis+Knight+and+the+Squires+Hornets+Nest+RSVP&pg=PA54 Page 54 A218.] The two songs on the single are the representative of Hendrix's first compositions to be on a recorded release.Ultimate Classic Rock, February 18, 2015 - [http://ultimateclassicrock.com/jimi-hendrix-curtis-knight/ Jimi Hendrix's Early Recordings With Curtis Knight to Be Released Next Month By Michael Gallucci]
In 2000, the UK label Jungle records released the album Jimi Hendrix with Curtis Knight & The Squires – Knock Yourself Out: The 1965 Studio Sessions which in addition to the 10 studio tracks included 5 bonus live tracks.Discogs - [https://www.discogs.com/Jimi-Hendrix-With-Curtis-Knight-The-Squires-Knock-Yourself-Out-The-1965-Studio-Sessions/release/3840285 Jimi Hendrix With Curtis Knight & The Squires – Knock Yourself Out: The 1965 Studio Sessions]
In 2015, the album You Can't Use My Name: The RSVP/PPX Sessions was released. It featured recordings Hendrix made with the group around 1965.Rolling Stone, February 18, 2015 - [https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/jimi-hendrixs-early-curtis-knight-recordings-set-for-official-release-20150218 Jimi Hendrix's Early Curtis Knight Recordings Set for Official Release By Daniel Kreps] The album features "Hornets Nest", "No Such Animal", and "Knock Yourself Out". It also features a song called "How Would You Feel", which has a strong resemblance to Bob Dylan's "Like a Rolling Stone".AllMusic - [http://www.allmusic.com/album/you-cant-use-my-name-the-rsvp-ppx-sessions-mw0002821955 Curtis Knight & the Squires / Curtis Knight, You Can't Use My Name: The RSVP/PPX Sessions - AllMusic Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine] Allmusic's review of the album by Stephen Thomas Erlewine describes Knight "rewriting Dylan's "Like a Rolling Stone" as a black rock protest song called "How Would You Feel" "
Personnel
- Napoleon Anderson aka Hank Anderson ... bass
- Marion Booker ... drums (often spelled Marlon Booker)
- George Bragg ... drums
- Nathaniel Edmonds Sr. aka Nate Edmonds ... keyboards
- Ditto Edwards ... drums
- Ed "Bugs" Gregory ... bass
- Ace Hall ... bass & tambourine
- James Marshall Hendrix aka Jimmy James aka Jimi Hendrix ... guitar & vocals
- Harry Jensen - guitar & bass
- Curtis McNear aka Curtis Knight ... vocals, guitar & tambourine
- Ray Lucas ... drums
- "Shears" ... guitar (participated in the 1967 sessions)
- Lonnie Thomas aka Lonnie Youngblood ... sax & vocalsEarly Hendrix - [http://www.earlyhendrix.com/knight1-menu-personnel Curtis Knight (& the Squires), Personnel]
Discography
| class="wikitable plainrowheaders sortable"
|+ Singles |
| scope="col" | Title
! scope="col" | Release info ! scope="col" | Year ! scope="col" class="unsortable" | Notes |
|---|
| scope="row" | "Hornet's Nest" / "Knock Yourself Out"
| RSVP RSVP 1124 | 1966 |
| class="wikitable plainrowheaders sortable"
|+ Albums |
| scope="col" | Title
! scope="col" | Release info ! scope="col" | Year ! scope="col" | F ! scope="col" class="unsortable" | Notes |
|---|
| scope="row" | 'Knock Yourself Out' The 1965 Studio Sessions
| Jungle Records FREUD CD 066 | 2000 | CD |
| scope="row" | You Can't Use My Name: The RSVP/PPX Sessions
| Experience Hendrix, Sony Music, Legacy 88875077992 | 2015 | CD |