King Curtis was a dynamic tenor sax player whose work graced countless rock and roll and R&B records. Born Curtis Ousley in Fort Worth, Texas, his trademark was a honking Texas tenor sound inspired by his main influences—Illinois Jacquet, Earl Bostic, Arnett Cobb—albeit with a rock and roll edge. He moved to New York in 1952 and played with Lionel Hampton's and Horace Silver's jazz groups. He began doing session work for R&B and rock and roll artists in the mid-Fifties. One of his most memorable solos, and the one that sealed his reputation as a rock and roll sideman, appeared in the Coasters' 1958 smash, "Yakety Yak." King Curtis can also be heard on such seminal early sides as "A Lover's Question," by Clyde McPhatter, "Boys," by the Shirelles, and "Reminiscing," by Buddy Holly (which he cowrote).