Hearing a jam like Curtis King‘s “You Took the Best of Me” is EXACTLY why I can’t quit obsessing over OLD records – there are still the best songs ever waiting to be discovered. I know as time passes, sussing out this kinda rarity evaporates exponentially, BUT that this kinda super scarce and genius single can STILL be mined, somehow, has me on lock. Anyway, until this morning, I only knew Curtis King from a lone single side—a smooth and solid soul stomper, “Bad Habits.” He has a few records otherwise, nothing notable, so this side’s discovery has totally upped King’s relevance. Oof, I can just imagine how buzzy this has made all them fat-wallet soulies! The best part of this story is “You Took the Best of Me” ain’t a dancer, but rather a top-class deep soul jam. All the bits fit and HIT just right; King’s singin’ and the production is period perfect: I feel the ROOM with each crack of the snare drum. If this side gets the attention it’s due, I reckon it might almost edge out Lee Moses‘s “Bad Girl” as everyone’s most favorite deep soul side.
“You Took the Best of Me” was discovered by WFMU DJ Mr. Finewine. He uncovered it years ago, and besides his occasionally airing the track on his radio show, Downtown Soulville, the side was completely unknown, to my knowledge. Apparently, Finewine had the only known copy. Then in the last three months, TWO copies turned up in auction, the last one sold for over well two grand! Fuck, so I’ll prolly never own a copy unless someone turns up a warehouse full of unplayed dead stock.