Clem Curtis
| Clem Curtis | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Curtis Clements |
| Born |
28 November 1940 Trinidad, West Indies |
| Died | 27 March 2017 (aged 76) |
| Genres | Soul, R&B, pop |
| Occupation(s) | Musician |
| Instruments | vocals |
| Years active | 1966–2017 |
| Labels | Acid Jazz Records, EMI, Pye Records, Riverdale |
| Associated acts | Arthur Brown, Clem Curtis & The Foundations, Donnie Elbert, Mike Elliott, The Foundations, Johnny Johnson and the Bandwagon, Lord Large, The Ramong Sound, The Travelling Wrinklies, Alan Warner, Colin Young |
Clem Curtis (28 November 1940 – 27 March 2017) was a Trinidadian British singer, who was the original lead vocalist of sixties soul group The Foundations.
Born in Trinidad as Curtis Clements, he arrived in England at the age of fifteen and later found employment as an interior decorator. He entered boxing and won most of his fights as a professional boxer. His mother was a popular singer in Trinidad and Curtis claims that this contributed to his ear for music.
Between 1966 and 1967 Curtis joined The Ramong Sound. He joined the group after hearing from his uncle that Ramong, Raymond Morrison, the lead singer of the group, was looking for backing singers. Curtis initially had very limited singing experience, only singing with his uncle when he came around the house with the guitar. After losing their original lead singer, the band took on board Arthur Brown temporarily, and went through a few name changes before they became The Foundations Arthur Brown stated in an interview that in his time with the group, he enjoyed singing with Curtis. They both sang separately as well as doing some duets. The group emerged in January 1967 with Curtis as their lead singer. The Foundations would go on to have worldwide hits with "Baby Now That I've Found You" and "Build Me Up Buttercup". Curtis is the lead voice on their hits "Baby Now That I've Found You", "Back on My Feet Again", and "Any Old Time (You're Lonely and Sad)".
After having found success with The Foundations, two hit singles and releasing two albums, some problems started with their songwriter producer Tony Macaulay as well within the group. Curtis felt that after their hit a couple of The Foundations members were taking things a little too easy thinking that they did not need to work so hard now that they had scored a hit. After being disillusioned with the band, he along with another member, Mike Elliott, left The Foundations in 1968 just after recording a version of "It's All Right", a song that they had been playing live for some time. He stuck around long enough to help the band audition a replacement, Colin Young. Curtis went on to pursue a solo career in the United States. This was probably helped along by the encouragement of his friend Sammy Davis, Jr.
...
Wikipedia