Chris Curtis (born Christopher Crummey; 26 August 1941 – 28 February 2005) was an English drummer and singer with the 1960s beat band The Searchers. He originated the concept behind Deep Purple and formed the band in its original incarnation of ‘Roundabout’.
. . . Chris Curtis . . .
Born in Oldham, Lancashire in 1941, Curtis came to Liverpool when he was four and went to primary school where he met Mike Prendergast. He taught himself how to play the piano on the family instrument at 30 Florida Street in Bootle. He passed the 11-plus and went to St Mary’s College, Crosby, where he was taught violin although he wanted to play the double bass.
His father bought him a drum set during his late teens when he left school and he learned these in his spare time, when he was not selling prams at Swift’s Furniture store at Stanley Road, Liverpool. He developed a fascination for American music and particularly liked Fats Domino. He also grew the unusually long hair that would be his trademark in the early years.
In 1960 he met Prendergast soon after Norman McGarry, the Searcher’s second drummer, had left the band. He accepted an invitation to join the band for a gig at Wilson Hall, Garston and became the seventh member of The Searchers, replacing McGarry to join John McNally, Mike Prendergast and Tony Jackson. He adopted the name Chris Curtis after Jackson described him thus in a press interview, choosing the name from a Lee Curtis poster to avoid saying ‘crummey’.
For the next six years Curtis was an essential part of the Searchers’ sound and contributed to the band’s characteristic vocal harmonies with his distinctive voice, blending particularly well with the high-pitched voice of early band-mate Tony Jackson. Perhaps the finest example of this can be found in their rendition of “Ain’t That Just Like Me”, where Curtis sings the lead vocal, and Jackson chimes in with the recurring chorus.
As well as playing drums he introduced all manner of percussion including: tom-toms, castanets, cowbells, bongos and Spanish bells. The band’s members took turns singing lead vocals, which allowed them to give longer and more frequent sets than most of their competitors. This would later be one of the triggers for Curtis’ habit of substance abuse: taking drugs to stay awake and then to induce sleep.
The Searchers briefly rivaled the Beatles for popularity, having international hits with “Needles and Pins“, “Sugar and Spice” and “Don’t Throw Your Love Away“.
Curtis wrote most of the band’s original songs and was constantly seeking obscure songs by other artists for them to record. Many of his finds were B-sides discovered in Brian Epstein‘s NEMS record shop and upstairs in another record shop, near the furniture store where he worked. It seems probable that the band’s lack of continuing success may be a consequence of their dependency upon material associated with other performers.
He was a manic individual given to great enthusiasm but prone to voicing trenchant views without considering the effect upon others. He antagonised Ray McFall, the owner of the Cavern Club, by saying that it was “a dreadful place”, “stinky and sweaty”.
Curtis rarely mixed socially with his fellow band members, preferring his own company. He was widely thought to be a genius. George Harrison referred to him as ‘Mad Henry’ but John Lennon indulged him.
A devout Roman Catholic throughout his life, Curtis would repair to a convent church in the early hours of Sunday morning after finishing the Saturday night set at the Star Club, St. Pauli, near Hamburg. At that time Curtis still had long hair, which was unusual for the time. He cut his hair when the band became popular, deciding that it would put off some potential record buyers.
Curtis met his girlfriend, Annette Kuntze in St. Pauli and she returned to live with him in Knightsbridge, London. She took photographs for some of the Pye record sleeves and was responsible for the sullen look affected by the band.
Another visitor to the flat was Jackie DeShannon who co-wrote several Searchers songs with Sharon Sheeley, whom she introduced to Curtis.
The Searchers returned to the Star Club to fulfil a prior booking after they had become successful in England. “I found “Love Potion Number 9″ in a back-street, second-hand shop in Hamburg.” Curtis later said. “I saw this 45 with a triangle in the middle and I thought: I’ve got to have it, it’s such a weird looking record. I took my little portable electric record-player to Germany and I played “Love Potion Number 9″ and I thought: This is excellent.”
Curtis left The Searchers in mid 1966, after an extensive tour of the Philippines, Hong Kong and Australia, with the Rolling Stones. Accounts of the break-up differ but there were some significant incidents during the tour and Curtis had become unreliable. Curtis hated Australia and he was abusing a variety of substances to the point where he fell off the stage at one venue. The other members of the band emptied his stash of drugs down the lavatory.
. . . Chris Curtis . . .