Chris Curtis (born Christopher Crummey; 26 August 1941 – 28 February 2005) was an English musician. He was best known for being a member the 1960s beat band The Searchers. He originated the concept behind Deep Purple and formed the band in its original incarnation of 'Roundabout'.
Curtis was born in Oldham, Lancashire, on 26 August 1942. He 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 preferred the double bass.
His father bought him a drum set during his late teens when he left school. He learned to play 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 Mike Prendergast soon after Norman McGarry, the Searchers' 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, 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 chorus.
As well as playing drums, including the bongos, he introduced other forms of percussion to the band's sound, among them castanets, cowbells, 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 contribute to Curtis' drug abuse, taking them both to stay awake and 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.
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. 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.
When he left the Searchers, Curtis rang his friend, Klas Burling, who was in charge of the Swedish radio station for whom the band had recorded sessions in 1964. Burling told him to come to Sweden to get himself straight.
Upon his return to London from Sweden, Curtis recorded his only solo single, the Joe South song "Aggravation" (backed with "Have I Done Something Wrong?"). The other musicians included Jimmy Page, Joe Moretti, John Paul Jones, and Vic Flick & Bobby Graham on that record. "I did my Tom Jones hard rock voice and I was really loud," Curtis would say later. Though "Aggravation" failed to chart in the UK, it reached number 9 on Tio i Topp in Sweden. Although he recorded a cover version of the Walker Brothers's (Baby) You Don't Have to Tell Me, he never released another single.
In 1965 Curtis had written and produced "Snakes and Snails" for Alma Cogan with all the musicians who had played on "Aggravation". Now, Vicki Wickham, the editor and producer of Ready Steady Go! asked Curtis to produce the sound for the Otis Redding Special, which aired on 16 September 1966. She also introduced him to Tony Edwards, a clothier working London's West End, who aspired to be part of the music business and was managing the singer and model, Ayshea.