During the mid-60s, New York singer Curtis Knight recorded some music with an unknown guitarist. After the guitarist became famous, Curtis began releasing these recordings, hoping to cash in. The result was expensive legal action.
By 1974, he was fronting a funk/rock group called Curtis Knight Zeus (or Curtis Knight, Zeus), and one of their songs is the groovy The Devil Made Me Do It. Fast Eddie Clarke is the guitarist, he later went on to join Motörhead. The recording I have is from the incredible Chains and Black Exhaust various artists compilation.
The song is built around a smooth funk groove. Curtis sings about a girl he met, and whenever he makes a move he gets in trouble and says that the devil made him do it. My favorite lyrical moments occur when those improvised vocals comes in during the chorus, at 0:46 and 0:57. For some reason it makes me think of The Fresh Prince in Girls Ain't Nothing But Trouble, except in the Prince's case he blames his situation on the girl.
At 1:50, Fast Eddie kicks out the jams with a fantastic solo that takes us to the end.
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