Samurai was a Japanese psych-rock band from Tokyo that released a clutch of 1968–70 singles on Nippon, London, and Philips as Miki Curtis & The Samurais. Under the mononymous nameplate, the band released two albums on Philips in 1970/71. Bassist Tetsu Yamauchi subsequently played with Free and the Faces.

Members: Miki Curtis (vocals, flute), Joe Dunnet (guitar), Hiro Izumi (guitar, koto), John Redfern (organ), Tetsu Yamauchi (bass), Mike Walker (vocals, piano), Yuji [Yujin] Harada (drums), Graham Smith (harmonica)

Samurai

Samurai were a Tokyo rock group led by singer and flautist Miki Curtis. Early Japanese records used the Miki Curtis & The Samurais name; European releases carried the shortened Samurai credit. The Japanese-British lineup made the 1970 double album Samurai in London and completed Kappa in Tokyo the next year. Bassist Tetsu Yamauchi later joined Free and Faces.

Members: Miki Curtis (vocals, flute), Hiro Izumi (guitar, koto), Joe Dunnet (guitar), John Redfern (organ), Tetsu Yamauchi (bass), Mike Walker (vocals, piano), Yujin Harada (drums), Graham Smith (harmonica)

Background

Miki Curtis formed Miki Curtis & The Samurais in Tokyo in 1967 when the Vanguards returned from Southeast Asian hotel engagements. Michael Brian Curtis was born in Tokyo on July 23, 1938, to a Japanese mother and an English father. He entered Japan’s late-1950s rockabilly circuit and later fronted the City Crows. Curtis renamed that group the Vanguards in 1966 before residencies in Hong Kong and Bangkok.

Guitarist and arranger Hiro Izumi joined tenor saxophonist Kunimitsu Fuyuume in the revised band. Pianist Gaku Kikuchi and bassist Goro Yamamoto entered the lineup, followed by drummer Yoshisaburo “Sabu” Toyozumi. Japan Musicolor issued the instrumental album Ai no Tenor Sax under the Samurais credit before the European trip. Nippon Crown released “Fusen” in October 1967 (b/w “Ame no Promenade”).

The group left Japan the next month for an engagement in Divonne-les-Bains, France, then continued to London and West Germany. Nippon Crown followed with “Taiyo no Pattaya” in April 1968 (b/w “Natsu no Yume”). The Samurais appeared at the Rome Pop Festival later that year. Former Mikes bassist Tetsu Yamauchi replaced Yamamoto in Europe, where guitarist Joe Dunnet and organist John Redfern joined the later lineup.

Manager Mike Walker added piano and shared lead vocals with Curtis. Road crew member Graham Smith contributed harmonica, while drummer Yujin Harada replaced Toyozumi. King issued the London recording “Good Morning Starshine” in May 1969 (b/w “Temple of Gold”). United Artists paired “Shu Shu” with “Fresh Hot Breeze of Summer” on an Italian single later that year. The reconfigured group entered Tangerine Studios in February 1970 for a double-album session.

Samurai

Samurai released their first album under the shortened name, Samurai, in spring 1970 on West German Metronome.

The album captures the eight-member European lineup, with Curtis and Walker dividing lead vocals. Izumi adds koto to a two-guitar arrangement shared with Dunnet, while Smith contributes harmonica beside Redfern’s organ. The double-LP configuration carries nine tracks across four sides; the Japanese edition later removed two extended pieces.

A1. “Four Seasons” (9:46)
A2. “18th Century” (0:57)
A3. “Eagle’s Eye” (5:47)

B1. “Intermediate Stages” (7:37)
B2. “Boy With a Gun” (5:27)
B3. “Daffy Drake” (2:37)

C1. “Five Tone Blues” (14:56)

D1. “Green Tea” (5:31)
D2. “Mandalay” (6:28)

Samurai recorded the album in February 1970 at Tangerine Studios in Dalston, London, where founder and singer Miki Curtis co-produced with manager and co-vocalist Mike Walker. Tangerine engineer Tony Rockliff handled the sessions amid work on Warm Dust’s And It Came to Pass, issued in May 1970; he later engineered Swegas’ 1971 album Beyond the Ox.

Cover artist Aki Tsubouchi created the gatefold around a black-and-white kabuki face with red markings. The same illustrator later supplied the Kappa cover, while the vertical Samurai wordmark runs along the left margin.

In August 1971, Philips condensed the double album into the seven-track Japanese LP 侍 [Samurai], also catalogued as Green Tea. The revised sequence omitted “Intermediate Stages” and “Five Tone Blues.” O-Music restored the original running order in 2011 on a German double-LP reissue. Universal Music Japan returned the seven-track edition to CD in June 2018 as 侍.

Kappa

Samurai released their second album under the shortened name, Kappa, in April 1971 on Philips.

The group returned to Japan as a five-piece after Izumi, Walker, and Smith remained in Britain. Curtis handles all lead vocals, while Dunnet and Redfern supply most compositions. Side two consists of the 22-minute “King Riff and Snow Flakes.”

A1. “トラウマ” [“Trauma”] (10:17) – music by Yamauchi; words by Redfern
A2. “セイム・オールド・リーズン” [“Same Old Reason”] (2:49) – Dunnet
A3. “誰だった” [“Who Was It?”] (3:38) – Curtis
A4. “ヴィジョン・オブ・トゥモロウ” [“Vision of Tomorrow”] (3:51) – Redfern

B1. “キング・リフ・アンド・スノー・フレークス” [“King Riff and Snow Flakes”] (22:23) – Dunnet

Samurai recorded Kappa from January 12 through 26, 1971, at Victor Studios in Tokyo, where founder and lead singer Miki Curtis co-produced with the group. Victor engineer Norio Yoshizawa handled the sessions after work on Kohsuke Mine’s First at the same studio in June 1970; his 1971 credits also included Hozan Yamamoto’s Silver World.

Tsubouchi designed and illustrated the gatefold around a blue-and-pink winged figure with exposed ribs and a pale oval on the forehead.

The label lifted “Vision of Tomorrow” as a March 1971 single (b/w “Same Old Reason”).

P-Vine issued an August 1998 standalone CD of Kappa. Universal Music Japan followed with March 2007 and June 2018 editions.

Postlude

Samurai dissolved in 1971 after the Japanese release cycle. Curtis resumed solo recording with The First Ear, released by Vertigo in April 1972 as his first post-Samurai album. Yamauchi joined Kossoff, Kirke, Tetsu and Rabbit in 1972, then recorded Heartbreaker with Free and replaced Ronnie Lane in Faces. Harada joined PYG and later worked with the Inoue Takayuki Band. Godiego recruited the drummer for the group’s early recordings.

Discography: