King Curtis
Dupree was born and raised in Fort Worth, Texas, where he graduated from I.M. Terrell High School. He began his career playing in the studio band for Atlantic Records, recording albums by Aretha Franklin ("Aretha Live at Fillmore West") and King Curtis as a member of Curtis's band The King Pins, having grown up with King Curtis in Fort Worth). He appeared on the 1969 Lena Horne and Gábor Szabó recording and on recordings with Archie Shepp, Grover Washington Jr., Snooky Young, and Miles Davis.