Curtis Mayfield: Classic or Dud?

Anyway, classic for the Impressions and the solo career up to Superfly, one of my favorite R&B records, and I love the fact that he seems like an all-around good guy.

I stand corrected. 1959, you say? I had no idea he'd been recording that long. Okay, so not a hippie at all. I couldn't really come up with a suitable negative description of him. Anyway, as I said I've not really listened to much of his stuff. Could you recommend any albums to a Curtis newbie like myself?

Timeless, a true classic.

Personal favourite song: People Get Ready - Mayfield said it straight: there's a train a-comin'...you don't need no baggage, you just get on board.

Agree with Andrew and John - 'Curtis Live!' is a great place to start, one of my favourite live albums. Most of his best songs, performed beautifully in a low-key setting.

Also search 'Curtis', 'Superfly', 'Roots', 'There's no place like America today', and any Impressions albums you can get your hands on. (I've not heard a bad one yet.)

They've got the 'Soul Legacy' box set in Fopp for £20. Should I buy it even though I've got a lot of his individual albums?

Word

I also noticed a post upthread that says the following:

"despite the fact live albums suck and live soul albums (mainly) suck harder"

I totally disagree with this statement (at least the latter part). I can't think of any live soul albums that suck, and I have Marvin Gaye, Otis Redding, Sam Cooke, Mayfield, Donny Hathaway and others, and to me, they are superior to the other live albums that I own.

(Dave Q's comment will forever change the way I hear, etc.)

as someone else said, if you can find the demo versions of a lot of his songs on superfly and the curtis album (i got mine on a 3 cd cheapo box set love peace understanding), theyre a lot more understated than the finished versions. he didnt pretty them up with strings and extra ornamenation.

And also because the break down is great.

75th Birthday Tribute event in Washington DC

*Curtis Mayfield tribute with Professor Aaron Cohen and DJ Jahsonic at 11 am Sunday December 17th at the National Gallery of Art East wing Theatre for free followed by movie Urban Soul at 1:30pm

https://www.nga.gov/calendar/lectures/lectures-signings/curtis-mayfield-tribute.html

An interesting presentation. Professor mentioned Mayfield's use of f sharp, and how Hendrix learned some from Mayfield when Jimi opened for him. He played a demo from when Mayfield was 15 and showed a video clip of Mayfield acting in a movie

Looking forward to Cohen’s book, although I also need to read that one by Mayfield’s son

Over the years, I've become to really love "Here but I'm Gone". That tune is so lovely, sad and true. It even takes a whole other trip when you consider the circumstances that Curtis wrote and sung it. It is a rare piece of music that if considered, makes you check yourself.

Future Song (Love a Woman) slays

https://open.spotify.com/track/3hi078NgfqTvFj98hbECFR?si=tzu63FwrQ6-jDkJX5p824A

Shit is tight

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tpJtb3rL2SU

HAWTT uncut '72 set from Beat Club:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pk4n52qwwlI

Soundcheck from same:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sF1uF-28MZE

absolute perfection.

damn, curtis is so good

inner city blues, holy shit!

yeah this set is radical. whole band smokes.

XP IKR Silly me never realized until now how much of a Curtis song it is.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tSoULq1pOsE
The Notations - Superpeople

Heard this and thought wow that's the most Curtis Mayfield-y thing I've ever heard. Turns out they were on the Curtom label. Dope song.

So classic. I'm no expert or completist, but did Curtis ever sing in anything other than his falsetto?

Tuomas being so dense itt.

hmm. I mean I'd say technically he goes out of a true falsetto a lot but I can't think of anything that wasn't in a high register.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lOzlCJDPjV0

This song has the lowest register vocals from him that I've heard, and he still does a semi-falsetto in the chorus.

Anyone know anything about the Rhino reissue of his first 4 solo albums that happened last year?

https://www.amazon.com/Keep-Keeping-Curtis-Mayfield-1970-1974/dp/B07KLS2XDZ/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=curtis+mayfield&qid=1591438979&sr=8-1

This one? It is a nice set.

Yeah that one. Reading some good things

hard to beat that price tbh

Looks good, be prepared, tho, that Sweet Exorcist isn't quite as good as the first three. That and his other 1974 album Got to Find a Way are okay, then There's No Place Like America Today from 1975 raises the bar again, but that one is pretty much his last truly good album. The ones after that are still worth listening because they usually have one or two great songs, but his peak creative period as a solo artist was those five years from 1970 to 1975.

wrong, "sweet exorcist" is amazing

Oh lord that long LP version of "Move On Up" is one serious bongo jam.

https://www.amazon.com/Keep-Keeping-Curtis-Mayfield-1970-1974/dp/B07KLS2XDZ/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=curtis+mayfield&qid=1591438979&sr=8-1🕸

This one? It is a nice set.

boooo!

Oh lord that long LP version of "Move On Up" is one serious bongo jam.

― earlnash, Friday, July 24, 2020 9:21 PM

alltime jam.

Two greatest 'wow's ever: Marlon Brando in On the Waterfront, when Rod Steiger pulls the gun on him in the backseat; "If you wanna be a junkie, wow."

Wow

To be invisible
Will be my claim to fame
A man with no name
That way, I won't have to feel the pain
Indispensable
Just a plain old human being
Today, don't mean a thing
In a world that's so mean
A world that seems not for me
So privately, I'll be invisible
That way, I won't have to explain a thing, if you know what I mean
I won't even have to be here, on the scene
It's so ridiculous
But the strife and the bliss
Will go right on through, right on through me
To have missed
All the things that hurt your soul
No one would ever know
They'd never know
Life so preciously
Just don't seem to be
As free as they claim freedom to be
Things are going fast
To have found that all is in the past
To have to take what you can get
Sure can make a heart upset
Inconspicuous
I must behave myself
For somebody else
Who may have a little fame, fortune and wealth
It's so ridiculous
But the strife and the bliss
Will go right on through, right on through me
To have missed
A world that seems not for me
So privately, I'll be invisible
That way, I won't have to explain a thing, if you know what I mean
I won't even have to be here, on the scene
It's so ridiculous
But the strife and the bliss
Will go right on through, right on through me
To have missed
All the things that hurt your soul
No one would ever know
They'd never know
Life so preciously
Just don't seem to me
As free as they claim freedom to be
Things are going fast
To have found that all is in the past
To have to take what you can get
Sure can make a heart upset
So I'll be invisible
Invisible
Invisible

Wow what an amazing lyric-So heartbreaking and profound

The man had a highly rare sense of grace that was definitely captured in his music.

love "short eyes" so much

autumn evenings are good for taking a walk with "there's no place like america today" in your headphones

Yes, yes

The Young Mods' Forgotten Story is beautiful. Get it.

― Turangalila, Thursday, March 22, 2012 3:09 PM (twelve years ago) bookmarkflaglink

^

incredibly beautiful record, so much attention to detail. 1969, their 12th album in 6 years! in certain ways, "Young Mods" feels like the blueprint for what Curtis would do in the early and mid '70s as a solo artist but it still has those sweet harmony Impressions vocals. kind of an awesome, sweet, even somewhat sad juncture. the album is moody, reflective, joyous, sometimes airy, sometimes right to the point (a good mix of psych-funk flourishes and syrupy soul), room to breathe and room to grieve, AKA exactly what you'd expect from Curtis at his best

definitely appreciate that shout. in hindsight, the last 2 or 3 albums he did with the group are the staging area for curtis' solo albums. that one (young mod) has songs that curtis kept in his solo sets for years afterwards.

The Doo Doo Wop is soo fucking strong in here

otm

Jesus, when the horns finally make their entrance near the end of Billy Jack. Funkiest moment in history?

a joyous moment for sure

o man. any love for got to find a way? mothers son, people! the guitar playing!
― gaz (gaz), Monday, November 3, 2003 3:30 PM (twenty-one years ago) bookmarkflaglink

Been listening to this a ton lately. I think it's incredible, in a quartet of top-shelf albums along with Curtis, Superfly, and There's No Place Like America Today. Yet it seems to have a firm reputation as a second-tier work (at best). I don't get it!

all of the albums between superfly and there's no place like america today are very classic. he never hit the crossover audience as hard after his first few albums, but the quality of the music never wavered. sweet exorcist and back to the world are anyone else's best album.

and yeah, "mother's son" completely smashes. here's its counterpart from sweet exorcist:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1X3-DqUve08

"kung-fu" (1974)

was just listening to sweet exorcist and yeah it's a total masterpiece

I actually think Sweet Exorcist IS a second-tier album--though yes, a second-tier Mayfield album is still better than almost anything, and "Kung Fu" is great

It took me forever to fill the gap between BTTW and TNPLAT (both of which I adore), but Sweet Exorcist and Got To Find a Way are both great imo. If you have to rank things, sure, I'm not putting them above any of the preceding solo albums but Austin is ultimately otm, it should be known as one of those sustained run like Stevie, etc.

Sweet Exorcist is maaaybe a little less strong than GTFAW, but it's also a rarity: a back-loaded album. "Power to the People" is fantastic — is this the first official release of this song? I know it well from the beautiful demo version on my CD of Curtis; was he really sitting on it for 5 years? is this John Lennon's fault? — "Kung Fu" is classic, "Suffer" is lovely, and "Make Me Believe in You" rules, omg those strings, pulling off the trick of being tight & epic.

I haven't listened past TNPLAT yet but plan to, though I only know Young Mods and This Is My Country from the Impressions and I suspect that's a mistake: I briefly dipped into Check Out Your Mind! and it sounded great.

hey rob, you know it’s a firm agree from me across the board. thanks for the shout. your revive here prompted me to put heartbeat on the turntable the other day. it's alright, at best. if you like fred wesley, he's on it. it mostly reminded me --and i hate to say it-- thar after short eyes it's very clearly diminishing returns. discussion surely to be had about why, but as expected, i prefer his quiet storm ballads in the 'later years.' the duets album with linda clifford is a solid second tier recommendation in that respect. america today was truly the peak.

this illustration from the inner sleeve of short eyes is a f'kn trip!
https://i.imgur.com/p7VWXDa.jpeg
according to discogs, the credited zadok is the same artist that later worked with peter gabriel.

impressions' curtis years some of the best music ever imo. especially those last few. but i'm biased as hell, so of course i would say that!

yeah Short Eyes is the one post-America that I plan to listen to for sure. but I threw on Keep On Pushing earlier while making lunch, and now I'm thinking it would be more fun to live with the Impressions for a bit first.

btw Austin been meaning to thank you for bigging up Willie Wright on the Terry Callier thread. I was getting into TC this summer and then listened to the Wright album after reading the thread. Telling the Truth immediately became a serious obsession, which I passed onto a friend right before he took a road trip to Provincetown <3

ahh, wish i could take credit but willie wright was an ilm discovery for me too! not to threadjack, but any curtis fans reading this in the future are absolutely recommended willie wright. terry callier too; 70s alternasoul fans unite!