Pardon the brief introduction:

There have been many lists created over the years on who is the best songwriter/guitarist/musician/singer etc etc... And these types of things are always fun. I try to listen to nearly every genre of music and absorb the best parts of all of them. I could on and on about all the stages of my musical listening life, from hard rock - to classic rock - to jazz - to pop - Motown - RnB - Soul on and on. At this point in my life, I would rate three songwriters in the all encompassing "pop rock category" at the top of the class.

Smokey Robinson, Paul Simon and Curtis Mayfield.

Perhaps we can get into Smokey and Paul at a later date, but for today, I wanted to spread some love for one of my favorite artists of all time.

Curtis was an absolutely genius songwriter, singer and guitarist. From his first albums with The Impressions, it was so evident that he was a master class performer. Even his "simple doo wop" songs had so much flavor and soul.

Of course everyone knows and associates him with Superfly. And justifiably so, it is a master work. But so much more of his studio work with the Impressions is just as soulful, and it is criminally overlooked, (nevermind his other solo albums).

Check out the arc of his songs from early tunes like like "Little Young Lover", "I'm The One Who Loves You" and "It's Alright", on through to "Keep On Pushing", "You Must Believe Me" "We're A Winner", and "Check out Your Mind".

What an overlooked artist - on every level.

Help me show some love!!!!

The same way Percy Mayfield was dubbed the "Poet of blues", to me Curtis was the ultimate "poet of soul".

To me, "The Makings Of You" illustrates how much of a lyric master that man was. I'm not really a lyrics listener, but everything about that song provided a scenery to me,,,from the mood to the music to the beautiful lyrics.

Harlepolis said:

The same way Percy Mayfield was dubbed the "Poet of blues", to me Curtis was the ultimate "poet of soul".

To me, "The Makings Of You" illustrates how much of a lyric master that man was. I'm not really a lyrics listener, but everything about that song provided a scenery to me,,,from the mood to the music to the beautiful lyrics.

AMEN. The ability to hit home with a powerful message lyric like Choice of Colors or We People Who Are Darker Than Blue, and then turn around and write songs like Makings Of You or even Miss Black America.

Always done with love and respect. And soul.....

I was just listening to the first two Impressions albums on the way to work today and every time I put them on, I am completely blown away by their timelessness.

Curtis is truly one of the greats.

Brother Mayfield was always introspective, postive, and uplifting. Salt of the Earth.

i'm on a blackberry people.

[Edited 6/9/10 13:24pm]

Very talented man!!!!!!!!!

Curtis is the shit!

He's an incredible songwriter/musician.

Whenever I think of Curtis I can't help but wonder how/why he lost his touch post Superfly. Sure, he created some great music after Superfly but there was a significant dip in the quality of his music and as the '70s progressed his albums got less and less essential. I'm not trying to knock the guy, I have a fair bit of his music and I enjoy most of it but it always struck me as odd that he burned so brightly in the '60s and early '70s and then he just slowly started fading away. It seemed like he was primed to be one of the major musical forces of the '70s. He has a solid musical legacy but part of me can't help thinking that he could have done much more.

[Edited 6/9/10 14:02pm]

[Edited 6/9/10 14:34pm]

Curtis

rialb said:

Whenever I think of Curtis I can't help but wonder how/why he lost his touch post Superfly. Sure, he created some great music after Superfly but there was a significant dip in the quality of his music and as the '70s progressed his albums got less and less essential. I'm not trying to knock the guy, I have a fair bit of his music and I enjoy most of it but it always struck me as odd that he burned so brightly in the '60s and early '70s and then he just slowly started fading away. It seemed like he was primed to be one of the major musical forces of the '70s. He has a solid musical legacy but part of me can't help thinking that he could have done much more.

[Edited 6/9/10 14:02pm]

[Edited 6/9/10 14:34pm]

I can see why you would say that. There's a discernable choppiness to that time frame for him.

But don't forget he also wrote and produced the Sparkle soundtrack with Aretha Franklin and Let's Do It Again with the Staples Singers in the mid 70's as well. Those two albums are both beyond brilliant.

There are also tracks like Billy Jack, Doo Doo Wop Is Strong in Here etc...

While I do think he fell prey to the disco era a little bit, there are definitely some very strong tracks post 75. Even so, you take the material from 1961 to 1975 and look at the consistency of unbelievably stellar original tracks, and you still get one of the most important songwriters to grace this planet.

I wish more people knew how brilliant his body of work is.

Fenwick said:

rialb said:

Whenever I think of Curtis I can't help but wonder how/why he lost his touch post Superfly. Sure, he created some great music after Superfly but there was a significant dip in the quality of his music and as the '70s progressed his albums got less and less essential. I'm not trying to knock the guy, I have a fair bit of his music and I enjoy most of it but it always struck me as odd that he burned so brightly in the '60s and early '70s and then he just slowly started fading away. It seemed like he was primed to be one of the major musical forces of the '70s. He has a solid musical legacy but part of me can't help thinking that he could have done much more.

[Edited 6/9/10 14:02pm]

[Edited 6/9/10 14:34pm]

I can see why you would say that. There's a discernable choppiness to that time frame for him.

But don't forget he also wrote and produced the Sparkle soundtrack with Aretha Franklin and Let's Do It Again with the Staples Singers in the mid 70's as well. Those two albums are both beyond brilliant.

There are also tracks like Billy Jack, Doo Doo Wop Is Strong in Here etc...

While I do think he fell prey to the disco era a little bit, there are definitely some very strong tracks post 75. Even so, you take the material from 1961 to 1975 and look at the consistency of unbelievably stellar original tracks, and you still get one of the most important songwriters to grace this planet.

I wish more people knew how brilliant his body of work is.

No doubt he has a fantastic body of work but I'm not sure, maybe running the Curtom label had a negative affect on his music? He had a lot more to worry about than most of his peers. They were free to just create music and for the most part the business end was handled by someone else. Besides his own music he was also writing/producing for others and I'm not sure that he had enough top drawer material to go around. Of course I may well be wrong but I can't help feeling that he was spreading himself just a little too thin and that if he had concentrated on his own music it would have been much stronger.

Curtis Mayfield was the man, is the man, will always be the man.

Harlepolis said:

The same way Percy Mayfield was dubbed the "Poet of blues", to me Curtis was the ultimate "poet of soul".

To me, "The Makings Of You" illustrates how much of a lyric master that man was. I'm not really a lyrics listener, but everything about that song provided a scenery to me,,,from the mood to the music to the beautiful lyrics.

That's a beautiful song. I love To Be Invisible too.

Life, so preciously,

just don't seem to be

as free as people claim

freedom to be....

I totally disagree with you on this one. Curtis made amazing albums after Superfly, like Back To The World, Sweet Exorcist, Give, Get, Take And Have and Never Say You Can't Survive.

rialb said:

Whenever I think of Curtis I can't help but wonder how/why he lost his touch post Superfly.

LoveIsTheMessage said:

I totally disagree with you on this one. Curtis made amazing albums after Superfly, like Back To The World, Sweet Exorcist, Give, Get, Take And Have and Never Say You Can't Survive.

rialb said:

Whenever I think of Curtis I can't help but wonder how/why he lost his touch post Superfly.

While I definitely agree/side with you, I can still see the point. In some ways, it's kind of like Prince post 1988. Before 88, I don't think any Prince fan thinks there is a discernable drop in quality. It's almost all brilliant - all the time.

Post 88, you have to work at it a little more. There are some brilliant songs interspersed with some not so brilliant tracks. Heck even his last album, New World Order had a few songs that were incredible.

Have any of you heard the Curtis Mayfield tribute album made in the mid 90's. It is without a doubt the best album of it's kind for me. Almost every song interpretation is a home run.

Kung Fu is one of my favorite all-time jams.

I 'discovered' Mayfield only a few years ago. I really love his album ''never say you can't survive'' for instance. His song ''Sparkle'' became probably one of my favorite songs ever. His album with Aretha Franklin with the song sparkle on it is also really good.

LoveIsTheMessage said:

I totally disagree with you on this one. Curtis made amazing albums after Superfly, like Back To The World, Sweet Exorcist, Give, Get, Take And Have and Never Say You Can't Survive.

rialb said:

Whenever I think of Curtis I can't help but wonder how/why he lost his touch post Superfly.

Let me try coming at it from a slightly different angle. I'm surprised that after Superfly Curtis was not able to hold onto the wider audience that the album briefly gave him. I guess in a way it is not surprising if you look at Superfly as his Purple Rain, after that there was nowhere to go but down,

but I think it's a little odd that after that album he slowly but steadily lost a lot of his audience and kind of faded away. Never mind the quality of the work I'm referring specifically to his audience. Early in the decade it looked like Curtis, Marvin Gaye and Stevie Wonder were going to be the major forces for soul/R & B music. It worked out that way for Marvin and Stevie but Curtis kind of lost his way. I think that in the mid and late '70s he had the potential to be a much bigger star and to have a much bigger impact than he did.

I love Curtis! I only have four of his albums but listen to them quite a lot, I listen to Superfly a lot but probaby at the expense of discovering more of his work. 'Think' is one of my all time favourite tracks, not many instrumentals that move me like this one does, I can't even articulate it....

rialb said:

LoveIsTheMessage said:

I totally disagree with you on this one. Curtis made amazing albums after Superfly, like Back To The World, Sweet Exorcist, Give, Get, Take And Have and Never Say You Can't Survive.

Let me try coming at it from a slightly different angle. I'm surprised that after Superfly Curtis was not able to hold onto the wider audience that the album briefly gave him. I guess in a way it is not surprising if you look at Superfly as his Purple Rain, after that there was nowhere to go but down,

but I think it's a little odd that after that album he slowly but steadily lost a lot of his audience and kind of faded away. Never mind the quality of the work I'm referring specifically to his audience. Early in the decade it looked like Curtis, Marvin Gaye and Stevie Wonder were going to be the major forces for soul/R & B music. It worked out that way for Marvin and Stevie but Curtis kind of lost his way. I think that in the mid and late '70s he had the potential to be a much bigger star and to have a much bigger impact than he did.

The fact that most people today associate him with Superfly and little else gives strong merit to your post. But what's weird is how the overall "market" reacts to certain musicians.

Take for example, Peter Gabriel vs. Smokey Robinson. Two of my all time favorite artists. As far as actual hit songs go, Peter Gabriel has probably only had three or four certifiable hits in the US. And most come from one album. Yet he can still tour arenas and pretty much sell them out everywhere he goes because everyone loves Sledgehammer and In Your Eyes.

Yet here's Smokey Robinson with his never ending list of hit songs he's either performed himself or given to others, and he can't sell out casinos. And back in the day, even Curtis was doing non-arena based gigs. Market acceptance is really fickle, and I can't even pretend to understand it.

As that relates back to your post with Stevie and Marvin, it's a tough one to extrapolate on without writing another 10 paragraphs. I've started and stopped twice now because I don't want to write a book. As briefly as possible, I think some of that has to do with the universal commerciality of some of the back catalog songs (like the Peter Gabriel reference). I guess I'll just say I hope more people explore the entire catalog from the first Impressions albums to New World Order. It's definitely worth the journey.

AshK said:

I love Curtis! I only have four of his albums but listen to them quite a lot, I listen to Superfly a lot but probaby at the expense of discovering more of his work. 'Think' is one of my all time favourite tracks, not many instrumentals that move me like this one does, I can't even articulate it....

Which albums do you have? If you have Roots, that probably has 3 of my all time favorite Curtis tunes.

Keep On Keeping On - Beautiful Brother of Mine and Love To Keep You In My Mind

Fenwick said:

AshK said:

I love Curtis! I only have four of his albums but listen to them quite a lot, I listen to Superfly a lot but probaby at the expense of discovering more of his work. 'Think' is one of my all time favourite tracks, not many instrumentals that move me like this one does, I can't even articulate it....

Which albums do you have? If you have Roots, that probably has 3 of my all time favorite Curtis tunes.

Keep On Keeping On - Beautiful Brother of Mine and Love To Keep You In My Mind

Super Fly

Give, Get, Take and Have

Short Eyes

There's No Place Like America Today

Is there a decent anthology/best of yet? Would be a good intro to his some 20 albums. I'll be sure to check out Roots though

AshK said:

Super Fly

Give, Get, Take and Have

Short Eyes

There's No Place Like America Today

Is there a decent anthology/best of yet? Would be a good intro to his some 20 albums. I'll be sure to check out Roots though

Definitely. There are a few anthologies and for me personally, this one is the best.

http://www.amazon.com/Ant...amp;sr=8-1

It's a bit pricey brand new, but you can defintiely find it used on EBAY (and Amazon) for much cheaper. There are other anothogies out there brand new, but this one really has most of the essential Impressions material.

For full disclosure, if you listen to samples, the first 3/4's of the first disc are VERY old school - sometimes doo wop material. For some folks, doo wop is tacky, and dated. And sometimes it is. But don't let that throw you off in this case. After a few listens, you realize just how brilliant most of the songs are in their own right.

When you get down to 'We're A Winner" that's when the Impressions material really starts to turn more towards Superfly-esque grooves.

The reason i go through all of this is it depends on what you're looking for. If you're strictly looking for more Superfly funky grooves, get Curtis' first two solo albums. Curtis and Roots. They are both filled with tracks that are funky, soulful and deep.

If you want to hear the whole arc from the sweet more innocent grooves like "It's Alright" than the anthology I pasted a link to is really the way to go.

Sorry for posting a book.

Curtis gets nothing but love. I've dug this cat from his humble beginning 2 the Impressions 2 his solo days. Extremely underrated in my book. I think Curtis was a bit 2 strong 4 the masses.

Some folks get the love......and some don't.

Fenwick said:

AshK said:

Super Fly

Give, Get, Take and Have

Short Eyes

There's No Place Like America Today

Is there a decent anthology/best of yet? Would be a good intro to his some 20 albums. I'll be sure to check out Roots though

Definitely. There are a few anthologies and for me personally, this one is the best.

http://www.amazon.com/Ant...amp;sr=8-1

It's a bit pricey brand new, but you can defintiely find it used on EBAY (and Amazon) for much cheaper. There are other anothogies out there brand new, but this one really has most of the essential Impressions material.

For full disclosure, if you listen to samples, the first 3/4's of the first disc are VERY old school - sometimes doo wop material. For some folks, doo wop is tacky, and dated. And sometimes it is. But don't let that throw you off in this case. After a few listens, you realize just how brilliant most of the songs are in their own right.

When you get down to 'We're A Winner" that's when the Impressions material really starts to turn more towards Superfly-esque grooves.

The reason i go through all of this is it depends on what you're looking for. If you're strictly looking for more Superfly funky grooves, get Curtis' first two solo albums. Curtis and Roots. They are both filled with tracks that are funky, soulful and deep.

If you want to hear the whole arc from the sweet more innocent grooves like "It's Alright" than the anthology I pasted a link to is really the way to go.

Sorry for posting a book.

There are another couple of good ones out there, too -- Soul Legacy and People Get Ready -- which both seem to cover a pretty good spread of his career. (I reckon the latter looks particularly good.)

Curtis Mayfield did allot for black culture in the 1970's. Soul Train was really the starting point to allot of the great things of Black ownership, pride, acceptance.

Anytime Don needed a guest, Curtis showed up! In those early years of the show, when it wasn't a hit Curtis would always show up and do a amazing performance! Its real easy to do on a Hit Show, but when a show is basically cable access.

That is class!

The Soul Legacy box set looks like the way to go. It's missing everything pre 1968 which is a fair bit but it digs quite deep into his neglected late '70s/'80s catalog. Bonus, on amazon there's a seller willing to part with it brand new for a little over twenty bucks. Four discs for twenty bucks? That's hard to pass up.

These are the ones for me.....

He's A Fly Guy

Futureshock

[Edited 6/10/10 11:10am]

[Edited 6/10/10 11:11am]

I think I found The Great Lost Curtis Mayfield Album in the third and final disc of his 1996 box set compilation, People Get Ready: The Curtis Mayfield Story. It covers his output from 1976-1990 and it has to be one of the most sublime discs I've heard in a while. I removed the final two tracks, which were "Homeless" and "Do Be Down" and added "Never Stop Loving Me" from 1981's Something to Believe In and the disc itself sounds like it was a lost album that was just stored away in the vaults somewhere. Check out the new tracklist:

[img:$uid]http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/ciu/a0/02/9889828fd7a02a4a6ca15110.L.jpg[/img:$uid]

1. Only You Babe

2. Party Night

3. Mr. Welfare Man

4. Show Me Love

5. Do Do Wap Is Strong In Here

6. You Are, You Are

7. Do It All Night

8. You're So Good To Me

9. Between You Baby and Me

10. Love's Sweet Sensation

11. Love Me, Love Me Now

12. Tripping Out

13. She Don't Let Nobody (But Me)

14. Baby It's You

15. Never Stop Loving Me

As for Curtis Mayfield himself, I have to say that he is definitely one of my musical heroes and message of Black pride, redemption and love has transcended time and space. I don't think many artists were able to really speak the truth and remain relevant at the same time. I don't think he has truly been given the recognition he deserves because his rich musical output is much deeper than just the Superfly soundtrack.

[Edited 6/10/10 11:39am]