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Curtis Mayfield
Curtis Mayfield
Curtis Mayfield's only equal as a soul-era triple threat- he was a lyricist, composer, and producer- was Smokey Robinson, but Mayfield was willing to address social issues that Robinson wasn't. It was Mayfield, in fact, who joined Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, Sly Stone, and George Clinton in leading the progressive-soul movement that gave African-American pop a musical sophistication and lyrical ambition it had never seen before.
Mayfield had been prepared for this role while the lead singer, chief songwriter, and producer of The Impressions, a male-harmony trio that scored such pop hits as "It's All Right," "I'm So Proud," "Keep On Pushing," "Amen," "People Get Ready," and "Choice of Colors." Most of these songs combined Mayfield's musical roots in Chicago's black Churches with the bright, brisk Northern soul of the '60s to create allegorical rallying cries for the civil rights movement of that decade. And as a songwriter and producer who worked with legendary artists, Mayfield helped shape the Chicago-soul scene into a worthy rival to nearby Motown. The non-Impressions production work is nicely anthologizes on the 18-track compilation Curtis Mayfield's Chicago Soul. In 1970, however, Mayfield left The Impressions and their clean-cut-soul formula and broke with ABC Records to launch a solo career on his own label, Curtom Records. He used this new freedom to pursue more pointedly political lyrics and funkier arrangements, qualities that reflect the moon on the street at the time. On his greatest solo recordings, clustered early in the decade, he translated that moon into indelible character studies of everyday folks, which were back up by riveting guitar riffs. Later on, he lost his focus and his lyrics become un-tethered philosophical rants while his guitar licks became mere noodling. On his first solo album, 1970's Curtis, Mayfield balanced warnings of doom ("If There's a Hell Below We're All Gonna Go") and laments for the state of black America ("We're the People Who Are Darker Than Blue") with inspiring anthems of hope ("Move On Up," a rewrite of The Impressions' "Keep On Pushing"), and tributes to his people's potential ("Makings of You"). Somestimes the statements are overly sweeping and the production (lush strings and horn arrangments, doo-wop harmonies, gimmicky studio effects, rattling conga drums) are too ornate, but the melodies are irresistible and the rhythm section is FUNKY! The following year he released Curtis/Live, recorded onstage in New York, recycling three songs from Curtis, recasting some old Impressions tunes in his latest style, and introducing a handful of new songs. The horns, strings, and studio effects are gone, revealing a superb funk band. Riding the groove, Mayfield powerfully evokes the tension of a troubled society yet hold out hope for redemption. Roots is the same mode of Curtis, but Mayfield displays better control of the production. With expansive orchestration and political-gospel evangelism, it sounds like the sequel to What's Going On that Marvin Gaye never made. Mayfield made his creative breakthrough when he was commissioned to write and record the soundtrack for the Gordon Parks Jr. blaxpoitation film Superfly. Mayfield ignored the movie's glorification of drug-dealing and hustling and instead painted an unflinching portrait of real people who get caught up in street life. Somehow the assignment of writing for specific characters gave his lyrics a new focus, as he zeroed in on specific situations and settings to created his own memories. His music acquired a new focus too; the guitar-driven hooks for "Freddie's Dead" and the title track buoyed the songs into the Top 10, though the portraits "Pusherman" and "Little Child Runnin' Wild" were just as sharp. Superfly kicked off a cycle of six soundtrack albums written and produced by Mayfield, which represent the best work of his career. Only two of them, however, were released under his name. Claudine was credited to Gladys Knight & the pips in 1974; Let's Do It Again to the Staple Singers in 1975; Sparkle to Aretha Franklin in 1976; A Piece of the Action to Mavis Staples in 1977; and Short Eyes to Mayfield himself in 1977. All of these are great albums- Mayfield had a knack for crafting catchy songs that fit the narrative of any of these films but also fit Knight, Franklin, and Staples, whose strong, agile voices were much better vehicles than Mayfield's own thin, immobile tenor. Short Eyes is often the forgotten title of the cycle, but Mayfield's songs conjure the film's prison setting almost more ruthlessly than the songs on Superfly evoke the drug trade. Back to the World, his followup to Superfly, was an impressive album, and though not a soundtrack, it married prostration of a Vietnam Vet and an innocent child to catchy hooks and funky horn-and-percussion arrangements. But Mayfield soon lost his way when he didn't have a film on which to focus his vision. With each succeeding title- Sweet Exorcist, Got to Find a Way, There's No Place Like America Today- the arrangements grew more meandering, the riffs less memorable, and the lyrics more abstract. Not surprisingly, the record-buying public lost interest. Mayfield reacted by jumping on the disco and Quest Storm bandwagons. The resulting albums were competent examples of the genre but nothing special. It didn't help matters that Mayfield was never much of a businessman, and as Curtom Records bounced around from distributor to distribution, the titles were poorly promoted and it became hard to find Mayfield's best work. He continued to put on strong live shows, however, and the best outings from the '80s are on live albums such as Live in Europe, Live at Ronnie Scott's and BBC Radio 1 in Concert. For those confused on where to start, the best single-disc compilation is the 16-track The Very Best of Curtis Mayfield. On August 14, 1990, Mayfield was playing a concert in Brooklyn when an improperly secured lighting scaffold fell on him, breaking three of his vertebrae, and leaving him paralyzed from the neck down. He spent the last six years of his life in a wheelchair, giving upbeat interviews, recording his solo album New World Order, and contributing this track to A Tribute to Curtis Mayfield.
You know the deal...
It's...
Curtis Mayfield
Curtis Mayfield
Curtis Mayfield
Curtis Mayfield's only equal as a soul-era triple threat- he was a lyricist, composer, and producer- was Smokey Robinson, but Mayfield was willing to address social issues that Robinson wasn't. It was Mayfield, in fact, who joined Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, Sly Stone, and George Clinton in leading the progressive-soul movement that gave African-American pop a musical sophistication and lyrical ambition it had never seen before.
Mayfield had been prepared for this role while the lead singer, chief songwriter, and producer of The Impressions, a male-harmony trio that scored such pop hits as "It's All Right," "I'm So Proud," "Keep On Pushing," "Amen," "People Get Ready," and "Choice of Colors." Most of these songs combined Mayfield's musical roots in Chicago's black Churches with the bright, brisk Northern soul of the '60s to create allegorical rallying cries for the civil rights movement of that decade. And as a songwriter and producer who worked with legendary artists, Mayfield helped shape the Chicago-soul scene into a worthy rival to nearby Motown. The non-Impressions production work is nicely anthologizes on the 18-track compilation Curtis Mayfield's Chicago Soul. In 1970, however, Mayfield left The Impressions and their clean-cut-soul formula and broke with ABC Records to launch a solo career on his own label, Curtom Records. He used this new freedom to pursue more pointedly political lyrics and funkier arrangements, qualities that reflect the moon on the street at the time. On his greatest solo recordings, clustered early in the decade, he translated that moon into indelible character studies of everyday folks, which were back up by riveting guitar riffs. Later on, he lost his focus and his lyrics become un-tethered philosophical rants while his guitar licks became mere noodling. On his first solo album, 1970's Curtis, Mayfield balanced warnings of doom ("If There's a Hell Below We're All Gonna Go") and laments for the state of black America ("We're the People Who Are Darker Than Blue") with inspiring anthems of hope ("Move On Up," a rewrite of The Impressions' "Keep On Pushing"), and tributes to his people's potential ("Makings of You"). Somestimes the statements are overly sweeping and the production (lush strings and horn arrangments, doo-wop harmonies, gimmicky studio effects, rattling conga drums) are too ornate, but the melodies are irresistible and the rhythm section is FUNKY! The following year he released Curtis/Live, recorded onstage in New York, recycling three songs from Curtis, recasting some old Impressions tunes in his latest style, and introducing a handful of new songs. The horns, strings, and studio effects are gone, revealing a superb funk band. Riding the groove, Mayfield powerfully evokes the tension of a troubled society yet hold out hope for redemption. Roots is the same mode of Curtis, but Mayfield displays better control of the production. With expansive orchestration and political-gospel evangelism, it sounds like the sequel to What's Going On that Marvin Gaye never made. Mayfield made his creative breakthrough when he was commissioned to write and record the soundtrack for the Gordon Parks Jr. blaxpoitation film Superfly. Mayfield ignored the movie's glorification of drug-dealing and hustling and instead painted an unflinching portrait of real people who get caught up in street life. Somehow the assignment of writing for specific characters gave his lyrics a new focus, as he zeroed in on specific situations and settings to created his own memories. His music acquired a new focus too; the guitar-driven hooks for "Freddie's Dead" and the title track buoyed the songs into the Top 10, though the portraits "Pusherman" and "Little Child Runnin' Wild" were just as sharp. Superfly kicked off a cycle of six soundtrack albums written and produced by Mayfield, which represent the best work of his career. Only two of them, however, were released under his name. Claudine was credited to Gladys Knight & the pips in 1974; Let's Do It Again to the Staple Singers in 1975; Sparkle to Aretha Franklin in 1976; A Piece of the Action to Mavis Staples in 1977; and Short Eyes to Mayfield himself in 1977. All of these are great albums- Mayfield had a knack for crafting catchy songs that fit the narrative of any of these films but also fit Knight, Franklin, and Staples, whose strong, agile voices were much better vehicles than Mayfield's own thin, immobile tenor. Short Eyes is often the forgotten title of the cycle, but Mayfield's songs conjure the film's prison setting almost more ruthlessly than the songs on Superfly evoke the drug trade. Back to the World, his followup to Superfly, was an impressive album, and though not a soundtrack, it married prostration of a Vietnam Vet and an innocent child to catchy hooks and funky horn-and-percussion arrangements. But Mayfield soon lost his way when he didn't have a film on which to focus his vision. With each succeeding title- Sweet Exorcist, Got to Find a Way, There's No Place Like America Today- the arrangements grew more meandering, the riffs less memorable, and the lyrics more abstract. Not surprisingly, the record-buying public lost interest. Mayfield reacted by jumping on the disco and Quest Storm bandwagons. The resulting albums were competent examples of the genre but nothing special. It didn't help matters that Mayfield was never much of a businessman, and as Curtom Records bounced around from distributor to distribution, the titles were poorly promoted and it became hard to find Mayfield's best work. He continued to put on strong live shows, however, and the best outings from the '80s are on live albums such as Live in Europe, Live at Ronnie Scott's and BBC Radio 1 in Concert. For those confused on where to start, the best single-disc compilation is the 16-track The Very Best of Curtis Mayfield. On August 14, 1990, Mayfield was playing a concert in Brooklyn when an improperly secured lighting scaffold fell on him, breaking three of his vertebrae, and leaving him paralyzed from the neck down. He spent the last six years of his life in a wheelchair, giving upbeat interviews, recording his solo album New World Order, and contributing this track to A Tribute to Curtis Mayfield.
You know the deal...
It's...
Curtis Mayfield
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