Curtis Mayfield: Classic or Dud?

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.

I completely agree with all the praise too. I'm fairly new to Curtis; started listening to him because of the high praise Robbie Robertson (among many others) gave him as both a guitar player and songwriter.

I don't have near enough of his material - Impressions or solo.

(CM is totally classic obv)

Curtis > Roots > Superfly > Short Eyes > Back To The World > Curtis Live > Got To Find A Way

-- Phil A. (spleetl...), May 8th, 2001.

and they cryout how ilm used to be better than now...

http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:59d9kentgq7m

Curtis > Roots > Superfly > Short Eyes > Back To The World > Curtis Live > Got To Find A Way

Are you honestly saying There's No Place Like America Today isn't among his top SEVEN records?

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!

surely this is one of his best tunes? been going back to it a lot lately.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mi6RMO1lmRo

the impressions ― "so unusual" (1967)