fine albums: Curtis Mayfield

Showing posts with label Curtis Mayfield. Show all posts

2026/06/28

the impressions: this is my country

album rating: ★★★★★

Genre

Soul and gospel-infused R&B. One of the defining concept albums of the civil rights era, "This Is My Country" moves between stirring anthems of Black pride and social protest and the intimate, gospel-rooted romantic ballads that had defined the Impressions' earlier work, all unified by Curtis Mayfield's singular moral seriousness as a songwriter.

Release

Released in 1968 by Curtom Records - Curtis Mayfield's own newly founded label, distributed by Buddah Records. It was the first Impressions album released on Curtom and marked the group's creative independence from the ABC/Paramount infrastructure under which they had previously operated. "Gone Away" was co-written by Mayfield with Donny Hathaway and Leroy Hutson, both of whom also contributed to the sessions.

Production

Produced by Curtis Mayfield, who also wrote all twelve tracks — with the sole exception of "Gone Away."

Reception

The album was critically received as one of the Impressions' finest. " The Independent retrospectively named it one of the 20 best albums of 1968, noting that on the title track "Mayfield gave notice of his own Black pride, both celebrating and condemning the country that his people populate."

The Impressions

The Impressions were an American soul and R&B vocal group formed in Chicago in 1958, whose classic lineup comprised Curtis Mayfield (born June 3, 1942, Chicago – December 26, 1999), Sam Gooden (born September 2, 1939, Chattanooga, Tennessee), and Fred Cash (born October 8, 1940, Chattanooga, Tennessee). They rose to national prominence with "For Your Precious Love" (1958) and "Gypsy Woman" (1961), and reached the apex of their cultural influence with a series of socially conscious soul anthems between 1964 and 1968 — including "Keep On Pushing," "People Get Ready," and "We're a Winner" - that made them one of the most significant musical voices of the civil rights movement. Mayfield left the group in 1970 to pursue a solo career that produced the landmark Superfly soundtrack (1972). He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1991 as a member of the Impressions and as a solo artist in 1999; he was rendered quadriplegic in 1990 following a stage accident, dying in December of that year from complications. The Impressions were also inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2003.

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i'm loving nothing

2025/07/10

curtis mayfield: roots

album rating: ★★★★☆

a) Genre

Soul / Funk / Psychedelic soul. Roots continues the musical direction established on Mayfield's 1970 solo debut Curtis, developing a deeper fusion of funk rhythms, African percussion, orchestral soul arrangements, and socially conscious lyrics. The album addresses themes of Black identity, heritage, urban struggle, and the aspiration for peace, placing it alongside landmark albums of the era such as Marvin Gaye's What's Going On (also 1971) in its political and artistic ambition.

b) Release

Original release: Curtom Records (USA, 23 October 1971; catalogue CRS 8009), with exclusive distribution by Buddah Records. Curtom was the independent label Mayfield co-founded with business partner Eddie Thomas in 1966 to retain full artistic and financial control over his work. A UK edition was issued under similar arrangements. In 1999, Rhino Records released a remastered CD edition with four bonus tracks, expanding the original seven-track album. The original pressing was distributed by Buddah Records under a deal covering 1968 to 1974.

c) Production

Produced by Curtis Mayfield. Self-production was central to Mayfield's artistic philosophy, giving him complete creative control over the Curtom Records output. Arrangements were handled by Johnny Pate and Riley Hampton. Johnny Pate (1923–2010) was a veteran jazz bassist and arranger who had worked alongside Mayfield since the Impressions years and would go on to arrange for B.B. King, Bobby 'Blue' Bland, and Peabo Bryson. Riley Hampton contributed complementary orchestral arrangements. Mastering was by Roger Anfinsen. Management was handled by Marv Stuart; musical contracting by Marv Heiman. Backing vocals were provided by Leroy Hutson and Michael Hawkins.

d) Recording

Recorded at RCA Studios, Chicago, Illinois, USA. The principal rhythm section — identified in credits primarily by first names — consisted of Joseph 'Lucky' Scott (bass), Tyrone (drums), Craig (guitar), and Henry 'Master' Gibson (percussion: bongos, congas, and related instruments). Gibson, a highly regarded session percussionist, is credited on an estimated 1,200 albums; his Afrocentric percussion playing is central to the album's sound and its invocation of African musical roots.

e) Reception

Roots was both a commercial and critical success. It peaked at number 6 on the Billboard R&B Albums chart and number 41 on the Billboard 200. AllMusic critic Bruce Eder wrote that the album 'soars on some of the sweetest and most eloquent soul music ever recorded.' In Sheeps Clothing HiFi called it 'the somewhat underrated second solo album by Curtis Mayfield', noting its place 'in the same echelon of visionary, conscious soul music as Marvin Gaye's What's Going On.' The Albumism retrospective, on the occasion of the album's 50th anniversary, praised the urgency that drives and surges through the record, distinguishing it from later works that attempted a similar aesthetic without achieving its emotional power. The album has grown in critical stature over subsequent decades and is widely considered one of the cornerstones of socially conscious Black American music of the early 1970s.

Curtis Mayfield

Curtis Lee Mayfield (born 3 June 1942, Chicago, Illinois, USA — died 26 December 1999, Roswell, Georgia, USA) was an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, record producer, and entrepreneur, widely regarded as one of the most important figures in soul, funk, and rhythm and blues. He was raised on Chicago's north side and joined the vocal group The Impressions in 1958, becoming their lead songwriter and principal creative force. With the Impressions he wrote and recorded a series of landmark soul records throughout the 1960s that combined pop appeal with civil rights activism, including 'People Get Ready', 'Keep On Pushing', and 'We're a Winner'. He left the Impressions in 1970 to pursue a solo career. His 1972 soundtrack for the blaxploitation film Super Fly remains one of the most celebrated film soundtracks in the history of American popular music. He founded Curtom Records in 1966 and continued recording and producing throughout the 1970s. In August 1990, a lighting rig collapsed on him during an outdoor concert in Brooklyn, New York, rendering him permanently paralysed from the neck down. Despite his paralysis, he continued to make music with extraordinary dedication, recording his final album New World Order (1996) by recording each vocal line while lying on his back — the only position from which he could generate enough breath to sing. He died of diabetes-related complications in 1999 at the age of 57. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1999.

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