Search - Curtis Mayfield :: Curtis Live

Classic live album

finulanu | Here, there, and everywhere | 02/23/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"A damn fine live album, made up of some Impressions hits ("People Get Ready", "Mighty Mighty (Spade and Whitey)", "Check Out Your Mind", "Gypsy Woman", "We're a Winner") that sound urgent and fresh even without the harmonies. They're also considerably rawer and funkier than the Impressions' smooth originals You also get a few songs that never found their way onto a studio album - I love the minimalist funk of "Stare and Stare" especially, with Curtis taking a memorable wah'ed guitar solo, though I also like the spiritual "I Plan to Stay a Believer". And a cover of the Carpenters' hit "We've Only Just Begun", believe it or not. He also totally reworks several songs from Curtis! - I actually prefer this version of "The Makings of You" to the more famous studio take, because the simpler arrangement allows us to focus on the Curtis' knowing lyrics, while "We the People Who Are Darker Than Blue"'s funk section is transformed into an exciting percussion breakdown, and "(Don't Worry) If There's a Hell Below, We're All Going to Go" actually takes on what is close to a proto-rap arrangement - not in the vocal delivery, but in the emphasis on the awesome percussionist, Harry Gibson. To make things better, Curtis' between-song raps show his easygoing sense of humor - unlike a lot of live stage banter, it sounds natural rather than forced. He actually sounds interested in talking with the audience, rather than shouting out generic "All right, New York! Are you ready to rock? I can't hear you, over all the roooock!" comments. I have a couple small complaints, neither of them related to the music: the sound quality is kinda shoddy, and there's no variety whatsoever in the arrangements. But it's worth it for the guitar solos on "Stone Junkie" alone."