Search - Curtis Mayfield :: The Very Best of (Curtis Mayfield)

Best Available Anthology of Mayfield's Solo Work

Gavin B. | St. Louis MO | 01/22/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Song per song, the "Very Best of Curtis Mayfield" issued by the venerable collector's label, Rhino Records in 1997 remains the definitive single CD collection of Curtis Mayfield's post-Impressions career. Mayfield's early songs like "People Get Ready" and "Amen" have become revered classics that are as deeply woven into fabric of American folkways as Leadbelly's "Midnight Special" or Woody Guthrie's "This Land Is Your Land." To fully appreciate the scope of Mayfield's career one would have to hear his early Sixties hits with the Impressions plus a quartet of Seventies solo albums, "Curtis", "Roots", the long out of issue "Let's Do Again" and his ubiquitous soundtrack to the movie "Superfly."



Curtis Mayfield, as a producer for the black oriented music label Okeh, gained creative control over his music well before many of his peers at the squeaky clean, image conscious Motown label. Mayfield and the Impressions posed for the album cover for 1968's "This Is My Country" amid the ruins of a vacant building in a Chicago neighborhood plundered by urban renewal. Well before Marvin Gaye fought Motown's Barry Gordy to produce the landmark "What's Going On" in 1971, Mayfield had achieved cross-over success largely on his accomplishments as a socially conscious performer and composer.



He sang in a falsetto that was every bit as winsome as Smokey Robinson's but the purity of the Mayfield falsetto counter pointed his raw unflinching lyrics and lent sense of urgency to his cry for justice. While Smokey sang about joy of a "Special Occasion", Curtis sang about "The Hell Down Below We're All Going To." Mayfield's power was the deeply personal first-person perspective of his lyrics. He directly addressed African American community as both a participant and observer in his musical narratives.



Songs like "Move On Up", "Future Shock" will surprise the casually acquainted, who thought Mayfield's career began and ended with the blockbuster soundtrack of "Superfly" in 1972. The predatory world of junkies, hustlers and drug dealers against the bleak urban squalor of "Superfly" still delivers a knockout blow to the heart. In contrast to today's predatory hip-hop ethic, Mayfield saw the thug-life through the eyes of its victims.



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Excellent Collection

S. Finefrock | Raleigh, NC | 07/01/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Rhino has, as usual assembled a great CD highlighting the solo works of the late Curtis Mayfield. The trilogy of the Superfly tracks (Superfly, Pusherman and Freddie's Dead) show Mayfield as an observant sociologist. The Makings of You and So in Love show a true romantic. And anyone unmoved by the terrific, surging arrangement and upbeat message of Move on Up should check for a pulse. Curtis Mayfield was a giant in terms of songwriting, musicianship and message that we unfortunaley have too few of these days."

Timeless and perfect.

Gracejoy | New York, NY United States | 06/30/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Curtis Mayfield was a musical genius and this CD is a testament to his amazing ability to create powerful, engaging, funky, soulful, moving music. Mayfield is clearly the master of funk and his falsetto vocals are the baddest of bad. I have too many favorite tracks to pick just one, but I will say that "Freddie's Dead" and "Kung Fu" are alone worth the price of this CD. Most of the songs address some kind of moral or social issue and the lyrics are genuinely thought-provoking, not cliched. Some of the songs beg you to get up and dance, while others are meant for closing your eyes and just soaking it in. All of it is GREAT.This is one of my favorite CDs of all time. If you are even remotely curious about Curtis Mayfield or funk music in general, you have to have this CD. It doesn't get any better than this."