Curtis (Curtis Mayfield album)
Curtis is the debut album by American soul musician Curtis Mayfield, released in September 1970. Produced by Mayfield, it was released on his own label Curtom Records. The musical styles of Curtis moved further away from the pop-soul sounds of Mayfield's previous group The Impressions and featured more of a funk and psychedelic-influenced sound. The album's subject matter incorporates political and social concerns of the time.[1]
Curtis | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | September 1970 | |||
Recorded | May - July 1970 | |||
Studio | RCA Studios, Chicago | |||
Genre | Soul, funk | |||
Length | 40:28 | |||
Label | Curtom | |||
Producer | Curtis Mayfield | |||
Curtis Mayfield chronology | ||||
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Singles from Curtis | ||||
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Curtis sold well at the time charting at number one on the Billboard Black albums (for five nonconsecutive weeks) and number nineteen on the Billboard Pop albums charts. Only the single "(Don't Worry) If There's a Hell Below, We're All Going to Go" charted in the United States; however, an edited version of "Move On Up" would spend 10 weeks in the top 50 of the UK Singles Chart.
Background
Mayfield began work on his own self-titled album in 1970. Although he never intended to leave the Impressions permanently, he would officially leave them in 1971, under recommendation from his business manager Marv Stuart and given the trend for both R&B and rock artists to go solo.[2][3]
Recording and production
Like with some of his later Impressions work, Mayfield's lyrics reflected the social and political concern rising in black America at the time. Mayfield was one of the earliest artists to speak openly about African-American pride and community struggle.[4] Mayfield reflected upon this time as a "happening era...when people stopped wearing tuxedos...people were getting down a little more."[2]
The album had a more hard edged sound than the Impressions had before. On this new sound Mayfield claimed it was something he "long wanted to do...but were out of category of what was expected of me and the Impressions. What I got off in the Curtis album allowed me to be more personal for myself.".[2] The two singles off the album "(Don't Worry) If There's a Hell Below, We're All Going to Go" and "Move on Up" showcased Mayfield's new funk musical style, while the rest of the tracks were much softer soul based songs.[2] Not having any traditional music lessons, Mayfield claimed his backing band would occasionly comment "gosh, this is a terribly strange key to play in", but still played it accordingly as written.[3] According to Joseph L. Tirabassi of Tiny Mix Tapes, "We the People Who Are Darker Than Blue" exemplified the "gliding soul" and "hard-hitting funk" the rest of the album veered between.[5]
Critical reception
Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
AllMusic | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Christgau's Record Guide | B+[7] |
Encyclopedia of Popular Music | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Q | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Rolling Stone | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
The Rolling Stone Album Guide | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Sputnikmusic | 4.5/5[12] |
The Village Voice | B[13] |
In a contemporary review for Rolling Stone, John Wendell was disappointed by Curtis, finding much of Mayfield's music more rhythmic than melodic, "fragmentary, garbled and frustrating to listen to"; he called the lyrics haphazardly written and mealy-mouthed. "He tries to deal with some pretty serious and complex subjects by stringing together phrases that end with the same sound—whether they make sense together or not", Wendell critiqued. "Sure, it's all subjective, but I can't myself see that what we need is 'Respect for the steeple/power to the people.'"[14] Village Voice critic Robert Christgau was also somewhat unmoved by the album's "essentially middle-class guides to black pride" but qualified his judgment as reflecting a certain degree of cultural relativism on his part, making note of African-American audiences having embraced the record.[13]
Christgau revisited Curtis in Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies (1981) and found it far less middlebrow on further listens;[7] later in Rolling Stone, he said the album is song-for-song "stronger than Superfly".[10] Bruce Eder from AllMusic said Mayfield had "embraced the most progressive soul sounds of the era" on an album that was "practically the Sgt. Pepper's album of '70s soul".[6] In The Rolling Stone Album Guide (2004), Geoff Himes wrote that the songs remained irresistibly catchy, even though sometimes Mayfield's messages were oversimplified and the production sounded excessively "ornate".[11]
Awards
In 1972, the French Academy of Jazz awarded Mayfield's Curtis the Prix Otis Redding for best R&B record.[15]
Track listing
All tracks are written by Curtis Mayfield.
No. | Title | Length |
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1. | "(Don't Worry) If There's a Hell Below, We're All Going to Go" | 7:50 |
2. | "The Other Side of Town" | 4:01 |
3. | "The Makings of You" | 3:43 |
4. | "We the People Who Are Darker Than Blue" | 6:05 |
No. | Title | Length |
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5. | "Move On Up" | 8:45 |
6. | "Miss Black America" | 2:53 |
7. | "Wild and Free" | 3:16 |
8. | "Give It Up" | 3:49 |
Total length: | 40:28 |
All songs written and composed by Curtis Mayfield except where noted.
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
9. | "Power to the People" (demo version) | 2:47 | |
10. | "Underground" (demo version) | 3:11 | |
11. | "Ghetto Child" (demo version) | 5:10 | |
12. | "Readings in Astrology" (demo version) | 3:31 | |
13. | "Suffer" (demo version) | Donny Hathaway, Mayfield | 2:31 |
14. | "Miss Black America" (demo version) | 2:22 | |
15. | "The Makings of You" (Backing Tracks, Take 32) | 4:35 | |
16. | "(Don't Worry) If There's a Hell Below, We're All Going to Go" ((Backing Tracks, Takes 1 & 2)) | 9:34 | |
17. | "(Don't Worry) If There's a Hell Below, We're All Going to Go" (Radio edit) | 3:26 | |
Total length: | 77:53 |
Chart history
Album
Year | Peak chart positions | ||
---|---|---|---|
U.S. Pop albums[16] | U.S. R&B albums[16] | ||
1970 | 19 | 1 | |
Singles
Year | Title | Peak chart positions | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
U.S. Pop [17] |
U.S. R&B Singles [17] |
UK [18] | ||
1970 | "(Don't Worry) If There's a Hell Below, We're All Going to Go" | 29 | 3 | — |
1971 | "Move on Up" | — | — | 12 |
Personnel
- Musicians - Leonard Druss, John Howell, Harold Lepp, Loren Binford, Clifford Davis, Patrick Ferreri, Richard Single, Rudolph Stauber, Donald Simmons, Robert Lewis, Harold Dessent, Ronald Kolber, Harold Klatz, John Ross, Sol Bobrob, Sam Heiman, Elliot Golub, Henry Gibson, Robert Sims, Gary Slabo, Philip Upchurch
Technical personnel
- Riley Hampton and Gary Slabo – producer, mixer
- R.J. Anfinson and Tom Flye – recording engineer
- Curtis Mayfield - producer
See also
- List of number-one R&B albums of 1971 (U.S.)
References
- Warwick, Neil; Jon Kutner; Tony Brown (2004). The complete book of the British charts. Omnibus Press. ISBN 1-84449-058-0.
- Pruter, Robert (1992). Chicago Soul. University of Illinois Press. ISBN 0-252-06259-0.
- Thompson, Dave (2001). Funk. Backbeat Books. ISBN 0-87930-629-7.
Notes
- Jones, Chris (2008). "Review of Curtis Mayfield - Curtis". BBC Music. Retrieved July 13, 2016.
- Pruter 1992, p.306-307
- Thompson 2001, p. 158
- Unterberger, Richie. Curtis Mayfield > Biography at AllMusic. Retrieved 22 April 2008.
- Tirabassi, Joseph L. (October 2, 2008). "1970: Curtis Mayfield - Curtis". Tiny Mix Tapes. Retrieved July 13, 2016.
- Eder, Bruce. "Curtis – Curtis Mayfield". AllMusic. Retrieved April 22, 2008.
- Christgau, Robert (1981). "Consumer Guide '70s: M". Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies. Ticknor & Fields. ISBN 089919026X. Retrieved March 7, 2019 – via robertchristgau.com.
- Larkin, Colin (2006). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. 5 (4th ed.). MUZE. p. 588. ISBN 0195313739.
- "Curtis Mayfield: Curtis". Q. No. 373. July 2017. p. 103.
- Christgau, Robert (February 3, 2000). "Curtis Mayfield 1942–2000: A Beginner's Guide". Rolling Stone. Retrieved July 13, 2016.
- Himes, Geoff (2004). "Curtis Mayfield". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide. Simon & Schuster. pp. 523–24. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
- Arp, Louis (January 17, 2006). "Curtis Mayfield – Curtis (album review)". Sputnikmusic. Retrieved July 13, 2016.
- Christgau, Robert (1970). "Consumer Guide (16)". The Village Voice. New York. Retrieved April 5, 2013.
- Wendell, John (26 November 1970). "Curtis Mayfield: Curtis". RS 71. Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 2007-12-02.
- "Special French Award to Satchmo" (PDF). Billboard: 49. April 8, 1972.
- Curtis Mayfield > Charts & Awards > Billboard Albums at AllMusic. Retrieved 22 June 2008.
- Curtis Mayfield > Charts & Awards > Billboard Singles at AllMusic. Retrieved 22 June 2008.
- Warwick 2004, p. 713.
External links
- Curtis at MusicBrainz (list of releases)