Curtis Mayfield - The Very Best of (Curtis Mayfield)

Just to set the record straight

This is a great compilation but someone mentioned that the so-called "Diamond in the Back" isn't included. Well, that's because that is NOT a Mayfield song. It is actually called "Be Thankful For What You Got" by William DeVaughn and came out in 1974. It's a common misconception out there, so I figured I'd clear up any confusion. Yes, it's a very good song, but is not Mayfield's. That is all. Enjoy this Best Of. May 9, 2008

The Best Single Disk Compilation of Curtis Mayfield Work....!!!!

From the moment, he sang with `The Impressions', it was clear that singer "Curtis Mayfield", wasn't your average soul/R&B Singer. His vocals were seemingly effortlessly able to move from a Soft warm tone, to a gritty and ominous mood to the next. And along with being an accomplished guitarist (Something not usually associated with Soul/R&B singers), an accomplished singer / songwriter and a producer of some note. He remained a hugely talented individual, and one that although most people will undoubtedly know him for his exceptional "Superfly" soundtrack (and possibly his debut "Curtis" studio album), an artist that truly deserves something of a current re-evaluation of his musical output.

Firstly, it's important to note that this `Rhino' label release focuses squarely on his solo output, so those looking for something that includes his work with the Impressions, will need to look elsewhere. But as is the way with `Rhino's' releases, you get a very concise and excellently compiled album, that skilfully manages to includes the hits, but also include any possibly overlooked gems, that only a true interest in the artists work can bring. So have `Rhino' somehow managed to squeeze an impressive song catalogue into the 16 tracks that make up this collection???. Well...yes they have!!!, and remarkably they've pulled it off in such a truly impressive manner....so what you get are the well known classics, such as the gritty and urban grooves of "Freddie's Dead", "Superfly", & "Pusherman".. from his definitive Blaxploitation soundtrack "Superfly"...all moody funk, stinging brass and horn sections, dark psychedelic soul & cautionary R&B. And the mood changes with the inclusion of material from his "Curtis" album, with tracks such as: "(Don't Worry) If There's A Hell Below We're All Going To Go", "The Makings of You" & "Move on Up", that take the more subtle intimacy and lush arrangements, and progressive Soul of that album, and make for a varied listening experience. And here's why `Rhino' always generally impress me, by including tracks that maybe the causal listener (such as myself), probably won't be overly familiar with, and include them in their compilations so we can appreciate the inclusion of tracks such like : "Do Do Wap is Strong in Here", "Between you Baby and Me" & "Do be Down", which may well be required listening for those that are real fans of Mayfield's work. But for anyone fairly new to Curtis' work, or hasn't been following his career, these are like undiscovered musical nuggets of gold. And it yet again (in my eyes) establishes the `Rhino' label as one of the most consistently superb compilers of Soul or R&B artists.

Personally speaking...I wished that this could have been stretched out into a double-CD editon, as several of his essential cuts from "Superfly", and his "Curtis" studio album, didn't quite make the cut, and even some of his instrumentals literally begged to be included, and whilst I'm on the subject, why no material from his seminal "Curtis Live" album??....but again this is merely nitpicking at what has been created, to be a reasonably priced, one CD compilation of Mayfield's work, and even the die-hard fans that will probably head for the Double-disk Anthology (which includes his work with `The Impressions') will probably sneer. Even they would agree, that is probably the most perfectly complied single disk compilation of one of Soul/R&B finest singer/songwriters.
August 3, 2006

THE MAKINGS OF YOU !

Best collection of the late, great Curtis Mayfield, of his solo work. God rest your soul !! June 17, 2006

Brothas & Sistas

Good compilation of grooves, but its missing what was in my mind mayfield's best joint " diamond in the back". Anyway, its worth pickin up if u feel the funk. Curtis was the original gangsta in the music industry. When i was growin up in Watts in the late 70's he was big on the block like crack rock. He sung about real issues for ghetto youth and we all overstood what he was about. Curtis, along with Marvin Gaye and Willie Hutch, Made me feel proud to be black in the 70's. January 18, 2006

Best Available Anthology of Mayfield's Solo Work

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.

January 22, 2005

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