1001 Other AlbumsCurtis Mayfield – Curtis / Live! (1971, US)
As randomly chosen via Fedi survey,[1] our next spotlight is on number 294 on The List, submitted by myself (buffyleigh).
This is one of my favourite live releases in my vinyl collection, the first solo live album from the indomitable Curtis Mayfield, recorded in 1971 at the (now if not, at the time, already) legendary NYC nightclub, The Bitter End. Mayfield leads his backing band on guitar, with Craig McMullen on rhythm guitar, Joseph “Lucky” Scott on bass, Tyrone McCullen on drums, and “Master” Henry Gibson on percussion, congas, and bongos (all of whom would join Mayfield on future albums including Super Fly).
Nearly half of the songs on Curtis/Live[2] were originally released by the soul/R&B vocal group The Impressions, which Mayfield had been a part of since the age of 16 and had just recently left to pursue a solo career. Mayfield was the primary songwriter on all 12 albums he released with The Impressions – from their 1963 s/t debut to their 1970 album Check Out Your Mind! – so the inclusion of these songs are more reworkings than covers. Three of the other tracks[3] come from the one solo album Mayfield had released by this time, Curtis (1970), and the remaining four[4] see their first (and, afaik, possibly only album) release here, including a cover of the Carpenters’ “We’ve Only Just Begun”.
Mayfield would go on to release (if I’m counting correctly) 17 more solo studio/soundtrack albums (including one after being paralyzed from the neck down, wtf) and a handful of other live albums, plus would pen albums for other artists such as Gladys Knight & the Pips, Mavis Staples, and Aretha Franklin. Both in his lifetime and after his death in 1999, Mayfield would be recognized for his influence on soul/R&B music and his impact on the civil rights and Black pride movements, all of which deserves thousands more words than we have here. If you haven’t yet gone down the Curtis Mayfield rabbit hole, this is a great place to start.
Happy listening and, don’t worry, if there’s a hell below, we’re all going to go.
- Songlink: Curtis Mayfield – Curtis / Live! (or, YT playlist)
- Warning: The version of “We the People Who Are Darker Than Blue” included on Apple Music and Spotify has been swapped for a different live version for some gorram reason, it’s not what’s on the actual release. Another reason to get a physical copy.
- Discogs: Curtis Mayfield – Curtis / Live!
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