"...Gotta Take The Pain Away..."
In the world of Sixties and Seventies Soul
Music - some albums stand like giants from artists like Aretha, Marvin, Stevie,
Isaac Hayes, Donny Hathaway – and of course - the second of three No. 1 albums
for Chicago's Curtis Mayfield [ex The Impressions] – his soundtrack to the
Blaxploitation movie "Superfly" issued in August 1972.
In 1997, reissue connoisseurs Rhino of the USA
afforded the famous pusherman LP a 2CD "Superfly: Deluxe 25th Anniversary
Edition" outing complete with a whole disc of Previously Unreleased
material and brand new Remasters by long-standing Audio Engineer Dan Hersch.
It’s even sporting the die-cut artwork of the American LP originally on
Mayfield's own Curtom Records (very tasty). Let's get to Freddie and Eddie
before the Feds do...
US released March 1997 - "Superfly: Deluxe
25th Anniversary Edition" by CURTIS MAYFIELD on Rhino/Curtom R2 72836
(Barcode 081227283629) is a 2CD Remaster that plays out as follows:
Disc 1 (43:39 minutes):
1. Little Child Running Wild [Side 1]
2. Pusherman
3. Freddie's Dead
4. Junkie Chase (Instrumental)
5. Give Me Your Love (Love Song) [Side 2]
6. Eddie You Should Know Better
7. Nothing On Me (Cocaine Song)
8. Think (Instrumental)
9. Superfly
Tracks 1 to 9 are his third Studio album
"Superfly: The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack" – released August
1972 in the USA on Curtom CRS-8014-ST (in a Die-Cut Gatefold Sleeve) and March
1973 in the UK on Buddah 2318 065 (in a Single Non Die-Cut Sleeve).
BONUS TRACKS:
10. Freddie's Dead (Theme From
"Superfly") (Single Mix)
July 1972 US 7" single on Curtom CR 1975, A-side
("Underground" from the October 1971 "Roots" LP is the
B-side)
11. Superfly (Single Mix)
October 1972 US 7" single on Curtom 1975,
A-side ("Love To Keep You In My Mind" from the October 1971
"Roots" LP is the B-side)
Disc 2 (41:43 minutes): ALL PREVIOUSLY
UNRELEASED
1. Ghetto Child (Demo Of "Little Child
Runnin' Wild")
2. Pusherman (Alternate Mix with Horns)
3. Freddie's Dead (Instrumental Version from
the film score)
4. Junkie Chase (Instrumental) (Full-Length
Version)
5. Nothing On Me (Cocaine Song) (Instrumental
Version from the film score)
6. Militant March (from the film score –
Previously Unreleased)
7. Eddie You Should Know Better (Instrumental
Version)
8. Radio Spot No. 1
9. The Underground "Superfly-esque
Demo" from 1970 PU in USA)
10. Check Out Your Mind (Instrumental Version –
Studio Jam)
11. Radio Spot No. 2
12. Curtis Mayfield (On "Superfly"
Film & Songwriting) – from an interview with Rhino's David Dorn recorded
fall 1995
The 24-page oversized booklet has liner notes
by A. SCOTT GALLOWAY complete with loads of period photos and memorabilia (fab
looking stuff) – even going as far as making the outer flap a die-cut like the
original 1972 Soundtrack LP in the USA. But for me the big news is New
Remasters by DAN HERSCH and the fabulous outtakes haul on Disc 2. Hersch is an
Audio Engineer of long-standing who has handled huge swathes of the
Atlantic/Atco Remasters Series for Rhino along with his partner in crime BILL
INGLOT. This thing sounds fantastic – and Rhino has had their Remaster piggybacked
upon by other reissue labels ever since. To the music...
You might think that some dodgy junkie movie
from 1972 might not stand up musically in 2019 – but only one minute into the
brilliant "Little Child Runnin' Wild" and you’re feeling Mayfield's lethal
combo of a cool Soul music with genuinely keeping-it-real lyrics. As the
strings fade out, words like "...gotta Jones...runnin' through my
bones...guess its time to take another trip...don't care what nobody
say...gotta take my pain away...all my life has been this way..." linger
in your mind - you're feeling Freddie's ache and need and yes, despair. Next up
is the full album version of "Pusherman" – the man in the alley –
your friend – gotta need – he can supply the speed - his smug giggles throughout.
It's another superb groove and not surprising that the song has featured in so
many movies.
The album cut of "Freddie's Dead" is
5:20 minutes long, but the edited single mix at 3:20 minutes was so damn cool,
it raced up to a No. 2 position on the US R&B singles chart (the song
entered in August 1972 and stayed on chart for a whopping 16 weeks). The short
1:40 minute instrumental "Junkie Chase" ends Side 1 with wah-wah
guitars and jagged Shaft-like Funk (slip it onto Baby Driver 2 anyone). Side 2
opens with the sexy "Give Me Your Love (Love Song)" and again that
guitar groove with those strings is fantastic stuff - Curtis can't get mad at
his lady (or is it something else he's alluding too). "Eddie You Should
Know Better" is a wise-up brother song, tears and fears and personal cost.
Spoken messages come fast and thick in "Nothing On Me (Cocaine Song)"
- Curtis advising that a natural high is a better buzz than a chemically
induced one - a high followed by a down you can't kick the next morning. The
album slides towards its finish with a surprisingly pretty instrumental called
"Think" followed by the titular full album version of
"Superfly" at 4:58 minutes. Very cool – the title track is all sexy
horn jabs and tight drumming as Curtis tells of friends who've suffered at the
greedy hands of the Pusherman (like James Brown, they both saw what these
hustlers were doing to black communities all over America). A single edit was
released October 1972 and it peaked at an impressive No. 5 in the States - Ron
O'Neil's leading role movie 45 even getting a titled picture sleeve.
Of the outakes I went straight for the 4:18
minute extension of the instrumental "Junkie Chase" - fab stuff -
drums and funk way past the LP cut. The fifty seconds of "Militant
March" is good but gone too soon - better is the superb "Check Out
Your Mind" - 4:06 minutes of instrumental Shaft-type funkiness. The two
Radio Spots have Curtis rhyming lyrics to a backdrop of the signature music
asking punters to check out Freddie and his woes. I also like the demo of
"Underground" - treated guitars and growled lyrics.
I've been playing this Soul Soundtrack album
for near five decades now - my battered Buddah Records UK LP covered in too
many scratches and party detritus. Well, this fabulous 2CD celebration has only
served to remind me of why I return to Curtis and his music so much...a
winner...
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