"Curtis" by CURTIS MAYFIELD – September 1970 US Debut Solo Album on Curtom Records, February 1971 in the UK on Buddah Records – featuring One Song in the Bonuses co-written with Donny Hathaway (September 2000 US Rhino Expanded Edition CD Reissue and Remaster with Nine Bonus Tracks – Dan Hersch and Bill Inglot Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

 

 

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This Review And Many More Like It 

Available In my Kindle e-Book (June 2022 Version)

 

LOOKING AFTER NO. 1 

Volume 2 of 2 - M to Z...

 

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"...Move On Up..."

American reissue specialists Rhino are one of my favourite classic catalogue reissue labels in the world and they have repeatedly done the legacy of Chicago’s mighty Curtis Mayfield and his socially conscious brand of Soul and Funk proud.

 

They started out with the fabulous "People Get Ready! The Curtis Mayfield Story" Long Box Set in February 1996 – a 3CD overhaul of his entire career from 1961 with The Impressions to solo 1990 material before his horrible demise in late 1999 – its 51-Tracks covering vinyl outings on ABC-Parkway, Curtom, Boardwalk, CRC and RSO Records.

 

They followed that in March 1997 with a 2CD Deluxe Edition 25^th Anniversary Edition of his most famous and popular record – the Blaxsploitation "Superfly: The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack" LP from July 1972 (USA) on Curtom Records and March 1973 (UK) on Buddah Records.

 

This dinky little CD Remaster from September 2000 of his "Curtis" album from late 1970 marked the exploration of his solo catalogue proper. There’s a plethora of goodness to wade into, so lets get to the wild and free...

 

US released September 2000 - "Curtis" by CURTIS MAYFIELD on Rhino R2 79932 (Barcode 081227993221) is an Expanded Edition CD Reissue and Remaster of his Debut Solo Album with Nine Bonus Tracks (the September 2000 UK CD is catalogue number Rhino 8122-79932 (Barcode 081227993221) with the same tracks and annotation – they play out as follows (77:54 minutes):

 

1. (Don't Worry) If There's A Hell Below We're All Going To Go (7:51) – Side 1

2. The Other Side Of Town (4:01)

3. The Makings Of You (3:43)

4. We The People Who Are Darker Than Blue (6:06)

5. Move On up (8:54) – Side 2

6. Miss Black America (2:58)

7. Wild And Free (3:16)

8. Give It Up (3:49)

Tracks 1 to 8 are his debut solo LP "Curtis" – released September 1970 in the USA on Curtom Records CRS 8005 and February 1971 in the UK on Buddah Records 2318 015. Produced by CURTIS MAYFIELD (all songs written by him) – it peaked at No. 19 on the US Billboard charts (didn’t chart UK)

 

ALBUM NOTES: The Full-Length Version "(Don't Worry) If There's A Hell Below We're All Going To Go" at 7:51 minutes was edited down to 3:26 minutes for a 45-single release in November 1970 on Curtom CR-1955 with the LP cut of "The Makings Of You" on the flipside. The "People Get Ready! The Curtis Mayfield Story" Long Box Set from February 1996 offered the full-length LP cut – this September 2000 CD also offers the rare single edit (see Bonus Track 17).

 

BONUS TRACKS:

9. Power To The People

10. Underground

11. Ghetto Child

12. Readings in Astrology

13. Suffer

14. Miss Black America

Tracks 9 to 14 are 1970 and 1971 publishing demos

15. The Makings Of You (Tracking Session, Take 32)

16. (Don't Worry) If There's A Hell Below We're All Going To Go (Track Session, Takes 1 & 2)

17. (Don't Worry) If There's A Hell Below We're All Going To Go (Single Edit – see NOTE above)

 

BONUS NOTES:

Tracks 9, 11 to 14 are Previously Unissued in the USA

Track 13 is a co-write with Donny Hathaway

Tracks 15 and 16 are Previously Unissued 

 

The 16-page booklet is pleasingly in-depth, British Ambassador of Soul DAVID NATHAN being truthful in his top-class new liner notes about Curtis' debut and not just reverential for the sake of it. The text is accompanied by some gorgeous photos of the great man with his family - his daughter on Daddy's shoulders - live shots and so on. The see-through CD tray lets you see a rear inlay that advertise six other CM-related reissues including the "Superfly" 2CD set, "Roots" and "Curtis/Live!". 

Longstanding Audio Engineers for Rhino DAN HERSCH and BILL INGLOT have handled the Remasters using first generation tapes and wow-city comes to mind. I can only imagine they employed loving attention to these important transfers - taking for instance Track 15 where the Backing Tracks (Take 32) of "The Makings Of You" might quite possibly be the prettiest Soul Instrumental you've ever heard - and in sparkling audio too. To the record and beyond...

 

After a monologue about the Book of Revelations and people not paying enough attention to the good book, Curtis shouts Sisters, Brothers, Whities and of course the dreaded n-word. It still comes as an uncomfortable shock to me to listen to it. But as an opening statement to your debut solo LP, "(Don't Worry) If There's A Hell Below We're All Going To Go" was such a powerful statement and a way of clearly parking his Impressions Soft-Soul career once and for all. The Side 1 opener is almost eight-minutes long, funky as the subject matter in its title, has a weird almost Psych swirling ending and makes no bones about difficult and contentious subject matters. This is a conscientious diatribe that works and makes you think – name checking drug-peddling crackers amidst his own neighbourhood running alongside Police and Political corruption fuelling the misery. What are we going to do, he asks? It appears in 2022, we’re still getting to grips with it.

 

But that is whomped in my book by the gorgeously effective "The Other Side Of Town" – a brother regaling how it feels to be depressed about the area you are restricted to – little sister hungry – hand-me-down shoes on his even younger brother – no jobs – hard to stay on the straight and narrow with so much easy-money temptation. Following that comes the equally sweet very Donny Hathaway strings, vibes and brass of "The Makings Of You" - the song on the album that probably most resembles his old Impressions style of beauty-and-message combined. And ending Side 1, not for the first time does CM appeal for smarts on the part of his community in "We The People Who Are Darker Than Blue" (stop killing each other and thereby falling into Jim Crow's sick patterns of thought) - the Remaster really kicking in when the song goes into that tambourine and tabla section about two minutes in - fantastic audio. I personally think it's one of the album's forgotten nuggets as he asks of the listener to 'get yourself together' and 'let me love in my own way'... Great stuff. 

 

Side 2 opens up with the joy of "Move On Up". My God - when I think about how many young white kids in Ireland and England heard this and hit the dancefloor - getting down to its multiracial message and killer funky rhythms - those flicking guitars and sexy brass charts (over eight minutes of them) - all combining in one of those rare moments when Soul Music got both the head vs. heart so damn right. Even now in May 2022 - 52 years after it hit the shops - it makes me weepy and glad to be alive. And was that his daughter who delivers the killer spoken dialogue at the beginning of "Miss Black America" when Daddy asks his little girl what she wants to be when she grows up and whomps Pops with that line that spoke so much of Black Pride and celebrating Womanhood.

 

Bringing in the brand new, embracing the changes and respect for everybody's right (could really be outa-site) is what CM wants in the chipper and lovely "Wild And Free" - the Remaster almost too in yer face when those brass punches hit home.  

A genius move to start the nine bonus tracks with the demo of "Power To The People" which feels exactly like its title sounds - a stripped down version of a socially conscious song that fits in with the depth of the recorded album (the remastered audio is staggeringly good too). Fans have known and loved the echoed funky-funky cool of "Underground" in its finished form - here we get the demo - sinister in its fuzzed-up guitar and his growling vocals as he hammers "Underground". 

 

And again you're taken back by the finished quality of "Ghetto Child" in Demo form - great Bass and shimmering guitar - another sexy Funky winner that could easily be mistaken for Donny Hathaway - and when is that ever a bad thing. Curtis can see some relationship-trouble coming in the dangerously edgy "Readings In Astrology" - a far darker guitar-driven mean streak in Demo form - I'm your man and I'm just trying to do right - he pleads with just a little frustrated anger in his delivery.  And what a blast to hear the Engineer recording Takes 1 and 2 of "(Don't Worry) If There's A Hell Below We're All Going To Go" and saying "...that's a Hell of a statement!" before the band gets super-tight into the Funky Groove (almost as if to spite him?). It stops at 2:26 when Curtis cuts it - only to restart almost immediately. Brilliant...

 

You could of course argue that like Margin Gaye, Aretha Franklin, Al Green, Bobby Womack and Donny Hathaway - you buy everything they ever did in the first three of four years of the Seventies where all seemed to be reaching musical heights that still leave us breathless fifty years on. 

 

1970's "Curtis" on Curtom Records is a masterpiece only made better by a great Rhino Expanded Edition CD Reissue that socks-it-to-ya on Audio and Extras too. We're all going to go to Funky Chicago for the Soul-Conscience Show. Oh how I miss him...