I keep being reminded of Curtis Mayfield’s genius in the music of others: Jimi Hendrix’s broken chord stylings, the soul beat of the great Stevie Wonder, the funk of Sly Stone and the spirituality of Bob Marley. I don’t have a clear picture of the man, but only fragments: his early material, including the powerful “People Get Ready” (see note 2, below) when he was recording with the Impressions, the huge success of Superfly, his long-enduring activism and tragic last years.
Trying to get a handle on his music in a couple of records isn’t easy; I have a few compilations on vinyl that I’m not entirely happy with, including The Best Impressions, on Curtom (Mayfield’s imprint, which was originally distributed by Buddah Records). The Curtom records tend to be noisy even if you can find decent copies. (Most of the original Impressions records were on ABC and that’s probably the way to go). I did find a UK “best of” made by Pye Records which is essentially solo Curtis, though it includes Impressions-era hits like “People Get Ready” that sounds decent, not great (and is sonically uneven from track to track):
I would probably start with a copy of Superfly. It was hugely influential at the time, and remains a cool record today.
My copy, from the era, was mastered by Bell Sound and sounds vibrant- it’s relatively quiet, and is vivid and punchy with great percussion.
Note the deadwax with the s/f inscription for Sam Feldman:
This record, which was pressed at Sonic Recording Products (as reflected by the “SON” in the deadwax; NOT SHOWN in photo)[1] and issued in the original die-cut jacket (the flap to the left side was omitted on later issues) sounds far better than either the US or UK compilations mentioned above. I’m still looking for a good vinyl compilation of Curtis/Impressions records and will update my findings. In the meantime, search out a clean copy of Superfly described above and in the footnote. It should be a “bin” find or Internet cheapie.
Mayfield had a vast discography, produced, wrote, performed and arranged. His work has been reissued and recompiled a number of times over the years. There is a huge amount of material to choose from, but when it comes to vinyl, the choices are somewhat more limited, particularly if sound quality is a concern. My recommendation of a good pressing of Superfly is just a starting point. We will work from there and listen to his solo albums as well as some of the earlier material[2] as time and interest permit.
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[1] At the time, Sonic was owned by Viewlex Inc., which also owned the Buddah label that distributed Curtom, Bell Sound Studios as well as other pressing plants, such as Monarch (which was a highly regarded west coast plant). However, the record was apparently pressed by a variety of other companies as well. I have not done shoot-outs of various copies from different plants, though may do so when time permits.
[2] “People Get Ready” is such a powerful song, and has been covered by so many artists, some great, but I think the original is “the one.” I will try to sort through some copies of the original Impressions albums to make a recommendation, or at least share my thoughts.