****** - Verified Buyer
4.5
Simply said, Curtis Mayfield is the most underrated & underappreciated artist of the 20th century period! I was looking at Rolling Stone's list of the "100 Greatest Artist of All Time" recently and it has Curtis listed at #99?! Now, that's a ridiculous placement anyway you look at it, but, if you truly examine this list and see who they've got ahead of him, it's down right criminal!!!! Now, i'm fully aware of the ridiculous bias of Rolling Stone Magazine towards the beatles, elvis, etc.., but to place this man in the 99th position out of 100 is insane!!He was one of the truest poets to ever pick up the pen and his songs are true reflections of the man, where he & the world were at that moment & where he hoped they both we would be in the end. He struck a cord with the youth of the day and like Maurice White, Sam Cooke, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder & Bob Dylan, spoke of the injustices and bigotry of that day in a clear and concise manner that was unavoidable while offering hope through mutual love & respect. Curtis was a unique blend of singer, songwriter, composer and producer, he was also one of the few artists of his day with his own record label."Curtis" is his 1st solo release after having already established his Genius in The Impressions. It is one of the most moving albums i've ever heard and every bit as good as the albums of that day and shows this man was every bit the writer as the above mentioned Avatars of Music history. Curtis' solo career is in many ways similar to that of Bob Dylan's. A tremendous songwriter whose music was considered the "Authority" for a particular movement. For Dylan, it was the "Folk Protest" movement and for Mayfield the "Civil Rights" movement. It's known that Dylan's producer, for his major 1960's albums, used Mayfield as an example of how Dylan was to deliever his message on his records.Classics such as "If there's a Hell Below, We're all Gonna Go", "The Other Side Of Town", "Making of You" "Miss Black America" & my personal favorite "We People Who Are Darker Than Blue" shows this was a man who "Dug Deep" within to bring forth such pure mastery of music composition. The lyrical content of these songs are truly stunning and the music compositions Mayfield wrote as the foundation to deliever his messages are absolutely gorgeous!I highly recommend this album to anyone as it was one of those classics that would forever change the face of music and began a incredible decade for one of the most incredible artist, of any time period or genre, in the 20th century. He is truly deserving of FAR MORE respect than he gets from "music critics" such as those from Rolling Stone Magazine. Then again, when you've influenced artists the likes of Bob Dylan, Donny Hathaway & Bob Marley, I suppose that in and of itself is the greatest show of respect! Rest In Peace my brother Curtis, you've earned your crown!
