― Shakey Mo Collier (Shakey Mo Collier), Tuesday, 17 October 2006 15:29 (seventeen years ago) link
― chaki (chaki), Tuesday, 17 October 2006 15:32 (seventeen years ago) link
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:59d9kentgq7m
― a.b. (alanbanana), Tuesday, 17 October 2006 16:00 (seventeen years ago) link
― and what (ooo), Tuesday, 17 October 2006 16:16 (seventeen years ago) link
― ZR (teenagequiet), Tuesday, 17 October 2006 16:17 (seventeen years ago) link
― Tuomas (Tuomas), Tuesday, 17 October 2006 16:32 (seventeen years ago) link
Curtis > Roots > Superfly > Short Eyes > Back To The World > Curtis Live > Got To Find A Way
Are you honestly saying There's No Place Like America Today isn't among his top SEVEN records?
― Naive Teen Idol (Naive Teen Idol), Tuesday, 17 October 2006 16:40 (seventeen years ago) link
There's No Place Like America Today is probably my favorite album of his, actually. And I think Back to the World is quite underrated.
― Patrick South (Patrick South), Tuesday, 17 October 2006 16:41 (seventeen years ago) link
― Tuomas (Tuomas), Tuesday, 17 October 2006 16:46 (seventeen years ago) link
Back to the World has a much better A side than B side.
I've never heard There's No Place Like America Today.
― Dimehitter Dwayne Hosey (dwaynehosey), Tuesday, 17 October 2006 17:26 (seventeen years ago) link
― Shakey Mo Collier (Shakey Mo Collier), Tuesday, 17 October 2006 18:26 (seventeen years ago) link
― M. Agony Von Bontee (M. Agony Von Bontee), Tuesday, 17 October 2006 18:34 (seventeen years ago) link
― Tuomas (Tuomas), Wednesday, 18 October 2006 05:28 (seventeen years ago) link
― Daniel_Rf (Daniel_Rf), Wednesday, 18 October 2006 08:54 (seventeen years ago) link
As a songwriter, guitar player, producer, and beautiful cat who brought his own funk and timeless positive message from a real place, a stone classic.
― The Redd 47 Ronin (Ken L), Saturday, 21 October 2006 22:36 (seventeen years ago) link
― Uncle Tom (Uncle Tom), Sunday, 22 October 2006 04:08 (seventeen years ago) link
― deej.. (deej..), Sunday, 22 October 2006 21:33 (seventeen years ago) link
In order of preference:
There's No Place Like America Today 75Back To the World 73Sweet Exorcist 74Got To Find A Way 74Let's Do It Again 74Give Get Take Have 76
― Fastnbulbous (Fastnbulbous), Monday, 23 October 2006 05:15 (seventeen years ago) link
However, I do have an early-80's album he did for the long-gone Boardwalk label, titled something like LOVE IS THE PLACE. Can't lie -it's from '81 or '82 and it sounds it, this ain't no retro project, but for what it is, it's not bad at all. The only real standout is "Just Ease My Mind," which should have been comped on that box set of black country singers that Warners released years ago. Seriously, this is Curtis gone country & western, and he OWNS it.
Track down a copy and hear it for yourself - because it was recorded well after his prime years, this album is always cheap as dirt in the used stores. "Just Ease My Mind," by itself, is worth the $1.
― Rev. Hoodoo (Rev. Hoodoo), Monday, 23 October 2006 06:37 (seventeen years ago) link
i cant get used to his singing but the music is v nice.
― ☪, Sunday, 18 November 2007 18:07 (sixteen years ago) link
Shameless Pharrell biter, amirite?
― The Reverend, Sunday, 18 November 2007 18:49 (sixteen years ago) link
not the best singer, sounding like he had the smallest pair of lungs ever, but he made some of the best records of the 70s.
― titchyschneiderMk2, Sunday, 18 November 2007 18:58 (sixteen years ago) link
Personal favourite song: People Get Ready - Mayfield said it straight: there's a train a-comin'...you don't need no baggage, you just get on board.
-- Tim Roxborogh, Tuesday, July 24, 2001 12:00 AM (6 years ago) Bookmark Link Dunno, I'd be suspicious if a train conductor insisted I didn't need any baggage. Like, where are we going, Belsen?
-- dave q, Tuesday, July 24, 2001 12:00 AM (6 years ago) Bookmark Link
omg hahahahah
― s1ocki, Sunday, 18 November 2007 19:00 (sixteen years ago) link
way classic. I've been listening to the Impressions non-stop recently.
― will, Sunday, 18 November 2007 19:13 (sixteen years ago) link
his voice is amazing you herbs
― deej, Sunday, 18 November 2007 19:15 (sixteen years ago) link
for srs
― BIG HOOS aka the steendriver, Sunday, 18 November 2007 19:19 (sixteen years ago) link
LOLOL @ daveq!!
― will, Sunday, 18 November 2007 19:21 (sixteen years ago) link
was he just a high-voiced hippie?
o_0
― BIG HOOS aka the steendriver, Sunday, 18 November 2007 19:22 (sixteen years ago) link
i do think the train lyric is a bit crap, really. he drags the train metaphor on a bit too long. if there was a video for it, he probably would have dressed up as a conductor.
― titchyschneiderMk2, Sunday, 18 November 2007 19:27 (sixteen years ago) link
i cant believe titchy has reached the point of meaningless pedantry that he's arguing 'people get ready' drags the train metaphor on 'a bit too long'
i eagerly await your critique of beethoven's overlong 7th symphony
― deej, Sunday, 18 November 2007 19:41 (sixteen years ago) link
His "influence" on reggae singers cannot be overestimated
― Tom D., Tuesday, 20 November 2007 12:57 (sixteen years ago) link
Huh?
― Tuomas, Tuesday, 20 November 2007 13:05 (sixteen years ago) link
Sorry?
― Tom D., Tuesday, 20 November 2007 13:08 (sixteen years ago) link
What "influence"?
― Tuomas, Tuesday, 20 November 2007 13:15 (sixteen years ago) link
On their singing styles! Case in point
― Tom D., Tuesday, 20 November 2007 13:19 (sixteen years ago) link
But Curtis's singing style isn't in any substantial way different from other soul/r'n'b singers of the era, so why trace the lineage to hím?
― Tuomas, Tuesday, 20 November 2007 13:22 (sixteen years ago) link
I assume you're joking? No-one but Geir could get something that wrong, surely?
― Tom D., Tuesday, 20 November 2007 13:23 (sixteen years ago) link
Well what are his unique, original traits then?
― Tuomas, Tuesday, 20 November 2007 13:26 (sixteen years ago) link
So you can't recognise Curtis Mayfield when you hear him?
― Tom D., Tuesday, 20 November 2007 13:28 (sixteen years ago) link
You can't tell him apart from "other soul/r'n'b singers of the era"?
― Tom D., Tuesday, 20 November 2007 13:29 (sixteen years ago) link
Of course I can tell him apart, but that doesn't mean he had such an original style that his influence on reggae singers "can't be overestimated". What do you think is that original in his singing?
― Tuomas, Tuesday, 20 November 2007 13:32 (sixteen years ago) link
So how can you tell him apart? What unique and original traits does he have that allow you to distinguish him from "other soul/r'n'b singers of the era"?
― Tom D., Tuesday, 20 November 2007 13:33 (sixteen years ago) link
I mean, the falsetto singing was done by other soul singers (like Marvin Gaye) as well, and his particular sort of phrasing can be traced to people like Sam Cooke (and other gospel singers before him).
(x-post)
Well obviously I recognize his voice, but there isn't anything revolutionary in his singing technique.
― Tuomas, Tuesday, 20 November 2007 13:35 (sixteen years ago) link
Where did I say there was?
― Tom D., Tuesday, 20 November 2007 13:36 (sixteen years ago) link
You didn't, but when you claimed "his influence on reggae singers cannot be overestimated", I interpreted it as saying that he was the originator or the popularizer of certain singing technique(s), and I don't think he was either. What were you trying to claim with that sentence then?
― Tuomas, Tuesday, 20 November 2007 13:39 (sixteen years ago) link
Kind of simple, a lot of reggae singers HAVE TRIED TO SOUND LIKE CURTIS MAYFIELD... duhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.
and his particular sort of phrasing can be traced to people like Sam Cooke (and other gospel singers before him).
Wrong. His phrasing is one of the most distinctive features of his singing, and it's one that singers who like Curtis Mayfield's voice and are trying to sound a bit like Curtis Mayfield will try to approximate
― Tom D., Tuesday, 20 November 2007 13:43 (sixteen years ago) link
"i cant believe titchy has reached the point of meaningless pedantry that he's arguing 'people get ready' drags the train metaphor on 'a bit too long'"
it does though.
― titchyschneiderMk2, Tuesday, 20 November 2007 15:52 (sixteen years ago) link
um, CLASSIC, at least until Short Eyes, which was about 1977-78. his entire oeuvre up to then is better (IMO) than the better-known 70s heavyweights like stevie wonder or marvin gaye or donny hathaway. i don't buy a lot of soul albums on vinyl because they're always to spotty, but anything by curtis from that period is just amazing wherever you drop the needle.
his albums after short eyes are all pretty rough though, with only a few standout tracks in total. hard to believe someone so strong fell off so fast as the decades changed.
check out "love me, love me now" from "Something to Believe In": it's an amazingly deep soul-cum-disco burner. moodymann drops this in his sets all the time and it just goes off something nice...
― Jah Q Areas, Tuesday, 20 November 2007 16:42 (sixteen years ago) link
super classic -- my fave is "Curtis Live!" which may well be my fave live album ever. A great, warm vibe. Still a lot I haven't heard, but I love everything I've gotten my hands on.
― tylerw, Tuesday, 20 November 2007 17:01 (sixteen years ago) link