Curtis Mayfield: The Very Best of Curtis Mayfield (2LP, sky blue vinyl) [RHINO]

Why you'll love it

This sky blue 2LP set spreads 16 of Curtis Mayfield's solo classics over four sides, including the extended "Move On Up." It gathers the Superfly hits and his best Curtom-era songs in one place.

This edition

• 2LP set
• Sky blue vinyl

About the album

By 1970 Curtis Mayfield had already written a stack of civil-rights-era anthems for The Impressions. Then he went solo on his own Curtom label and got even better, mixing sweet falsetto, wah-wah guitar and sweeping strings into funk that had something to say.

Side A opens with "(Don't Worry) If There Is a Hell Below, We're All Going to Go," a fierce, echo-drenched warning from his first solo album, and the full-length "Move On Up," a horn-blasting, conga-driven dash that never seems to run out of breath. Then come the Superfly songs, "Freddie's Dead," "Superfly" and "Pusherman," where Mayfield scored a crime film and turned it into a soulful sermon. "Future Shock," "Kung Fu" and "So in Love" carry on through the mid-70s with the same easy groove, and Side D closes with the late-night warmth of "Between You Baby and Me" and "Do Be Down."

Rhino first put this set together in 1997, and it has been a reliable starting point ever since. "Move On Up" alone lasts nearly nine minutes, which is roughly how long it takes us to stop dancing behind the counter and remember there's a till.

Also at Kops: more Curtis Mayfield on vinyl · browse 70s Soul On Up

Tracklist

Listen

On Curtom / Rhino (cat# RCV1 72584), a reissue of the 1997 compilation.