Has anyone been playing through any individual artists back catalogues?

I've been playing my way through Curtis Mayfield's superb legacy. A very unique voice and style; too many great records to list. Way ahead of his time in my view - a pioneer of Drum and Bass? Another of my favourite artists - far more to Curtis than his oft played "Move on Up". I'll play just one, but you get the idea - I hope. From 1972, and his Super Fly album - sound track to the film of the same name. I think I embedded the wrong thing?

 

Edited December 19, 20231 yr by Peter99
typo

Great album , still sounds great today and relevant , Curtis was a genius , love this off the album - 

 

..."A very unique voice and style; too many great records to list. Way ahead of his time in my view"... very very true...

always loved this later track, which an edited version was on the flip of a Linda Clifford single...always makes me wonder if prince was influenced by the bass for "if I was your girlfriend"?

 

Curtis was an absolute genius throughout his life,my favourite remix of all time is this

 

Hi All

Thanks for the contributions so far - Curtis, is obviously a favourite of lots of us. Like many black artists he died so young, just 57. The same age incidentally, that Prince passed away.

Keep playing Curtis if that suits - but also who else have you been playing?

🤔 🙂

Peter

Curtis is an artist I had to have everything he did and keep it close to me.

I bought his biography and couldn't bring myself to read it in case it put me off. 

I try to get all the back catalogue of an artist and keep buying their new releases, but Curtis was even more vital with Stevie and a few others.

Whenever life gets a little tough I always put this on for a bit of strength and Inspiration and it seems to work.

 

1 hour ago, Peter99 said:

Hi All

Thanks for the contributions so far - Curtis, is obviously a favourite of lots of us. Like many black artists he died so young, just 57. The same age incidentally, that Prince passed away.

Keep playing Curtis if that suits - but also who else have you been playing?

🤔 🙂

Peter

Been having a Clarence Carter season lately some great stuff amongst his body of work , this one is a favourite of mine . 

 

Here's just one more from me - I don't want to hog my own thread. Another great soul man, writer, (for many well known soul artists, producer, and performer. Mr George Jackson, he's so cool (even though he's no longer with us. I think I'm right in saying that his "highlight" on the actual all niter scene was early 80's, with a Little Extra Stroke. As is often the case DJ's often went for the "danceable", over the quality of the artists output. (Quite Understandable) Here's a very clever record lyrically, which I believe manages to include a number of records he wrote for other artists - many of whom are favourites of mine - ours(?). As always I'm happy to be corrected. 

 

Edited December 19, 20231 yr by Peter99
error

A deeply sinister song warning of the danger of  a nonce from a forgotten soundtrack. Curtis was at the top of his game in 1977.

Edited December 19, 20231 yr by Dukeofburgundy
Clarification

Yes, Curtis certainly was a soul genius, especially due to his song writing prowess.

It was his work that steered Chicago black music away from the blues and towards the strong soul music presence it had attained by 1962 (via the work of Jerry Butler, Major Lance, Dee Clark, Fascinations, Jan Bradley & more). 

Freddie's Dead is a great song, so many great lines in it.

Especially "We're all built up with progress, but sometimes I must confess, we can deal with rockets and dreams, but reality, what does its mean" is fantastic.  

I'm partial to "Pusherman", especially the opening lines.

 

 

When others took a Curtis song & returned it to it's roots ... 

 

An early Curtis Mayfield (shared with Jerry Butler) song that gets the Joe Tex treatment..

On 18/12/2023 at 20:29, Peter99 said:

Has anyone been playing through any individual artists back catalogues?

I've been playing my way through Curtis Mayfield's superb legacy. A very unique voice and style; too many great records to list. Way ahead of his time in my view - a pioneer of Drum and Bass? Another of my favourite artists - far more to Curtis than his oft played "Move on Up". I'll play just one, but you get the idea - I hope. From 1972, and his Super Fly album - sound track to the film of the same name. I think I embedded the wrong thing?

 

It took me a long time to get into Curtis Mayfield, but so worth it.

One of my favourites is 'Oh So Beautiful' from his 'New World Order' album, recorded painstakingly after his terrible accident on stage.

Mayfield was paralyzed from the neck down after lighting equipment fell on him during a live performance at Wingate Field in Flatbush, Brooklyn, New York, on August 13, 1990. Despite this, he continued his career as a recording artist, releasing his final album New World Order in 1996.
(thanks Wikipedia).

 

In the 70's, Don Gardner gave up touring & took up building work as his day job. He was employed on a job by Curtis. Curtis took him aside one day & asked why he'd given up on music. Don wasn't the name he had been 10 years earlier & that was his answer. So Curtis, knowing how well Don knew the road & what was required to survive on tour, took Don on as his 'road manager'. That eventually came to an end but Don had gotten to spend many hours in Curtis's company by then.

When Don came over to play the Prestatyn Weekender, I took him for a day out in Liverpool as other acts at the weekender wanted to visit the Beatles Museum, etc. Don wasn't that bothered about doing a Beatles tour but didn't want to stay behind on his own. So while the others did the museum, etc. I got an hour or so with Don to chat about all things music. He told me of his days with Curtis and so I asked what was Curtis's song writing method.

Don had gotten to see this over an extended period. He said that usually Curtis would be inspired for a song's theme by what he had read in the newspapers, seen on TV news or had just seen happening in person or via TV. He said a topic would inspire Curtis and sometimes the whole song would be complete in a single night. But other times, he wouldn't be happy with his efforts and would just put them aside. Then, weeks or months later, he'd go through the unfinished stuff & select one that he'd had fresh inspiration about. He'd then add to / amend and complete his original efforts. The finished song would then end up being recorded at his next studio session. 

Curtis certainly did have a way with words ... 

 

Edited December 21, 20231 yr by Roburt

1 hour ago, Roburt said:

In the 70's, Don Gardner gave up touring & took up building work as his day job. He was employed on a job by Curtis. Curtis took him aside one day & asked why he'd given up on music. Don wasn't the name he had been 10 years earlier & that was his answer. So Curtis, knowing how well Don knew the road & what was required to survive on tour, took Don on as his 'road manager'. That eventually came to an end but Don had gotten to spend many hours in Curtis's company by then.

When Don came over to play the Prestatyn Weekender, I took him for a day out in Liverpool as other acts at the weekender wanted to visit the Beatles Museum, etc. Don wasn't that bothered about doing a Beatles tour but didn't want to stay behind on his own. So while the others did the museum, etc. I got an hour or so with Don to chat about all things music. He told me of his days with Curtis and so I asked what was Curtis's song writing method.

Don had gotten to see this over an extended period. He said that usually Curtis would be inspired for a song's theme by what he had read in the newspapers, seen on TV news or had just seen happening in person or via TV. He said a topic would inspire Curtis and sometimes the whole song would be complete in a single night. But other times, he wouldn't be happy with his efforts and would just put them aside. Then, weeks or months later, he'd go through the unfinished stuff & select one that he'd had fresh inspiration about. He'd then add to / amend and complete his original efforts. The finished song would then end up being recorded at his next studio session. 

Curtis certainly did have a way with words ... 

 

Thanks Roburt

That's a lovely story. It must have been a very humbling hour, how insightful. Thank you for sharing that, I love learning new things about artists and their music from SS friends. It's one of the great things about SS.

Thanks again.

Peter