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Curtis Mayfield - Roots Audio CD

A fair review of the Curtis Mayfield "Roots" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all Curtis Mayfield reviews here, or go back to the Curtis Mayfield tabs.

Curtis Mayfield Band: Curtis Mayfield
Title: Roots
Rating:
Release Date: 1999-01-19
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Get Down 2: Keep on Keeping On 3: Underground 4: We Got to Have Peace 5: Beautiful Brother of Mine 6: Now You're Gone 7: Love to Keep You in My Mind 8: Underground [*][Demo Version] 9: Get Down [Single Version][*] 10: We Got to Have Peace [Single Version][*] 11: Beautiful Brother of Mine [Single Version][*]

The Poet at Work
Curtis was a true genius in describing for the masses the signs of the time. This is such a total & complete album it's almost scary! Beautiful lyrical content and gorgeous musical compositions make Roots a must buy. One of the things i've always loved about his music is that it gave you a front row sit to that days most pressing issues.

Bob Dylan, whose another true poet whose music i love, wrote songs like "Blowin in the Wind" that became a civil rights favorite describing the injustices of the day for blacks in America. However, he wrote his songs from the "outside looking in". Curtis was sreaming back at Bob, yeah what you're saying is true, now, let me give you a first hand account from the "inside out" point of view.

The song "Beautiful Brother of Mine" is worth the price of admission by itself! It's truly a song that tugs at the very soul of people of African descent and is one of MANY highlights on this album. Curtis Mayfield was artistic expression at it's finest and an artist worthy of FAR MORE praise than what he gets.


Buy this Album today!
99 cents. Hard to imagine a better music value than this album, especially today at . Excellent musicianship, especially the percussion, base, and guitar. Custis Mayfield's excellent voice and lyrics complete a great, great clasic album. 'Roots' would be a great addition to the music collection of anyone that appreciates good music. Superfly.


grand soul music from the early 70's
It's got a nice percussive groove on a few tracks. This remastered classic sounds great. Great musianship that supports the social message that's delivered by Curtis' unique voice.

.


(4.5 stars) Another fantastic example of Curtis at his prime.
Some of it recalls the debut, but in a good way: "Beautiful Brother of Mine", the album's huge Isaac Hayes like-epic, has a memorable rapid-fire string introduction. Far more varied than Curtis: there's a great funk song, "Get Down", and he does another one of those mid-song paradigm shifts on "Keep On Keepin' On" (from a string-laced ballad to a funk song), and there's also a jazzy poetry recitation on "Underground" that falls flat: after that ends, it thankfully sinks into a Santana-esque polyrhythmic groove; "Now You've Gone" is an orchestrated blues that does slightly overstay its welcome. Musically, it's not too different from "Hell Below", but its arrangement is captivating, the rhythms are powerful, and the distorted, watery guitar solo is exquisite. I do think that "We Gotta Have Peace" is rather over-the-top, true as the title may be, and "Love to Keep You on My Mind" is simply mawkish. On a song-by-song level, I think Curtis is a better album, but the stylistic variety to be found here is always entertaining, so I'll say they're about on the same level.


His Best Solo Album?
1971's ROOTS picks up right where CURTIS left off the year before. I'm not sure which of Curtis' first two albums was his best but they were both incredible. I dare say that only the Rolling Stones made music anywhere near as good as Curtis during this late sixties early seventies period. Don't believe me? Name four better consecutive albums than CURTIS, ROOTS, CURTIS/LIVE, and SUPERFLY which were all released between 70' and 73'. We are talking about MAYBE two or three average songs among all these albums combined, with the rest being absolutely top notch if not downright historic. Every song seems to bring a different emotion, and though there are only 8 they are all extremely potent. It is almost impossible to fast forward a track on this CD- I for one can't do it. Ever. It's good. .


You can see a complete list of all Curtis Mayfield discography, or go back to the Curtis Mayfield tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.

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