Title: Roots
Artiste: Curtis Mayfield
Genre: Soul/R&B
Familiarity: Who doesn't know of Curtis? Saw him on the OGWT from the 70s; very uplifting performance. Haven't heard much at all from him though.
1. Get down: Sort of opens like a steam train coming into the station, then some very Santanaesque guitar gets the song going, some great brass coming in. Great sense of togetherness, brotherhood in the song. Certainly brings the funk.
2. Keep on keeping on: More soulful and laidback to a degree, kind of reminds me in ways of “What's happenin'?” Great backing vocals. Again the brass is excellent.
3. Underground: Very soft vocal, almost spoken; seems to be an early eco-song. Nice soft tribal style drums. Definitely see a correlation between this and what Marvin was doing. Real kind of shuffle to it.
4. We got to have peace: Man, there was certainly optimism back then wasn't there? Between himself and Marvin they really hoped for the future and tried to build a better world. Love the keys in this and the short sax solo. And the longer sax outro.
5. Beautiful brother of mine: Sort of an idea of a Bond movie about this. Funks along nicely. Some fine orchestration. Great stuff at the end there, sounds like synth but were they using synth in 1971?
6. Now you're gone: Ooh yeah! Sing them blues, Curtis! This is obviously the big ballad. Again that orchestra adds its punch in just the right moments and never swamps the production like some later bands. It's a vehicle for Curtis's voice, not an excuse for it or something to hide behind.
7. Love to keep you in mind: Kind of a feel like a Mariachi ballad, with the trumpets going. Not bad, but maybe not as strong as some of the other tracks. Won't spoil a perfect record though; it's worth a Green of anyone's money.
End result: Superb and important soul album from the glory days of r&B, when the genre actually meant what it stood for, not just for where the singer came from or how many Grammys they had won. Destiny's Child? Give me a break! This music MEANT something. Excellent stuff.
So, Love or Hate? Well, it has to be a
Love, don't it? Micco is, as I said already, turning into my
sensei for soul and r&b...