Description
Keep On Keeping On, a quadruple vinyl box set of Curtis Mayfield’s first four studio albums, coincides with the fifty-year anniversary of Mayfield launching his solo career. The collection includes newly remastered versions of his first four studio albums: Curtis (1970), Roots (1971), Back to the World (1973) and Sweet Exorcist (1974).
His debut album Curtis reached the Billboard Pop Albums Chart Top 20 and was certified gold. It features “(Don’t Worry) If There’s A Hell Below, We’re All Going To Go,” a hit in the U.S., and “Move On Up,” which charted in the U.K.
Mayfield returned in 1971 with Roots. His second solo album peaked at #6 on the R&B Albums chart thanks to memorable tracks like “Get Down,” “Beautiful Brother Of Mine” and “We Got To Have Peace.”
Following the enormous success of his Super Fly soundtrack in 1972, Mayfield released his third solo record Back to the World in 1973. It topped the R&B Albums chart and introduced fans to great tracks like “Future Shock,” “Can’t Say Nothin’” and “If I Were Only A Child Again.”
The final album in this new set is Sweet Exorcist (1974), which reached #2 on the Top R&B Albums chart. It produced two singles, the title track and “Kung Fu.”
Mixing soul, pop, gospel, jazz, and psychedelia, his music was vivid and exploratory in the studio and deeply personal and political when it came through the speakers. His breathy voice could pierce the heart or paint pictures of dark times with equal clarity. The same can be said for the tone of his electric guitar—the way it rides on top of the groove instead of launching into anything nearing a ripping solo. As a soul and pop innovator in the ’70s, Mayfield belongs in the same realm as Stevie and Marvin.
Mayfield would spin out a few more epic and incredible songs during the last half of the ’70s, but the bulk of his influence and legacy is here, and to listen to it with fresh ears is to know and understand how his music (to paraphrase) keeps on keepin’ on.
*Also available in-store as a 4x 12″ vinyl box set
