Weekend Playlist: The Best of Curtis Mayfield
By Jon Graef in Arts & Entertainment on Sep 29, 2013 4:20PM
In honor of today, Sept. 29th, officially being Curtis Mayfield Day, our Weekend Playlist feature returns to compile the best of the Chicago-born soul legend.
Last year, Mayfield, who died in 1999 due to complications from an stage accident that left him paralyzed from the neck down, would have turned 70.
Curtis Mayfield
To honor that occasion, Chuck Sudo wrote a fantastic article about Mayfield, and you should read it in order to get a true sense of Mayfield's life, both in Chicago and through his career with The Impressions and beyond.
Also worth a read is David Hoekstra's post in the Sun-Times earlier this month about Curtis Mayfield day.
Make a note that today's production of the Black Ensemble Theater's "It's All-Right To Have A Good Time (The Story of Curtis Mayfield)" will reportedly have Mayfield's relatives in attendance. With that background, any addition beyond the playlist is redundant.
But we will say, in order to set up the themes of the playlist, that no other artist detailed the dichotomy of the revolutionary better than Mayfield: that is, the love of humanity that fuels the desire to make change; and the anger that comes at seeing the injustice around you, knowing that humankind can and must do better.
With those themes in mind, please enjoy this playlist, comprised of everything from Mayfield's work with the Impressions, his solo work, including the iconic Superfly soundtrack.