Customer Reviews

20th Century Masters: The Best of Curtis Mayfield and the Impressions (The Millennium Collection)

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As with the review I just wrote about Del Shannon, Curtis Mayfield was a truly great artist who we lost too soon. His work with The Impressions was socially conscious as well as having a great gospel flavor. His song "People Get Ready" is an anthem for peace which still resonated in 2010. He also wrote "Superfly" which was a pointed commentary on African-American life in the early 1970's. Curtis was paralyzed when a lighting rig fell on him while he was performing in Brooklyn, NY. He still continued to write music even in his condition, but died from complications of the paralysis.
His loss is still felt today.

When this 20th Century Masters series started hitting the market seven or eight years ago, they soon had literally hundreds of volumes, all with 11 or 12 tracks, covering individual artists/groups, multi-artist "theme" volumes (R&B, Country, Pop, etc.) and a number dealing with specific years. For some of the artists they issued two volumes (e.g., one for The Supremes and the other for Diana Ross).

But not in this case, despite the fact that, as a group, The Impressions had 50 R&B hits from 1958 to 1987, many of which crossed over to the Billboard Pop Hot 100 or Hot 100 "Bubble Under charts, while Curtis Mayfield had 32 solo R&B hits from 1970 to 1997, again with a number of them making the Hot 100 or "Bubble Under" listings. Certainly plenty of material with which to fill out two puny 11- or 12-track volumes.

Having said that, you do get three of the four # 1 R&B hits they had as a group (It's All Right - also # 4 Hoit 100 in late 1963, We're A Winner - also # 14 Hot 100 early in 1968, and Choice Of Colors - also # 21 Hot 100 in summer 1969. The one missing # 1 is Finally Got Myself Together (I'm A Changed Man), which also made it to # 17 Hot 100 in late spring 1974. By this time Mayfield had gone solo and after being replaced, first by Leroy Hutson, by 1974 the new leads were Reggie Torian and Ralph Johnson (the latter later joining Mystique.

Not a bad little volume, with good sound reproduction and two pages of liner notes by Joseph F. Laredo, along with three more nice shots of the group (inducted into the R&R Hall Of Fame in 1991), and a re-listing of the contents showing original release dates/label numbers (but no chart details). But there are now many more comprehensive compilations available for both The Impressions and Curtis Mayfield.

I AM DISAPPOINTED THAT "I LOVED AND I LOST" IS NOT INCLUDED ON THIS CD. IT'S SUPPOSED TO BE THE MILLENIUM COLLECTION, AND IT HAS ONLY 11 SONGS. IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN A DOUBLE DISC. I GUESS IT'S APTLY TITLED CURTIS MAYFIELD AND THE IMPRESSIONS BECAUSE IT HAS "FREDDIE'S DEAD" AND "SUPERFLY" ON HERE WHICH ARE CURTIS' BIGGEST HITS, NOT THE IMPRESSIONS. WHEN CURTIS WAS WITH THE GROUP, THEY WERE KNOWN AS SIMPLY THE IMPRESSIONS, NOT CURTIS MAYFIELD AND THE IMPRESSIONS. THIS DISC DOES NOT EVEN HAVE THE IMPRESSIONS HIT SONG THEY SCORED WITHOUT CURTIS, "FINALLY GOT MYSELF TOGETHER(I'M A CHANGED MAN)" OR THEIR OTHER SONGS THAT COULD HAVE BEEN HITS. THIS SHOULD HAVE BEEN AT LEAST 2 CD'S SPANNING THEIR YEARS TOGETHER AS A GROUP. I GUESS YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR.

Ripoff! Eleven songs of about three minutes each, on average! Jeez, Jesse James used a gun! This label, 20th Century Masters - The Millennium Collection, absolutely sucks. I have boycotted it until they quit offering such short albums.

I have been hearing Curtis Mayfield's music for years and didn't even take notice. I purchased Gladys Knight's album, "Just for You" and heard a song called "Choice of Colors" and I really liked it. Then I heard the absolutely unforgettable "Sparkle" soundtrack. Both of these works are Curtis Mayfield's. After I found out that these were his doings, I listened to snippets of his other works and just had to hear an entire album composed by him. I love the way he uses instruments. I enjoy his voice. And his lyrics remain in my mind long after listening to the songs. "The Millennium Collection" is a solid effort. I enjoyed all of the songs.

"Freddie's Dead" and "Superfly" are two of the album's strongest tracks. Naturally, I enjoyed every minute of Curtis's falsetto, but the lyrics and production were also very enjoyable. A nice rendition of the gospel hymn "Amen" is found here, also. I could continue, but there is no need. Pick up this album now! Curtis Mayfield has one of the best male falsettos ever!

Mikeisha's Top 5

"People Get Ready"

This is a great CD. It brings back lots of memories.