Customer Reviews

Curtis Live (Dlx)

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Is this the greatest live album ever? Forget the names of better-known ones you may be thinking of, because this, folks, may just be it!! This is a powerful audio document of a communion between an American giant and his audience, on this occasion located in the Village's funky Bitter End club on a freezing January '71 night. The "gentle giant" and his lean, mean band (guitars, congas, bass, drums. PERIOD) work their way through his incomparable repertoire of timeless Impressions classics and groundbreaking solo material. The set includes several searing and typically thought-provoking new Curtis songs that only appear on this album. The recording is priceless for its capture of a low-key atmosphere in which people are seated at tables close together, sipping drinks and paying rapt attention as a master goes to work. Curtis works that crowd like a kind of wise street minister, his witty asides keeping everybody loose while they absorb the very real message in his music ("We've Only Just Begun," of all songs, has NEVER EVER sounded powerful, meaningful and resonant like it does here!). There have been many classic live albums, but this one is truly in a class by itself. It predates "Superfly" by a year, so don't expect to hear "Pusherman" for the umpteenth time. Curtis Mayfield's contributions to American music are too many to detail here, so I won't even try to. All I'll say is, stop reading this and order this CD IMMEDIATELY, and let Curtis light a flame in your heart and soul that will get you through some of life's more trying moments...with a smile on your face. The man is gone, but the works live on!

Curtis Mayfield is a legend, if you didn't know that you probably wouldn't be interested in this album. His career featured many highlights; this is only one of them.

The music quality on here is pure genius. Mayfield covers a variety of topics, certainly never shying away from the current state of politics during this time. He also dives into some of his hits with the Impressions, giving a new light on these songs with the live performance.

What really makes Curtis/Live! Worth owning for fans and new comers is how well it comes off as a live album. The recording is crystal clear, from every drum and guitar to Mayfield's vocals. In addition, there's just enough audience noise to give you the live feel without becoming overwhelming. The audience itself only adds to the music played, as they chant along the chorus with Mayfield in "Stone Junky" as well as their emphatic responses to Curtis's preaching.

The album is also structured so that the interludes are separated as tracks (noted as Rap) allowing the listener to skip directly to the music while not taking away the concert feel from a full listen.

The Deluxe version also includes two tracks not recorded with the original set "Superfly" (live) which sounds like it was performed in a concert hall as apposed to the rest of the album & the single version for "Mighty Mighty." Although both of these tracks are really unnecessary they certainly do not take away from the original album.

This is defiantly one of the best live recordings I've ever heard and certainly is on the top of all soul live recordings I've herd along with Sam Cooke's "Live at the Harlem Square Club". While Cooke's live performance made you feel like he was in a party amongst the crowd, Curtis/Live will take you to the front row of a small club in New York City, where you hear a legend jam out to some of the most prolific music recorded.

i do not think i have ever heard a live album that sounds better than this...it took me quite a while to find this album but now that i own it i can honestly say it has secured a permanent place in my ever-growing library...the tracks on here are incredible and definitely fully breathe live...

before hearing this album i was never able to clearly express why Curtis Mayfield was a genius...within 30 seconds of one quick listen to gypsy woman, this task becomes almost redundant...

If there's a better live album out there I'm not familiar with it. While Live at Leeds, How the West was Won, and probably a lot of Phish shows compare, for my money I'll take Curtis. Forget about his stellar songwriting and singing, his rhythym section on this album bests anything I've heard from Bonzo and Jonsey, Fishman and Gordon or Enwistle and Moon, who are all some pretty bad motherfunkers if you didn't already know. From the opening notes of "Mighty Mighty" through the last ones of "Stone Junkie" we are treated to funky baselines, killer congas, Curtis' often imitated but never duplicated guitar style and best of all his inspirational voice- it really does get no better. One of the few cd's I always listen to front to back, there's no need to skip songs. My favorite songs are "gypsy woman", "mighty mighty", "we're a winner", and "don't worry", the live versions here even better than the originals. Even though the album is the second set from a 1971 show in NYC it plays like Curtis' greatist hits live. That's a testament to his extremely consistent library.

Live albums can be a difficult proposition. They are usually a collection of greatest hits that either pale in comparison to the original studio versions or are filled with dramatic "jamming" sections that appeal only to the faithful. CURTIS LIVE is a different beast altogether. Taken from a club date early in Mayfield's solo career, it showcases both new material, his current solo cuts and revamped Impressions songs in a casual setting. The spare backing group consists of guitar, bass drums and percussion behind Curtis' sublime guitar and vocal stylings. Though the setting and overall feeling is casual the band is tight and dramatically brings out the insight, passion and humor in Mayfield's songs and performance. not a note is wasted throughout the set. Of special note is the excellent percussion provided by Henry Gibson, which comes close to stealing the show. The set builds in lowkey intesity throughout peaking with the final two official cuts IF THERES A HELL BELOW AND STONE JUNKIE. My only complaint is that the final two bonus cuts, the single version of MIGHTY MIGHT SPADE AND WHITEY, and SUPERFLY(cut a couple years later with a large band), don't quite fit even though they are both good songs. that said, this is a classic that has not received it deserved place in the lists of the great live albums of all time.

This was Curtis at his most intimate-among fans and friends.
It was a club,not a mass stadium. The equaqualent to VH1'S
"Storytellers" long before VH1. Curtis was master musician,
singer-singwriter, but mostly he just sang stories about a
"Gypsy Woman". Another story was about A Drug dealer called "Superfly". This was a time of transition for Curtis,
having left The Impressions this was his first recorded performance before a live audience. If you a new fan of Curtis'
you will hear songs like you never heard them before.
If you're a veteran of his music, as I am you will notice how
timeless his music is. Curtis was rapping about Pres. Nixon in "If There's a Hell Below(we're all Gonna Go)
but he could say the same for the Bushes, presidents 41 and 43 and Gov. of Fla.
He believed in racial equality,"Mighty Mighty"(Spade and Whitey)
But he had a special message for "We The People who are Darker than Blue. "There's the joker in the street loving one brother and killing the other, when the time comes and we're really free,
there will be no brothers left you see."

But if you take the time to "check out your mind"then,
"We're a winner". which was the slogan of his
independant record label.

Curtis/Live! has been called "one of the greatest concert albums ever cut" by a soul artist. It's very good, but not quite that good. The band sounds wonderful, and there are enough great songs to have made a single-LP that would have been a "greatest album ever." But the full double album contains some songs that, though they have a great groove, are lyrically or melodically weak, e.g., "Stare And Stare."

The song "People Get Ready," which is strong lyrically and melodically, is a good example of the kind of magic Mayfield and his stripped-down band worked in concert. Unfortunately, not all the material on this album is as strong.

I bought this disc not knowing too much about Curtis Mayfield, but wow was I impressed. The music is easy to listen to casually, and has a groove that can't be denied. The social and political overtones that come from a closer listen, however, are what truly give Curtis and his music soul. Between "Mighty Might Spade and Whitey" and "We're a Winner" the depth of the lyrics and conviction with which they are delivered is unbeatable. Simply put, I was blown away.

"Add a little sugar", if you are thinking about purchasing this album then take my advice, don't think about it just do it! Curtis live at the Bitter End with his musicians who were taking him through a change (as Curtis says himself). I really love this album it brings tears to my eyes in places, in others it makes me laugh. When I put this album on it simply conjures up memories that I will never forget. So for now... add a little sugar, honey suckle and a great big expression of happiness. We miss you Curtis!

It's recordings like this that make me wonder why I went out of my way to avoid live albums over the years. Released later in the same year as his debut solo album Curtis this album is no mere time filler by any means. One thing that I will say,and a lot of other reviewers have made this point to a huge degree already is that this represents an entirely different musical setting for these songs. Obviously due to the setting,at the Bitter End Club in NYC and being backed only by his basic quartet this album finds Mayfield's music presented only in the context of rhythm as opposed to production: there are no orchestrations or such here to take any attention away from the grooves,melodies and messages presented. Because of his reputation as a consciencious,mild mannered and witty street philospher personality wise some of the best moments of this album comes not only from the music,which is presented wonderfully throughout but also in the way Curtis "works" his audience. All of the songs here tell a particular story,some as always more of a whole than not but the little spoken vignette "raps" between many of them showcase this quality of Mayfields. For example: before launching into "We're A Winner" Curtis explains how the song wasn't played on a lot of radio stations and colorfully illustrated how that didn't matter in the long and short of things. Same goes for a cover of The Carptenters "We've Only Just Begun" where he states that a lot of people might not want to hear him performing it but when you hear it here you see why he did;the harmonic and rhythmic approch he takes to it may keep it somewhat musically recognizable but totally alters the nature of it's sentiments-one of the best ways one can interpret the song of another. Same goes for "Stop And Stare" and "Stone Junkie" where Curtis finds himself helping his audience realize they may themselves have been on either side of the situations presented in those songs. This adds weight to his quaote that "we all have similar fears and shed similar tears". There's also another important thing to understand about this album. By presenting Impressions hits such as "Check Out Your Mind","People Get Ready","Gypsy Woman" and "Mighty Mighty Spade And Whitey" along with numbers from his debut solo recording like "The Makings Of You" and "(Don't Worry) If There's A Hell Below We're All Going To Go" it all gives a very strong continuity and progression message wise to his music;from the confidant and melodically optimistic flavors of his 60's era music to the wittier,direct and hard hitting musical and lyrical tone of his then newer music,even some of the latter day Impressions songs. As a live album this not only gives us a chance to interact to a degree with Curtis outside the musical context alone but also see him present his music from both a group and an individual persective on his own and in one setting. And that is what makes this album so vital (especially to the early part) within his solo legacy.