Musical Episode 060 – The Makings of Curtis

The unparalleled Curtis Mayfield. This week’s podcast is a first look at the many records that bear his name from songwriting, production, release on his label or as an artist.
  • Listen to this podcast on Mixcloud
  • Listen to this podcast as a Spotify playlist here (though note, spotify doesn’t have all / many of the songs featured on the site so some playlists may be incomplete or feature slightly different versions than the original 45s I’m referring to here.)
  • Download the podcast here.

Welcome back everyone. This week’s podcast is one that’s been brewing forever and was broken into three parts but I kept obsessing over details and after the intensity of the last couple months I took a few spare hours to just pull a nice hour of Curtis tracks for this week’s podcast. There will inevitably be another installment but for now we can enjoy an hour of tracks that Curtis Mayfield helped bring into being.

During the podcast you’ll hear tracks Curtis wrote like the Joe Tex, Maxine Brown and Walter Jackson records; records that were released on his labels (Thomas w/ Eddie Thomas, Windy C and Mayfield) like the The Amazers, June and Donnie and The Mayfield Singers; records that Curtis performed on like The Impressions and solo recordings. Some records he produced like The Artistics, Five Stairsteps and Bobby Franklin’s Insanity. There are also records, he wrote, produced and released like Baby Huey, June and Donnie and The Fascinations.

The talents Curtis contained, radiated and shared are hard to fathom. With most great artists there can be one album, sometimes even only a couple of 45s, but with Curtis he created an entire universe of talent.

Peace,


-George / Snack Attack

Tracklist:
The Impressions – Senorita I Love You (Abner, 1959)
Joe Tex & The Vibrators – I’ll Never Break Your Heart (Anna, 1960)
Maxine Brown – I Don’t Need You No More (ABC, 1961)
Jerry Butler – Aware of Love (Vee Jay, 1961)
Bill Doggett – Lady’s Choice (Columbia, 1962)
Major Lance – Hey Little Girl (Okeh, 1963)
The Impressions – Talking About My Baby (ABC, 1963)
Jan Bradley – Mama Didn’t Lie (Chess, 1963)
The Opals – You’re Gonna Be Sorry (Okeh, 1964)
The Impressions – Keep On Pushing (ABC, 1964)
Walter Jackson – It’s All Over (Okeh, 1964)
The Artistics – In Another Man’s Arms (1965)
Gene Chandler – Nothing Can Stop Me (Constellation, 1965)
Mayfield Singers – If (Mayfield, 1966)
The Fascinations – Girls Are Out To Get You (Mayfield, 1967)
The Impressions – You Always Hurt Me (ABC, 1967)
The Amazers – Without A Warning (Thomas, 1967)
The Five Stairsteps – Change of Pace (Windy C, 1967)
June & Donnie – I Thank You Baby (Curtom, 1969)
Baby Huey & The Babysitters – Mighty Mighty Children Pt 1. (Unite Yourself This Hour) (Curtom, 1969)
Bobby Franklin’s Insanity – Bring it Down To Me (Pt. 1) (Thomas, 1969)
Gladys Knight & The Pips – On and On (Buddah, 1974)
Aretha Franklin – Something He Can Feel (Atlantic, 1975)
Curtis Mayfield – Hard Times (Curtom, 1975)

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