Curtis Mayfield – Curtis / Live! (Remastered 2 x 180g Vinyl)

Curtis/Live! is, simply, one of the greatest concert albums ever cut on a soul artist, and one of the legendary live albums of all time. Cut in January of 1971 during four nights at The Bitter End (then Greenwich Village's leading music venue) in New York, the resulting double LP transcended any expectations in both its programming and execution -- Mayfield performed numbers off of the Curtis album ("[Don't Worry] If There's a Hell Below We're All Going to Go"), as well as exciting and urgent new versions of songs originally performed by the Impressions ("We're a Winner," "People Get Ready," "Gypsy Woman"), plus a very moving R&B version of "We've Only Just Begun." This is all beautifully stripped-down work by a quintet consisting of Mayfield (vocals, guitar), Craig McMullen (guitar), Tyrone McCullen (drums), "Master" Henry Gibson (percussion), and Joseph "Lucky" Scott (bass) -- a solid, intense performance, with quietly elegant guitar playing against a rock-solid rhythm section, as Impressions hits are rethought and reconfigured in a new context, and Mayfield's early solo repertory comes to life in newer, longer live versions. – AllMusic Review by Bruce Eder

Tracklist

1. Mighty Mighty (Spade and Whitey) Rap

2. I Plan to Stay a Believer

3. We're a Winner

4. Rap

5. We've Only Just Begun

6. People Get Ready

7. Rap

8. Stare and Stare

9. Check Out Your Mind

10. Gypsy Woman

11. The Makings of You

12. Rap

13. We the People Who Are Darker Than Blue

14. (Don't Worry) If There's a Hell Below We're All Going to Go.

15. Stone Junkie

16. Superfly

17. Mighty Mighty (Spade and Whitey) (single version)

Cat no: 8718469537846