CoronaVinyl Day 32 (Illinois): Super Fly by Curtis Mayfield

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With my additions to CoronaVinyl categories, I added a bunch of geographic categories, such as states, countries, and countries within countries.  The first of those is Illinois, and while I had various artists to choose from, I went with Chicago's own Curtis Mayfield.  He is one of 23 artists who has been inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice -- first as a member of soul pioneers The Impressions and second as a solo artist.  He's also a member of the Songwriting Hall of Fame and a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award winner.

Mayfield grew up both on the South Side and then in the notorious Cabrini-Green public housing projects on the North Side, along with Jerry Butler, with whom Mayfield formed The Impressions in the late '50s.  After Butler left The Impressions in the early '60s, Mayfield took over lead vocals, in addition to handling songwriting duties.  With Mayfield at the helm, The Impressions had a string of hits, like "Gypsy Woman," "Keep On Pushing," "It's Alright," "Woman's Got Soul," and the Civil Rights anthem "People Get Ready."

He left The Impressions in 1970 for a solo career, and two years later, he wrote and performed the soundtrack for the blaxploitation film Super Fly.  The film is about a pimp and coke dealer who is trying to get out of his life of crime.  The soundtrack hit #1 on both the general Billboard album chart and the Billboard R&B album chart, and both singles from the album landed in the Top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100, with the title track going to #8 and "Freddie's Dead" reaching #4 (both were also Top 5 hits on the Billboard R&B charts).  Mayfield's funk and soul soundtrack is one of the few soundtracks that outgrossed the movie for which it was made, and while the film was not a huge success, it was the highest-grossing blaxploitation film at the time it was released.  The album itself was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.

More so than the chart success of the soundtrack, Mayfield's songs and lyrics didn't sugarcoat anything or glorify drug use or inner city life.  To the contrary, Mayfield provided a dark and poignant social commentary about the perils of drug addiction, life in the ghetto, and the unfortunate choices those in poverty are forced to make.

Mayfield went on to make 23 more albums, including his final album in 1996, released six years after he was paralyzed from the neck down after lighting equipment fell on him during a concert in Brooklyn.  He died in 1999 at age 57, due to complications related to type 2 diabetes.

Favorite song from Side 1:  "Pusherman"
"Pusherman" is one of those songs I alluded to above that details how drugs can pervade lower income areas.  If you didn't pay attention to the lyrics, you might think it's just a catchy funk song.  It's sung from the perspective of a drug dealer, who extols his importance to you, his purchasers and victims.  

Favorite song from Side 2:  "Superfly"
The title track is another funk classic.  The song is an ode to the film's main character, and it played over the closing credits of the film.  And if you recognize the intro, it has been sampled in a bunch of songs over the years, including The Beastie Boys' "Egg Man" from Paul's Boutique and the childbirth section of the intro track to Notorious B.I.G.'s debut album Ready to Die.