CURTIS MAYFIELD — There's No Place Like America Today (review)

CURTIS MAYFIELD — There's No Place Like America Today album cover Album · 1975 · RnB Buy this album from MMA partners
2/5 ·
dreadpirateroberts
The obvious highlight, anti-gun song ‘Billy Jack’ isn’t enough to salvage this album, which at first glance, has the potential to be one of Curtis’ most biting and hard-hitting releases since ‘Superfly,’ released just three years ago in 1972. The wonderful cover art and the title just beg for a protest album to rival works by Sly, Gaye or something from Curtis’ own back catalogue.

Of course, it’s unfair of me to expect an artist to look over their own shoulder or to judge ‘…America Today’ in terms of what it could have achieved. And while this is a step away from previous works, it’s not a large one nor a wholly exciting one. While the almost torpid tempos and lethargic funk that infuses the songs here can be effective, a few blasts of horns in ‘Billy Jack’ or ‘Love to the People’ don’t balance out the largely unmemorable melodies and arrangements seen elsewhere. Probably what’s most surprising (or not, based on his previous two releases) is that the vocal arrangements are not very strong – a case in point being ‘Jesus,’ a song which is a candidate for the most bland song he’s written.

‘When Seasons Change’ and ‘Hard Times’ are a little better and the minor hit ‘So in Love’ is classic Curtis, it’s nice to hear the organ and the horns playing full and bringing some extra soul to the album. However, I do miss the lush strings in some of these songs, and the grittier funk so satisfying in other albums. With regret I have to remind myself that ultimately two or three great songs, even two or three great Mayfield songs, certainly don’t make a masterpiece, or even a career highlight.

I’d urge people new to Curtis’ work to start elsewhere, perhaps ‘Curtis’ or ‘Superfly.’
Share this review
more

Review Comments

Post a public comment below | Send private message to the reviewer
Please login to post a shout
No shouts posted yet. Be the first member to do so above!

Review Index

Member Zone

Username:
Password:
Stay signed in

Jazz Subgenres

Artists Alpha-index

JMA TOP 5 Jazz ALBUMS

Rating by members, ranked by custom algorithm
Albums with 30 ratings and more
A Love Supreme Post Bop
JOHN COLTRANE
Buy this album from our partners
Kind of Blue Cool Jazz
MILES DAVIS
Buy this album from our partners
The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady Progressive Big Band
CHARLES MINGUS
Buy this album from our partners
Blue Train Hard Bop
JOHN COLTRANE
Buy this album from our partners
My Favorite Things Hard Bop
JOHN COLTRANE
Buy this album from our partners

New Jazz Artists

New Jazz Releases

Ernesto Rodrigues, Bruno Parrinha & Johannes von Buttlar : Whispers and Reveries Jazz Related Improv/Composition
ERNESTO RODRIGUES
Buy this album from MMA partners
Ernesto Rodrigues, Nuno Torres & Johannes von Buttlar : Cosmic Collision Jazz Related Improv/Composition
ERNESTO RODRIGUES
Buy this album from MMA partners
Ernesto Rodrigues, Carlos Bechegas, João Madeira & Monsieur Trinité : Free to Open Jazz Related Improv/Composition
ERNESTO RODRIGUES
Buy this album from MMA partners
Floros Floridis, Ernesto Rodrigues, Guilherme Rodrigues & Ulf Mengersen : Xafnikes Synantiseis Jazz Related Improv/Composition
FLOROS FLORIDIS
Buy this album from MMA partners
The Vinny Golia Quintet 2024 : Almasty Avant-Garde Jazz
VINNY GOLIA
Buy this album from MMA partners
More new releases

New Jazz Online Videos

Songs My Mom Liked EPK - Anthony Branker
ANTHONY BRANKER
js· 11 hours ago
“INFLUENCES” by Jared Hall, trumpeter & composer
JARED HALL
js· 11 hours ago
Jean-Pierre (feat. Darryl Jones)
BILL EVANS (SAX)
snobb· 22 hours ago
Magic Box
CHRISTOPHE MARGUET
snobb· 22 hours ago
The Peacocks
ANTOINE DRYE
js· 1 day ago
More videos

New JMA Jazz Forum Topics

More in the forums

New Site interactions

More...

Latest Jazz News

members-submitted

More in the forums

Social Media

Follow us
Follow us on Twitter Become a Facebook fan RSS Feed