dreadpirateroberts
Coming off the monster soundtrack 'Superfly' Curtis brings a little of that sound to this third solo effort, 'Back to the World.' His usual strings and horns approach to funk and RnB is retained, if pared back a little, but this time he adds more optimism to his lyrics, along with a general upbeat feel to the majority of songs.
In 'Back to the World' the funk is funkier and the compositions are tighter. He still stretches out, but when he does so, the pieces approach the multi-part feel of the debut, keeping proceedings fresh.
The record opens with the title track, a joyous anthem for returned GIs (at least, musically joyous) with typical Curtis charm, his brass section and strings are a perfect fit for the laid back groove on this song. A similar feel is given to 'Can't Say Nothin'' where Curtis lets his guitar do most of the talking, ad-libing a little toward the end. Otherwise it's another great funk workout, adding Hammond to the mix this time around.
Closer 'Keep on Trippin'' also adds flute as a leading instrument, something not heard on too many Mayfield tracks. While songs like 'Keep on...' and 'Future Song' or the positive 'If I Were Only a Child Again' are more pop-influenced and lack extended instrumental interplay, they all mostly songs and it should be noted that pop was always one of Curtis' influences.
The remaining standouts are two of my favourite Curtis songs altogether, one of which 'Right on for the Darkness' does employ a longer structure, and 'Future Shock (later covered by Herbie Hancock) which has a clear 'Superfly' feel.
'Future Shock' is a hard funk track, employing his trademark his cry-of-protest falsetto and use of wah pedal on his guitar. 'Right on for the Darkness' is a little different. A bit of a tour de force of the Curtis Mayfield sound, it has an important difference to his previous works of a similar nature. Curtis builds 'Right on for the Darkness' by opening with just guitar and bass for a few bars, then gradually bringing in vocals, lead guitar and at just about a minute in, strings and the drum kit. From there he keeps going, later adding a punchy horn section and keeping everything full before stopping to let bass and drums lead the way in building everything up again. Interestingly, the song ends with a fairly haunting string section, making the track on of the most effective on the album, and most memorable in his whole output.
Four stars from me, though obviously not groundbreaking in the way his debut is, it is still a great record from Curtis.