{"id":3275,"date":"2012-06-15T16:34:59","date_gmt":"2012-06-15T20:34:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bomanijones.com\/?p=3275"},"modified":"2022-01-18T14:28:10","modified_gmt":"2022-01-18T22:28:10","slug":"curtis-mayfield-black-music-month","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bomanijones.com\/?p=3275","title":{"rendered":"Curtis Mayfield &#124; Black Music Month"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span class=\"removed_link\" title=\"https:\/\/www.bomanijones.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/Curtis1.jpg\"><\/span><br \/>\n[Editor\u2019s note: I\u2019m not sure this will make sense to you by the end. It meanders. But, there are playlists and links galore, so please bear with me.]<br \/>\nWhen I grow up, I wanna sound like Curtis Mayfield.<br \/>\n<iframe src=\"https:\/\/embed.spotify.com\/?uri=spotify:user:bomani_jones:playlist:2LJyXtbk4FbBhFLJD5fCw6\" height=\"380\" width=\"300\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe><br \/>\nNot as a singer. I\u2019m not giving back all this bass. But his voice, the one he writes with? That\u2019s what I\u2019m going for. Curtis was so straight to the point, blessed with a keen eye for finding the shortest distance to what he was thinking or feeling. He had a gift for finding a common denominator, and not in the way people typically think of pejoratively. He didn\u2019t find what would attract the most people. He found what connected them, what could resonate over any beat, in any time, sung by any gender.<br \/>\nHe just seemed to get it. The delicate balance of what was worth celebrating, and what was a reason to fight. He sang and spoke with such self-esteem, such pride in his blackness and was so encouraged by what we could do together. We would, eventually, get to where we deserved to be.<br \/>\nBut the right now of his time? Yeah, that shit kinda sucked.<br \/>\n<strong>::Subscribe to the <a href=\"http:\/\/bit.ly\/bandjyoutube\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Bomani &amp; Jones<\/a> YouTube Channel.<\/strong><br \/>\nJust check out the two singles from <a href=\"http:\/\/open.spotify.com\/user\/bomani_jones\/playlist\/76XpAiEmBNsvRh2wzkz0Sn\">Curtis<\/a>, his 1970 debut LP. First was \u201c<a href=\"http:\/\/open.spotify.com\/track\/5wdlG60d0WHoo8P3QzrlbG\">(Don\u2019t Worry) If There\u2019s A Hell Below, We\u2019re All Going To Go<\/a>.\u201d Next was \u201c<a href=\"http:\/\/open.spotify.com\/track\/01gDLZsi0j5fWC28FLPNO8\">Move On Up<\/a>.\u201d For now, we\u2019re complicit in our own destruction. But it\u2019s cool. We\u2019re getting it together, and we\u2019ll do better. Of course, the \u201cwe\u201d that\u2019s messing everything up involves everyone. The \u201cwe\u201d that\u2019s getting better is black people, in a position where self-reliance is the only answer. Black folks\u2019 cheering section would always be themselves and no one else, and not even the pessimism reinforced by reality could be allowed to shake their dedication.<br \/>\nThat\u2019s Curtis Mayfield in two tracks. Somehow, hope never blinded him to the truth. Even more stunning was the fact the world he lived in &#8212; centered in his hometown of Chicago &#8212; never stopped him from being hopeful.<br \/>\nThe Chicago of his time is the one that gave birth to the one that\u2019s so sadly violent today. Mayfield and his contemporaries came of age while so many moved from the South looking for Chicago\u2019s opportunities, only to find themselves confined to the city. The suburbs were effectively off-limits, with freeways built for the express purpose of getting white people into town and, quickly, the hell back to their neighborhoods. They took advantage of the Federal Housing Administration\u2019s proliferation of 30-year loans, rode with the senseless devaluation of property that came when black folks tried to integrate neighborhoods, and the result was one of the most segregated cities in America. Those who packed up everything they had in search of advancement quickly found the decks up North were stacked, too.<br \/>\n<strong>::Receive Bomani\u2019s Blog, Videos, and Podcast.\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/j.mp\/emailjonesblog\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Subscribe to The Email Jones<\/a>.<\/strong><br \/>\nBut there was hope. Segregation, in an obvious-yet-peculiar way, almost begs for self-reliance. The full spectrum of blackness would be in front of you, for they were all in it together. You still feel that, to a degree, in Chicago. You can get that vibe from how different things can be just by going two blocks. With the good and bad comes the beauty of humanity, and it\u2019s almost impossible to think things can\u2019t get better when we\u2019ve all got each other. People, throughout history, have proven to be every community\u2019s most valuable resource.<br \/>\nHere\u2019s the thing, though &#8212; they can only be precious if appreciated as they are. That was Curtis\u2019 most special gift, one that I see in my father that continually wows me. Both of them could appreciate the toll struggles takes on people. Even most doing their worst are doing their best. They carry burdens, struggle with obligations both self-inflicted and inherited, and largely find ways to get from day to die.<br \/>\nThat\u2019s the quality that makes the Superfly soundtrack so good. The story goes that Mayfield feared the movie glorified drug dealing, so he wanted to make a dark record that would reflect such a dangerous lifestyle. The trick, though, was doing so without being judgmental. The dope dealer with a heart of gold doesn\u2019t really exist in real life. Even if the heart started as gilded, it can\u2019t help but tarnish over time in such a world. There\u2019s no way an honest person could portray the trade, especially as presented in Gordon Parks, Jr.\u2019s classic film, as anything but the dope man. You could call it good because of the money and suits, or one could call it bad because of the sociopathic behavior it requires. You could be resigned, like Carl Gordon\u2019s character, to dealing because \u201cit\u2019s the only game The Man left us to play.\u201d But you couldn\u2019t call it simple, certainly not with the pictures Mayfield painted.<br \/>\n<iframe src=\"https:\/\/embed.spotify.com\/?uri=spotify:user:bomani_jones:playlist:4fqBXKJ4sf5MiJk5luPTJa\" height=\"380\" width=\"300\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe><br \/>\nI leave Superfly with an admiration for his willingness to be honest, the hallmark of the Mayfield catalog. It\u2019s not necessarily in big, heart-wrenching ways. It\u2019s sincerity tinged with an understanding that any lie would be discovered anyway. The truth is told because, really, there\u2019s no good reason not to. Lying won\u2019t get us anywhere, and the truth is no reason to stop hoping.<br \/>\nHe manages to pull off the impossible &#8212; making the listener more aware of the world while simultaneously feeling better about what\u2019s coming next.<br \/>\nExcept, wait&#8230;y\u2019all hear that all the time in church, don\u2019t you?<br \/>\nYeah, see&#8230;this is church music for cats like me. There\u2019s no ascribed morality. There\u2019s an understanding that, from time to time, people are gonna get lit to ease the pain. Sins of varying magnitude are understood rather than condemned. This is secularized gospel, a combination of the Testaments into something timeless. Just check the raps and interludes on his brilliant, uniquely intimate live album from The Bitter End in 1971. This is a church I\u2019d go to, save for the people snorting cocaine. Nah, I ain\u2019t about that.<br \/>\n<iframe src=\"https:\/\/embed.spotify.com\/?uri=spotify:user:bomani_jones:playlist:3BiBTHbFUlZD1DU6Dqm5Xj\" height=\"380\" width=\"300\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe><br \/>\nBut listen to how moving he was with so few words. How much it would fill you up if \u201cThe Makings of You\u201d were about your makings. The ability to empathize with the weary faces on the train on \u201cStare and Stare.\u201d The double-edged decision to close the show with \u201cStone Junkie.\u201d I mean, this is life and death and the best and worst of them both.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Don&#8217;t let your mind become offended miss<br \/>\nLady, &#8217;cause you ain&#8217;t no better than our typical Sadie<br \/>\nYou just got money, you can spend out at will<br \/>\nBut when comes aches and pains, you still use the pill<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Oh, he wasn\u2019t done.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>I know everybody whose heart is still thumping<br \/>\nIs drinking, shooting, snorting, smoking on something<br \/>\nNow that might sound funky and I don&#8217;t mean to mislead<br \/>\nSo you can retract the thought<br \/>\nOf you on drugs or on weed<br \/>\nThat ain\u2019t my business<br \/>\nYou know what you do<br \/>\nI\u2019m just sayin\u2019<br \/>\nfor the majority of you<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>No running from the truth. Not even on the last song, not even if you\u2019ve got no reason to deny it. Curtis was the conscience that kept you honest, but did not nag.<br \/>\nHe also wrote incredible love songs, shorter on romance than emotion, more amorous than clever. And he got love, sex and where the two meet so well that he wrote two of the greatest love songs a man wrote for women to sing, \u201c<a href=\"http:\/\/open.spotify.com\/track\/0HsHf3BQYPav3L5jdLImjF\">Let\u2019s Do It Again<\/a>\u201d and \u201c<a href=\"http:\/\/open.spotify.com\/track\/4IOtu2nO8Us3kPtEZmUr0k\">Something He Can Feel<\/a>.\u201d Or, put differently &#8212; Curtis managed to make Aretha sound sexy, which is pretty difficult for someone <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bomanijones.com\/aretha-franklin-call-me-black-music-month\/\">who usually sounded like somebody\u2019s mama<\/a>.<br \/>\nSo why did I say, in the beginning, I want to sound like this? Because life is so much easier just acknowledging what\u2019s in front of you. It\u2019s more powerful to love someone in spite of their faults than it is to ignore them. Disappointment means more when it\u2019s accompanied by love. The real is always best, even if we\u2019re not always able to handle it.<br \/>\nThe confidence in Curtis\u2019 voice, both writing and singing, was so reassuring. It had a delicacy I wish I could recreate, and a force I wish I could wield. He just chose his words perfectly, his inflection always right on time. And somehow, even the hardest things to ear were soothing.<br \/>\nThat\u2019s how you get shit done right there. And get it done, Curtis did.<br \/>\n<iframe src=\"https:\/\/embed.spotify.com\/?uri=spotify:user:bomani_jones:playlist:2LJyXtbk4FbBhFLJD5fCw6\" height=\"380\" width=\"300\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/on.fb.me\/bomanijones\"><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[Editor\u2019s note: I\u2019m not sure this will make sense to you by the end. It meanders. But, there are playlists and links galore, so please bear with me.] When I grow up, I wanna sound like Curtis Mayfield. Not&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":56,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"cybocfi_hide_featured_image":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[4,23],"tags":[96],"class_list":["post-3275","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog","category-the-music-jones","tag-boblogs"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bomanijones.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3275","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bomanijones.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bomanijones.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bomanijones.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/56"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bomanijones.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3275"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.bomanijones.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3275\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bomanijones.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3275"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bomanijones.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3275"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bomanijones.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3275"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}