Curtis Mayfield’s Superfly hit #1

Superfly Curtis Mayfield

Released: July 11, 1972 Charted: August 26, 1972 Peak: 14 US, 16 RB, 26 UK Sales (in millions): 2.0 US Genre: R&B

Tracks: Song Title (date of single release, chart peaks) Click for codes to charts. Little Child Runnin’ Wild Pusherman Freddie’s Dead (8/12/72, 4 US, 2 RB, sales: ½ million) Junkie Chase [instrumental] Give Me Your Love (Love Song) Eddie You Should Know Better No Thing on Me (Cocaine Song) Think [instrumental] Superfly (11/25/72, 8 US, 5 RB, sales: ½ million) Total Running Time: 37:05

Rating: 4.690 out of 5.00 (average of 11 ratings) Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Album: “The choice of Curtis Mayfield to score the blaxploitation film Superfly was an inspired one. No other artist in popular music knew so well, and expressed through his music so naturally, the shades of gray inherent in contemporary inner-city life. His debut solo album, 1970’s Curtis, had shown in vivid colors that the ‘60s optimist (author of the civil-rights anthems ‘Keep on Pushing’ and ‘People Get Ready’) had added a layer of subtlety to his material; appearing on the same LP as the positive and issue-oriented ‘Move on Up’ was an apocalyptic piece of brimstone funk titled ‘(Don’t Worry) If There’s a Hell Below, We’re All Going to Go.’” AMG “For Superfly, Mayfield wisely avoids celebrating the wheeling-and-dealing themes present in the movie, or exploiting them, instead using each song to focus on a different aspect of what he saw as a plague on America’s streets. He also steers away from explicit moralizing; through his songs, Mayfield simply tells it like it is (for the characters in the film as in real life), with any lessons learned the result of his vibrant storytelling and knack of getting inside the heads of the characters. Freddie’s Dead, one of the album’s signature pieces, tells the story of one of the film’s main casualties, a good-hearted yet weak-willed man caught up in the life of a pusher, and devastatingly portrays the indifference of those who witness or hear about it.” AMG “Pusherman masterfully uses the metaphor of drug dealer as businessman, with the drug game, by extension, just another way to make a living in a tough situation, while the title track equates hustling with gambling (‘The game he plays he plays for keeps/ hustlin’ times and ghetto streets/ tryin’ ta get over’).” AMG “Ironically, the sound of Superfly positively overwhelmed its lyrical finesse. A melange of deep, dark grooves, trademarked wah-wah guitar, and stinging brass, Superfly ignited an entire genre of music, the blaxploitation soundtrack, and influenced everyone from soul singers to television-music composers for decades to come. It stands alongside Saturday Night Fever and Never Mind the Bollocks Here’s the Sex Pistols as one of the most vivid touchstones of ‘70s pop music.” AMG Notes: “The 2001 British reissue includes a 13-track bonus disc filled with several alternate versions and other bonus material.” AMG

Resources and Related Links: DMDB encyclopedia entry for Curtis Mayfield AMG All Music Guide review by John Bush First posted 4/9/2008; last updated 2/28/2024.