Feb 7, 2019
The Album: Curtis Mayfield's Back
to the World (1973) In 1973, Curtis Mayfield had already
become one of the biggest soul stars in the
world thanks to the success of
his Superfly soundtrack. He could have
doubled-down with another album of lurid and cautionary street
tales but instead, he wrote an album that many think of as a
soundtrack to a movie never made, chronicling a returning Vietnam
War veteran who finds America to be a different kind of war
zone. Back to the World showcased Mayfield at
his best — as a musician, composer, arranger, singer, producer,
guitarist and songwriter — and decades later, we
can still hear some of its influence reverberating in the dozens of
artists who sampled from this album's lush music.
The Bay Area's Lyrics Born brought this album to us to talk about.
As part of the Solesides/Quannum crew that dates back to the
mid-90s, LB has represented a much admired indie hip-hop ethos and
he's been embraced by fans around the world. In our conversation,
we talked about Mayfield's commitment to social issues, his gifts
as a songwriter and whether or not "Right On For the Darkness" is,
in fact, about a blind person.
More on Lyrics Born
More on Back to the World
Show Tracklisting (all songs from Back to the World unless indicated otherwise):
Here is the Spotify playlist of as many songs as we can find on there
If you're not already subscribed to Heat Rocks in Apple
Podcasts, do
it here!