Curtis Mayfield - Superfly

I know that it is nearly impossible for anyone to not know at least the hits from this majestic soundtrack, but what the hell - I just pulled this out and it is good enough to rant about.

Right from the opening cut, "Little Child Runnin' Wild", you get classic Curtis - incredible, horn-driven 70's soul with great grooves and topical lyrics that reference the story line of the movie. This moves into the first one of the many hits from this soundtrack, the percussion-led "Pusherman", with its fabulous wah-wah-ed guitar and almost rapping lyrics that continue to tell the tale of Superfly. A fairly minor character in the movie gets an amazing tune with "Freddie's Dead", string-laden with a simple, infectious riff and more cool conga drums.

After this trio of greatness we finally get some basic movie background music - not that these are bad cuts - far from it, just not among the hits - "Junkie Chase", "Give Me Your Love" (especially good horn section here), "Eddie You Should Know Better", "Nothing on Me", "Think" - some simply instrumental work, some truly cool songs.

The record ends with the iconic title cut which continues with the fantastic formula working throughout this album - amazing horns, super percussion, wah-wah guitar licks and cool melody and lyrics. The CD release includes single mixes of this number as well as "Freddie's Dead".

This is pretty much the epitome of 70's soul - everyone should have this in their collection!