Love Songs

by Curtis Mayfield

Product Description:

Personnel includes: Curtis Mayfield, The Impressions.

Compilation producer: Michael Wesley Johnson.

Includes liner notes by David Ritz.

Digitally remastered by Dan Hersch and Bill Inglott (Digiprep).

Best known as a gifted musician whose work often spoke out against societal injustices, and whose call for brotherhood influenced such future musical revolutionaries as Public Enemy and Bob Marley, the late Curtis Mayfield also had an equally compelling romantic side. The most notable developments in LOVE SONGS are in the increasing sophistication of Mayfield's musical arrangements as his career progresses.

Although Mayfield and the Impressions came from a gospel background, early sides like "Grow Closer Together" and "You Must Believe In Me" are characterized by doo-wop flavored vocals and blaring brass arrangements. By the time Mayfield went solo in 1970, his trademarks were a lilting falsetto and classy recording techniques, resulting in lush orchestrations ("Love to Keep You Keep You In My Mind"), and sweeping fat-bottomed productions that recall Barry White ("You're So Good to Me"). Elsewhere Mayfield employs a lighter touch, placing acoustic guitar at the forefront of the cascading "When We're In Love" and slipping the subtle cry of a wah-wah guitar into "So You Don't Love Me." LOVE SONGS is a feast for both the soul and the heart.