Curtis (Curtis Mayfield album)

Curtis
Studio album by
ReleasedSeptember 1970
RecordedMay–July 1970
StudioRCA Studios, Chicago
Genre
Length40:28
LabelCurtom
ProducerCurtis Mayfield
Curtis Mayfield chronology
Curtis
(1970)
Curtis/Live!
(1971)
Singles from Curtis
  1. "(Don't Worry) If There's a Hell Below, We're All Going to Go"
    Released: November 1970
  2. "Move On Up"
    Released: June 1971

Curtis is the debut studio album by American soul musician Curtis Mayfield, released in September 1970. Produced by Mayfield, it was released on his own label Curtom Records. The musical styles of Curtis moved further away from the pop-soul sounds of Mayfield's previous group The Impressions and featured more of a funk and psychedelic-influenced sound. The album's subject matter incorporates political and social concerns of the time.[1]

Curtis sold well at the time charting at number one on the Billboard Black albums (for five nonconsecutive weeks) and number nineteen on the Billboard Pop albums charts. Only the single "(Don't Worry) If There's a Hell Below, We're All Going to Go" charted in the United States; however, an edited version of "Move On Up" would spend 10 weeks in the top 50 of the UK Singles Chart.

In 2020, the album was ranked at number 275 on Rolling Stone's 500 greatest albums of all time list.[2]

  1. ^ Jones, Chris (2008). "Review of Curtis Mayfield – Curtis". BBC Music. Retrieved July 13, 2016.
  2. ^ "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time". Rolling Stone. 2020-09-22. Retrieved 2021-08-16.