HEARING AIDS
MUSIC REVIEWS
BY
LANCE DAVIS
Super Cool, Super Mean, Superfly
"8-track stereo, color TV in every room, and can snort a half-a-piece of dope everyday. That's the American Dream nigger. Well, ain't it?"
-Eddie to Priest, excerpt from Superfly.
In his prime, which was the early-to-mid 1970's, Curtis Mayfield may have demonstrated the rock 'n' roll era's most fully realized combination of literate and socially-aware lyrical content and breathtakingly sophisticated and adventurous song composition (well, aside from The Beatles, who were from another planet anyway). He was simultaneously a folk singer who could move booties and a gospel singer with an Ellingtonian ear for orchestration. He also happened to drop the deepest, grooviest movie soundtrack I've ever laid ears upon: 1972's super bad, Superfly. The depth of expression on this record not only managed to redefine his career, it managed to redefine what was "acceptable" within the parameters of the "soul music" genre. While incorporating Latin percussion, washes of strings (including a harp!), and distorted guitar effects into fat-bottomed cuts of funk, Mayfield created a work that attempted to "stand out in spite of all the controversy that might be amongst the Superfly era, dealing with drugs and what have you." Stand out it did, and stand up it has, its influence being felt in the work of folks ranging from the Beastie Boys and Ice Cube, to Fishbone and Quentin Tarantino. The following is a song-by-song look at an album which proves that its creator was himself "superfly."
"Little Child Runnin Wild"-Though "Pusherman" and "Freddie's Dead" are probably the most recognizable cuts from this soundtrack; this is clearly the "socio-political" centerpiece of the album. While providing an unflinching view of ghetto life, this is also one of the densest, most soulful, and most beautifully arranged songs ever put on wax. Bongos are complemented by a lush, unobtrusive string section, while an ominous organ line is complemented by a chitlin-fed and saxophone-led horn section. Lyrically, this song is as racially-charged as Dylan's best work on similar themes ("Hurricane" and "Hattie Carroll," e.g.), but its core is so consciously "black" that it clearly sows the seeds for rap's political vanguard (just listen to Grandmaster Flash's "The Message" for proof). So, when Mayfield moans, "I gotta take the pain away/ It's gettin worser day by day/ And all my life has been this way," you know something more than junkie apologetics is going on. That something more is the reality behind inner-city blues, summed up best when Curtis hollers, "Where is the mayor, who'll make all things fair?/ He lives outside our polluted air." An artistic masterpiece.
"Pusherman"-While this is arguably Mayfield's most popular post-Impressions song, it's also probably his most misinterpreted. If there's one thing this song isn't, it isn't a naked celebration of the livin large, "superfly" lifestyle. Yes, the verses do exclaim, "Ain't I clean, bad machine, super cool, super mean? . . . Secret stash, heavy bread, baddest bitches in the bed." However, the pimpin' is put into perspective because even the "ghetto prince" wonders, "How long can a good thing last?" If I were more educated I might call this "existential angst," but since I'm not, I'll simply say that the pusherman knows his lifestyle is a dead end game. Literally. Mayfield brilliantly sums this up in the second chorus when he sings, "Make your world what you want it to be/ Got a woman I love desperately/ Wanna give her something better than me . . . I know I can make it, this life just don't make it."
"Freddie's Dead"-Where "Little Child" putsSuperfly into "socio-political" context, this song is clearly the emotional backbone of the whole affair. In a 1988 interview (which can be found on the video, "Curtis Mayfield: Live at Ronnie Scott's"), Mayfield explained that his inspiration for this song was that the character of Freddie "seemed to basically be a nice guy, but between the wrong kind of friends, his woman at the time, he kind of got the short end of the stick. And, of course, he ended up being exploited by all of them. And he, of course, died in the movie. So, my heart sort of fell for him." Like "Little Child," this song too is a masterpiece of complex arrangement, combining an insistent bass-driven riff (echoed at times by a flute!), with a beautifully orchestrated string section, tastefully spare horn accompaniment, and an occasional wah-wah guitar fill. And this music merely provides the foundation for Mayfield's warning-sign lyrics. "Why can't we brothers protect one another?" he asks, perhaps rhetorically, while further lamenting,"No one's serious, and it makes me furious." If there were any doubts as to the man's conviction concerning those "runnin' wild," Mayfield ends that with the simple and powerful refrain, "Don't be misled, just think of Fred.".
"No Thing On Me"-Another mid-tempo ballad, this song can probably be read as being either anti-drug or anti-junkie (yes, Virginia, there is a difference!), what with its consistent refrain, "My life's a natural high, the Man can't put no thing on me." However, rather than offering those amusing Reaganesque homilies like "drugs-bad, drug-users-evil," Mayfield preaches the gospel of hope and love in the face of hopelessness. "No Thing" is clearly the most uplifting, anti-drug/junkie song on an album full of anti-drug/junkie anthems. Though the "weaker turn to dope and put all aside their hope, " Mayfield insists, " I know your mind you wanna find, you don't have to be no junkie."
"Superfly"-Essentially, this title track is simply "Pusherman" with an added horn section and alternate lyrics. Obviously, any song with that super-fat bass line and those bongo fills is gonna be pretty solid, but then you add Mayfield's lyrics to the mix and you get a generous slice of American soul pie. "Can't be like the rest is the most he'll confess/ But the times running out, and there's no happiness." I think Curtis dropped a boatload of science in that same 1988 interview when he humbly declared, "It seems as though Superfly was really just a prediciton of what is actually happening today." Listening to this record 23 years after its release, all I can say to that is, "Amen, brother."
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Contents on this page were published in the August/September, 1995 edition of the Washington Free
Press.
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