Super Fly is the third studio album by American soul musician Curtis Mayfield, released on July 11, 1972, by Curtom Records. It was released as the soundtrack for the Blaxploitationfilm of the same name. Widely considered a classic of 1970s soul and funk music, Super Fly was a nearly immediate hit. Its sales were bolstered by two million-selling singles, "Freddie's Dead" (number 2 R&B charts, number 4 Pop charts) and the title track (number 5 R&B, number 8 Pop). Super Fly is one of the few soundtracks to out-gross the film it accompanied.[15]
Super Fly, along with Marvin Gaye's What's Going On (1971), was one of the pioneering soul concept albums, with its then-unique socially aware lyrics about poverty and drug abuse making the album stand out.[16][17] The film and the soundtrack may be perceived as dissonant, since the film holds rather ambiguous views on drug dealers, whereas Curtis Mayfield's position is far more critical. Like What's Going On, the album was a surprise hit that record executives felt had little chance at significant sales. Due to its success, Mayfield was tapped for several film soundtracks over the course of the decade.
Background
Mayfield had previously contributed two songs to Krakatoa, East of Java; the film was a critical and commercial failure, but marked his first foray into soundtrack work. His contribution began when Super Fly director Gordon Parks Jr. asked Mayfield and his backing band to cameo as a nightclub act in the background of a scene. Parks wanted a full song to play in the scene, which led to the beginning of soundtrack sessions.[18]
Production
The recording session for the song "Pusherman" took place at Bell Sound Studios in New York, and was followed by a several months-long hiatus (during which Mayfield wrote The Times Have Changed for his former group The Impressions and formulated his next solo effort, Back to the World). The instrumentals for the remaining songs were produced in a three-day session at Curtom Studios, which involved an in-studio band of as many as 40 performers. Guitarist Craig McMullen states, "The advantage of it is, if you have a full orchestra, when you place your licks, you don't have to worry about your licks bumping. You can hear everything that's going to go down." The album was primarily written by Mayfield from a basement apartment in Chicago while undergoing a trial separation from his wife and children.[18]
Release
Super Fly was originally released in 1972 on Curtom Records in both LP and eight-track formats.[19] It also featured distribution in countries outside of the United States, including Italy, Germany, France, Canada, and the United Kingdom.[19] On November 11, 1997, Rhino Records released a 25th Anniversary collection of the album with a bonus disc of demo versions of songs, radio spots, and interviews.[20] In 1999, Rhino Records reissued the album with two bonus tracks.[21]
On December 11, 2001, the British record label Charly Records re-released the album with several bonus tracks.[22]
Reception, sales and legacy
Music critics lauded Super Fly.[16] The album was RIAA certified Gold within three months of release.[23]Rolling Stone's Bob Donat was favorable of Mayfield's anti-drug and self-liberation themes, and called Super Fly "not only a superior, imaginative soundtrack, but fine funky music as well and the best of Curtis Mayfield's four albums made since he left the Impressions".[11] Rock critic Robert Christgau of The Village Voice gave the album an A− and lauded Mayfield's songwriting. Christgau also wrote that "these songs speak for (and to) the ghetto's victims rather than its achievers (cf. 'The Other Side of Town', on Curtis), transmitting bleak lyrics through uncompromisingly vivacious music. Message: both candor and rhythm are essential to our survival".[7] Robin Katz of Disc praised the album stating to not mistake the album as a "big bad blaring instrumental LP. This is Curtis Mayfield combining a fine musical message with gentle vocals but powerful lyrics." and that the "nine tracks on the album and what never fails to amaze me is how Mayfield balances his instrumental work and lyrics without overdoing either. It is a touchy situation, but Mayfield handles it brilliantly."[24]The album itself as well as songs "Freddie's Dead" and "Junkie Chase" received nominations at the 15th Annual Grammy Awards.[25]
In a 2004 review of the album, Rolling Stone gave Super Fly five out of five stars and cited it as Mayfield's "creative breakthrough".[12] Charles Taylor of The Boston Phoenix, in an article on Mayfield, deems "Superfly," "Pusherman" and "Freddie's Dead" to "remain his paramount achievement, as hard and pitiless as any music ever to make the charts."[26] John Bush of AllMusic praised the album's lyrical substance and sound, calling it a "melange of deep, dark grooves, trademarked wah-wah guitar, and stinging brass".[5] On its significance, Bush concluded by stating:
Super Fly ignited an entire genre of music, the blaxploitation soundtrack, and influenced everyone from soul singers to television-music composers for decades to come. It stands alongside Saturday Night Fever and Never Mind the Bollocks Here's the Sex Pistols as one of the most vivid touchstones of '70s pop music.[5]
— John Bush
In a positive retrospective review for Pitchfork, writer Mychal Smith notes the political relevance of Super Fly's messages to early 70's U.S. politics, in particular the issues facing the black population:[27]
As Mayfield's third studio album as a solo artist, Super Fly perfectly encapsulates the post-Civil Rights/early Black Power feel of black America struggling to survive the social and political consequences of the nation's conservative backlash. [...] Black America faced an uncertain world in the wake of the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. and the election of President Richard Nixon. Politicians were promising to restore "law and order" after years of urban rebellions frightened white folks who had long fled to the suburbs. Steady divestment from black communities, along with increasing levels of violent policing, right at the moment where black people were supposedly free to enjoy the rights of American citizenship, put black neighborhoods at economic depression levels. The drug trade offered the best sense of escape. No one, as Mayfield pointed out, was exempt from the temptation. He had intimate knowledge of this world. Mayfield was a son of Chicago, having been raised in the notorious Cabrini-Green housing projects. The lyrics were as much his personal reflection on ghetto life as they were based on the characters of the film.
— Mychal Smith, "Curtis Mayfield: Super Fly Album Review"
Super Fly was a formative work in the development of the hip hop and rap genres, and has been cited as an influence and sampled by the likes of Beastie Boys, The Notorious B.I.G., Erykah Badu, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Chance the Rapper, and Beyoncé.[18] The singer Bilal names it among his 25 favorite albums, explaining that, "I just think that's one of the best movie soundtrack albums ever. Just the way he described the whole movie, you don't even really have to see the movie, just listen to the soundtrack and you already know the whole movie. It's just killer the way he did that."[36] Mychal Smith notes the impact Super Fly had on the genre of blaxploitation soundtracks in particular, noting Mayfield had "inspired imitations [...] such as Bobby Womack’s "Across 110th Street", James Brown’s Black Caesar, and Willie Hutch’s The Mack."[27]
^Hilburn, Robert. Review: Super Fly. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2009-08-05. The 1997 reissue of Super Fly was rated three out of four stars by critic Robert Hilburn. However, Hilburn concludes the review by explaining that the original would have been rated four stars, barring the additions of the reissue, stating "Yet there isn't enough additional material to justify, for most listeners, a second disc, causing what would be a four-star single-disc package to be docked a star".
