Polyphonic Press - Classic Album Reviews
1,000 essential albums. One random generator. Zero escape. Jeremy Boyd and Jon VanDyk take a deep dive into the records that shaped music history one randomly selected choice at a time. Whether it’s a 60s psychedelic masterpiece or a 90s alternative powerhouse, we break down the lore, drop 5 fast facts, and give you the tracks that actually matter so you can sound like the smartest person at the record store. New episodes every Tuesday.
Polyphonic Press - Classic Album Reviews
Super Fly by Curtis Mayfield: The Soul Masterpiece That Redefined the Soundtrack
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In 1972, Curtis Mayfield was tasked with scoring a gritty blaxploitation film. Instead of just providing background music, he delivered a socially conscious, funk-driven opus that completely eclipsed the movie it was written for. Super Fly is a cinematic triumph of lush orchestration, biting commentary, and unstoppable grooves. This week, the Random Album Generator drops us into the gritty streets of 1970s soul with one of the greatest soundtracks ever recorded.
Inside This Episode:
- Side A Reaction: We are splitting this tight 9-track masterpiece right down the middle. If you're spinning this with us, hit pause after track four, "Junkie Chase." Jeremy and Jon react to Mayfield's soaring falsetto, the incredible wah-wah guitar work, and the undeniable swagger of "Pusherman."
- 5 Fast Facts: We uncover how Mayfield essentially argued against the movie's message through his lyrics, the staggering financial success of the record, and the groundbreaking business moves behind the scenes.
- Side B & Final Thoughts: We flip to Side B and discuss the legendary title track and the lush, romantic arrangements of "Give Me Your Love." Does Super Fly stand alone as a perfect album even if you've never seen the film?
- The Verdict & Standout Tracks: Jeremy and Jon lock in their 3 essential tracks. Is this the absolute pinnacle of 70s soul music?
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This is Polyphonic Press. The podcast where two music fans pick a classic album completely at random.
SPEAKER_04Alright, hey, welcome to Polyphonic Press. I'm Jeremy Boyd. I'm John Van Dyke. And uh let's not waste any time. We've got the patented random album generator right in front of us here. Uh so let's hit the button and see what album we're gonna be listening to this week. And the album we're gonna be listening to is Curtis Mayfield Superfly. Okay. Okay, so uh here's a description of the album. It says Superfly by Curtis Mayfield is one of the most iconic soul albums of the 1970s and one of the most socially conscious soundtracks ever recorded. Released in 1972 as the companion to the film Superfly, the album goes far beyond typical soundtrack fair. Instead of glorifying the drug dealing lifestyle depicted in the movie, Mayfield uses his music to critique uh to critique it, offering a sobering and deeply human perspective on addiction, poverty, and survival in urban America. Musically, Superfly blends lush orchestration with gritty funk grooves, driven by Mayfield's signature falsetto and masterful guitar work. Tracks like Freddy's Dead, Pusherman, and the title track combine infectious rhythms with sharp poetic lyricism that paints vivid pictures of street life, highlighting both its allure and its consequences. What sets the album apart is its duality. It works as a smooth, soulful listening experience while also delivering powerful social commentary. Mayfield's empathetic storytelling gives voice to people often ignored or misunderstood, making Superfly not just a soundtrack but a landmark statement in soul music and a defining piece of 1970s cultural history. Okay. Um, so this album uh was released on July 11th, 1972. Uh genres are Psychedelic Soul, Funk, Progressive Soul, Cinematic, and Cinematic Soul. The label was released on Kurtom Records and uh produced by Curtis Mayfield himself. And uh there are nine songs on the album, uh side one and side two, split uh four and and five. Uh so if you're listening along, which we do encourage you to do, uh, when you start the album, if you want to stop after the song Junkie Case, which is an instrumental track, um, and to hear the uh halfway discussion. All right, here we go. Here's the first song on the album. Uh it's called Little Uh Little Child Running Wild. So here we go. Okay, and ending side one with Junkie Chase. Yeah, this is a really uh this is a very lush um record. It's a very big and it's a very um it's sort of an epic uh funk soul album so far. Uh yeah, it's uh I'm I'm really enjoying it. Um it's gritty, but it's also the music is just uh is really enjoyable uh at the same time.
SPEAKER_03That's exactly right. Yeah, the subject matter is definitely gritty and a little depressing sometimes, but it's uh the uh it it's funky and it's and it's and it's lush and it's um Yeah. I I I'm kind of running out of words myself.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, no, it's it's um you know the the music is um interesting. I think of uh for a little bit we've been listening to albums where it's very much a a band recording. Um and this is not that. This is very much a a well put together pop album, and there's nothing wrong with that, uh obviously, but uh this is a very different sort of animal. This is a with the intention of making a record, not necessarily setting up a band in a studio and seeing what happens. It's very intentional. Um and it's very rather than capturing a performance, it's making a record making a record, making a recording. He's sort of piecing the whole thing together, and uh I mean that that's kind of what you need for a s a film soundtrack. I mean, I think that last track, uh Junkie Chase, was not so much a song, but but incidental music for the film. It was I've I haven't seen the film, uh, but I'm sure it was uh a part of the actual music that was in the film. So you kind of need to be more deliberate when you're working in that realm and creating background music for a movie. You can't you can't really just wing it uh when you're doing that. Um so I think it's it's cool to listen to and it's great music, and it's serving the purpose of being a literally a soundtrack for a film.
SPEAKER_03Yes. This is true. Um yeah, it's definitely more of a uh a commercial production, but that's not to knock it. That's to uh just sort of put in context of of how it was made. But uh yeah, it's it's just good funky music. It's it's very of its time for sure. Not too many soundtracks sound like that anymore. Yeah, the film would probably be sort of interesting. I haven't seen in the movie either. You know, enjoyable.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, the the the film, um obviously released in 1972 as well. Um it's uh a black exploitation film, which I don't quite know what that is. I kind of have a vague idea of what that is, uh but I know it was a genre mainly in the 70s, th there were sort of like uh I guess beam beef beam movies. Well not beam movies, but uh there was still a lot of segregation i in the 70s in terms of media and um and it's it's still you know there were even though technically you had there were still a lot of radio stations that would refuse to play uh uh black music, especially down in the southern United States. And um and movies were kind of that as well, and it's sort of like it was well, it was segregated. It was a segregated uh media. You had the mainstream media and you had and film in the seventies. F there the seventies was a revolutionary time for film. You had all of a sudden you had because uh like from the uh late nineteen fifties all the way till the late nineteen sixties, you really had m uh films that were um either like a cheesy sci-fi thing or mostly westerns. Westerns were huge in the late fifties up until like the late sixties, and I think by the time you got to the seventies uh people were just tired of seeing those kinds of movies. And they were hungry for something different. So in by the early 70s, you had films like The Godfather and you had uh like Mean Streets and lots of other m films like the the The French Connection. And you also had uh for the first time, even though it was segregated, you had black people who had uh all of a sudden were able to make films and had a voice. They had a uh they were able to to to show what was going on in in their world. And even though some of the the movies were kind of ridiculous and over the top, it it they finally felt like they had they were able to show the world this is what we have to say, and this was this is what this is what is going on, and this is what it's like to be us. And I think you had that and you had the music sort of um uh sort of running along with that as well. I think pop culture in general in the early 70s was uh was really taking a big swing in the opposite direction of where it had been.
SPEAKER_03I again I think it started in the late 60s, because again you think about Stanley Kubrick's stuff was that's what he was doing in the late sixties.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, well no, it definitely started in the late sixties, but by the early seventies it was like By the 70s it was in full full gear, yeah. I actually think that's about to happen again. Um you know, you have uh all the like all those uh like the superhero movies, the Marvel movies, and people are just tired of them. So I think a big change is about to happen. Um but anyway, that's a discussion for another time. But uh but yeah, like the for the the c putting this in the context of this, it it was an exciting time because it w it really was, even though the Western movies had sort of faded, it really was the Wild West in a way where it almost seemed like anybody, whether it was a filmmakers or or musicians, and I I've I mentioned this last week or maybe the week before, is that 1972, there's something about that year, and we've done a lot of albums from that year, and I don't know, and there are so many classic albums and films that came out in that year. I don't know why that year was so well.
SPEAKER_03I think it's just sort of like a stretch that we've been on. For some reason, it's been picking things from 72, but this period in general, for late 60s, early 70s, is just jam-packed with stuff. But yeah, 72 was no slouch of a year for sure.
SPEAKER_04Yeah. No, absolutely. Yeah, it's um yeah, it it just seemed like such a an exciting time to to be a creative person. Um and it seemed like the industry was willing to take a chance on um on young creative people. Yeah. I don't know what it was about that that that time period. But um But you know, getting back to this, I mean it was uh you know, the the stuff that he's talking about, like the gritty sort of I don't know if uh if uh I get New York, but I don't know if if uh the film takes place in New York, but that's kind of the image that I get. Could be. It could be in any major city in the States, really. Yeah, really. I mean that was kind of happening all over. Yeah, and it's it's uh like the music is is cool. I I think Curtis Mayfield is the one that invented that um that guitar with like the wahwa pedal and the muted like chucking on the strings. I think he kind of invented that sound uh that was all over the place in in 70s, like cop shows and and stuff like that. And I think he was the first one to to to to have that sound.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. Wasn't that um Shaft that started that?
SPEAKER_04Um I don't know. What was Shaft? Yeah, you're right. Shaft um Shaft was in 1971, and that was um Isaac Hayes that did that.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, so okay, so maybe it wasn't Curtis Mayfield that uh that invented that, but um But yeah, they they came up with that for uh for Shaft, and it's and uh you know, you hear it in Junkie Chase on this and and a few other spots that invented it. It's just very classic nineteen seventies chase music. It is, yeah.
SPEAKER_04And uh and yeah, you're right, you it is of its time, you definitely don't hear that in film soundtracks anymore. I kind of wish you would, but uh it's because it's cool. But yeah, I uh I am enjoying the the album and I I think the string arrangements are really interesting. Um it doesn't the string arrangements don't feel cheesy like a lot of what they forced a lot of black artists to do to make them make it uh like radio friendly. I don't feel that here. I feel like the string arrangements are well the l the like the fade out of the last uh song Junkie Chase, it didn't feel like the cheesy sort of pop strings. It felt like a honestly like a string quartet. Like you I it f it felt more um tangible in a way. Um like the the I don't know how else to describe it, but uh but I like I like the string arrangements um and uh and yeah, like it's it's just this big sort of wall of sound um that just sort of comes at you and it's it's pretty incredible. Um But I did manage to find a few uh interesting facts about the album. This is the album was recorded with near film score ambition at insane speed. Uh despite its lush cinematic sound, much of Superfly was recorded in just a few days with a massive ensemble, up to uh up to 40 musicians. Uh this wasn't typical for Soul Records at the time. Mayfield essentially treated the sessions like a film score, layering orchestration, rhythm, and atmosphere all at once. Uh that scale is a big reason the album feels so immersive compared to other funk records. It's closer to orchestral storytelling than standard RB production. So it it it it is an album recorded live off the floor. It's just a lot of musicians in the room at the same time, which is pretty cool.
SPEAKER_03Oh yeah, he he he had uh an orchestra in there and he had uh, you know, his band with the guitarist with the wa pedal, of course. Um but yeah, it's uh there there was definitely vision involved with this, but it was definitely uh, you know, it it it's definitely got the sound for something like this, even though it was one of the first because you know, there was probably hundreds that came after this one. But uh this uh you know, between Shaft and this, it pretty much laid the groundwork for what this type of movie would be and the soundtrack to it, and and and even influenced other funk albums along the way.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, no, absolutely. Um, and uh number two is Mayfield wrote much of it during a deeply personal low point. Uh he composed large portions of the album while living alone in a basement apartment during a separation from his family. Uh that isolation bleeds into the music. Songs like Freddy's Dead and Little Child Running Wild feels less like movie tie-ins and more like personal reflections on despair, survival, and s systemic struggle. And that is true. I mean, yes, it's a soundtrack to a film, but it's also important to remember that this is having not seen the film Superfly, I'm still enjoying the the album because uh the music stands on its own, and I probably will at some point watch the film, but I don't need to to enjoy the album. It feels like um I I don't know I I'm sure that songs like W Little Child Running Wild and and Pusher Man are similar themes to what's in the album, but it's or similar similar themes that's to what's in the film, but it's not it's not exactly what's in the film. So you the the the album and the film are sort of two separate entities that can be enjoyed independent of each other.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. Yeah, it's uh um yeah, the songs seem to be but they're very socially conscious. I don't know how socially conscious the movie was. Again, they called it a black exploitation film, so it's it might seem a little glorifying, but uh I don't know. I'd have to see the movie. I haven't seen the movie, so yeah.
SPEAKER_04That's true. Yeah. Yeah, and number three is uh the soundtrack openly openly contradicts the movie's message. Well there you go. Um the film Superfly has often been criticized for glamorizing drug dealing, but Mayfield's music does the opposite. Pusherman and Freddy's Dead portray addiction as tragic and uh cyclical. The title track subtly undercuts the cool image of the main character. Critics and historians often point out that the album acts as a moral counter-narrative to the film itself, making it far more socially pointed. It's one of the rare cases where a soundtrack is philosophically at odds with the movie it supports. That is odd.
SPEAKER_03Um but interesting.
SPEAKER_04Yeah. I wonder if it's a case, and this happens all the time, where the the the filmmaker has an intention for what the movie is, but people misunderstand it. Um like maybe the film I'd I I'm t to m to make an argument for the film, maybe that was the filmmaker's intention, but people took it to mean that they were trying to glorify it, but where in reality there was like no, they were just trying to tell a story and show you the what's really going on, but people took it as like uh the the the main character is like the hero. I mean that happens like with like TV shows like Breaking Bad and and and The Sopranos where the main character is actually the villain, but because it's the main character and people are so used to the main character being the hero, they kind of get confused. So I'm wondering if the filmmaker had an intention to not be glorifying that stuff, but people took it that way. It's entirely Possible, I'd have to see the movie. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. And number four is uh it's one of the only soundtracks that became bigger than its film. Superfly didn't just succeed, it outperformed the movie commercially and culturally. It hit number one on the Billboard 200, produced multiple hit singles like Freddy's Dead and the title track Superfly, and became a defining album of the 1970s. In many ways, the album replaced the film as a as the primary cultural artifact, which is extremely rare in film and music history. And number five is um Freddy's Dead was disqualified disqualified from the Oscars for a technicality. Uh even though it's one of the album's biggest songs, Freddy's Dead was ruled ineligible for an Academy Award because its lyrical version wasn't actually sung in the film. Only an instrumental version appears. It's a strange case where one of the most iconic soundtrack songs was ever was too detached from the film to qualify as a film song. Okay. Interesting. Yeah, the Oscars and the Academy, they have some weird rules of what counts and what doesn't count and Well, I kinda understand this one.
SPEAKER_03Like uh if if the theme actually had the lyrics to it, then it probably would have uh um it would have made more sense to to to include it. But uh because the lyrics are so different than the movie, apparently, um I can sort of see them feeling like, uh, this is a little detached. I don't know if we should do this. And and far be it for me to justify every, you know, um decision that uh an academy like that would make, because I find them mostly kinda well, especially these days, they're very clicky. Um they only really accept certain films to begin with from certain studios, I guess. Yeah, it's independent films seem to get regularly snubbed and it really has to push hard to to to get um recognized. But that's a completely other different tangent I could go on.
SPEAKER_04No, no, it's it's true. It's it's um yeah, they they but yeah, you're right. This that does make sense if if in their eyes the the lyrics to the song are totally detached from from the film, then it makes sense to uh to not include it. Um but yeah, so anyway, those are some uh interesting facts about the album. Uh but I guess we'll get back into the uh second side, and it starts with give m Give Me Your Love and in Brackett's love song. Um so here we go.
SPEAKER_01All right, and all the time.
SPEAKER_04Uh yeah, this is a really well done album. Um it's uh you know, it's kind of um I I wouldn't say all the songs sound the same, but they're kind of blending together in my mind. Uh, but they're like it's really well done. Um and yeah, you can tell that it was done with a lot of intention behind it. And uh it's it's uh yeah, I I'm I'm I'm I I can't really say too much bad about it. I mean it's um it's interesting, it's really easy to listen to, like it's really smooth, and uh yeah, I just I just really enjoyed it.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, it's a good album. Um it's uh I I find the juxtaposition between the album and the movie s sort of interesting. I'm very curious. Um but yeah, so far there's the the tracks are all really good on it, and and and and even though some of these tracks are clearly meant to be sort of background to the to what's going on on the uh on the screen, it it doesn't necessarily come off that way. Like even like uh think, which is uh Is that what that says? Yeah, think uh comes off as like uh well it's an instrumental. It's it's well done. I mean it's easy to listen to and and but but it's also interesting enough to listen to that you don't have to have it on in the background, you can actually you know listen to it with intent.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, no, I I agree. I agree. Yeah, it's it's uh it like and but you can have it on in the background and it was it would be great. The one criticism I would have about the album is not it's not about the music, but I think Junkie Chase would have made a a better opener for the album, sort of like an overture or something. Um I think that would have if if they had opened the album with that, I think it would just it's a good album on its own, but I think that just would have maybe just put it over the top, just made it just a little bit better, just to have that open the album, because it's that, you know, that 70s chase funk song and sort of that that would really get you in the mood to to the album and then uh and then the rest of the track order is fine. I just if they had moved that up to the the opening slot, I think that would have really made it uh I I th that was that would be the only thing I would change.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, I'm thinking they were maybe trying to uh you know avoid being too much of a stereotype by doing that. But then again, the the stereotype didn't really exist then, so who knows? Yeah, exactly. Yeah.
SPEAKER_04But yeah, no, other than that, I don't really have anything any other criticism, really. I mean, the music is great, um lyrically really interesting. Um, and you know, yeah, the fact that he wrote it and when he was kind of, you know, going through a separation from his wife or his family and you know, recorded relatively quickly and um it's amazing that he was able to pull it off and um and yeah, now I am curious to see the movie to see how how different it is from the uh from the soundtrack and whether it really is, you know, like a counterpoint to the to the soundtrack or the soundtrack is a counterpoint to the to the movie. Um and I'm curious to see what the the the thought process was behind each of them. I mean was did Curtis Mayfield's did he did he have access to the movie or was he just sort of was it just a vague outline? Was he deliberately trying to be contradictory to the movie? I mean I'm curious like so I'm this is sort of opened up a uh uh a rabbit hole for me, I think, for for this uh piece of media, the film and the soundtrack. So um but uh this might be a bit of a bit of a challenge, but what would be your three highlights on the album?
SPEAKER_03Um I think I pretty well figured out what my three favorites are on the album. As I was going through them, I I like to think of that. Um I'd say probably Freddy's Dead started start off with. Superfly's really good, but I also liked uh Give Me Your Love. I thought that was another really good track.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, those are those are really solid picks, yeah. Um I think for me I would probably go uh I'd probably go with Pusherman. Um I really yeah, I really enjoyed that. Um yeah, the to the title track Superfly, I would go with that as well. And um yeah, I think like I I think Gimme Your Love is a is a really good album or a really good song as well. So yeah, those would be uh those would be my picks. Um so I I think I know the answer, but would you listen to this album again?
SPEAKER_03I don't know how often I would put it on, but if I'm in the mood for some funk or something like that, some of these tracks definitely would wind up in my mix, but as a standalone album, yeah, I think I'd probably put it on, maybe.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, I would too. I you know, I'm yeah, it definitely is something that you have to be in the mood for. I don't know if I want to listen to it at at any point, uh like at any time. But uh yeah, if I'm in the mood for something smooth and funky, uh yeah, definitely, definitely put it on for sure. So, yeah, so I guess uh we'll end the episode there. I thank you so much for listening if you made it this far. Uh, we'd love to hear from you. If you want to uh drop us a line, go to uh polyphonicpress.com slash contact. And uh we would love to hear your thoughts on on our assessment of these albums and any feedback you want to give us. And uh if you wanna check us out on Patreon, uh join the community and and help us out, you can go to patreon.com slash polyphonic press. Lots of cool stuff there, like pick you can pick an album for review, um, get a shout-out during these episodes and uh get these episodes the day before they go live. And uh if you're if this is your first time listening, be sure to uh give us a follow and leave a rating and review on whatever podcast your podcast app you're listening on. And uh I think that just about does it. I'm Jeremy Boyd, I'm Jonathan Deck. Take it easy.