Curtis Mayfield’s “Move On Up” is one of most recognizable and innovative Bboy jams from the Soul era, from one of its standard bearers and most accomplished musicians.
Nearly nine minutes in length, “Move On Up” is a living masterpiece that features all of the most exciting elements of the era, as well as the parts that would make up a Bboy smash in later years: Wild Latin percussion and horns sections at a tempo fit for a high-speed chase, plus the almighty break at the 4:00 mark, where Curtis launches off into space.
Even The Roots perform “Move On Up” in concert if you’re lucky enough to catch it.
For the Funky Disco heads, dig the 2001 track Curtis did with Bran Van 3000 (@bv3g), which featured Curtis singing the “Move On Up” hook over a lively Disco-esque beat:
And as an extra special added surprise treat, dig the African version of “Move On Up” by Angelique Kidjo (@angeliquekidjo):
The effect of “Move On Up”, even so many years later, can be heard through its many reinterpretations from musicians all over the world, including the softer version by Mark Eitzel.
Some background on Curtis Mayfield from Wikipedia:
Mayfield’s career began in 1956 when he joined The Roosters with Arthur and Richard Brooks and Jerry Butler. Two years later The Roosters, now including also Sam Gooden, became The Impressions.[4] The band had one big hit with “For Your Precious Love”. After Butler left the group and was replaced with Fred Cash, (a returning original Roosters member), Mayfield became lead singer, frequently composing for the band, starting with “Gypsy Woman”, a Top 20 Pop hit. Their hit “Amen,” (Top 10), an updated version of an old gospel tune, was included in the soundtrack of the 1963 MGM film Lilies of the Field, which starred Sidney Poitier. The Impressions reached the height of their popularity in the mid-to-late-’60s with a string of Mayfield compositions that included “Keep on Pushing,” “People Get Ready“, “It’s All Right” (Top 10), the uptempo “Talking about My Baby”(Top 20), “Woman’s Got Soul”, “Choice of Colors,”(Top 20), “Fool For You,” “This is My Country” and “Check Out Your Mind.” Mayfield had written much of the soundtrack of the civil rights movement in the early 1960s, but by the end of the decade he was a pioneering voice in theblack pride movement along with James Brown and Sly Stone. Mayfield’s “We’re a Winner“, a Number 1 soul hit which also reached the Billboard pop Top 20, became an anthem of the black power and black pride movements when it was released in late 1967,[5] much as his earlier “Keep on Pushing” (whose title is quoted in the lyrics of “We’re a Winner” and also in “Move On Up“) had been an anthem for Martin Luther King, Jr. and theCivil Rights Movement.[6]
