super fly

Charly

The way the story goes, Curtis Mayfield was concerned when he saw rushes for the 1972 film for which he was writing songs. The former frontman of spiritual R&B-soul troupe The Impressions wondered if this tale of a drug pusher’s lifestyle and desire to get free could be a “cocaine infomercial” – half spoken lines, half white lines. His solution was perfect: instead of merely scoring director Gordon Parks Jr.’s movie, Mayfield counterpointed it, complicated it.

On all fronts, the pay-off was a hit: critically, commercially, dramatically. Graceful, funky, lived-in and landed with narrative know-how, Mayfield’s songs deepened the film ethically and enriched it character-wise, all while sounding out crucial bass notes of empathy and understanding.

The proof resonates on ‘Little Child Runnin’ Wild’, where sweet organs, spry congas and funky guitars back a poignant, richly told tale of a neglected child growing up to become a “Pusherman”. This ominous figure dominates epic story-song ‘Pusherman’, though Mayfield never rains judgement from outside: his supremely insinuating vocal inhabits

the character, painting a character study with wracked complexity.

Even on the overtly cautionary ‘Freddie’s Dead’, Mayfield reached out wide to listeners, deploying swish strings and wah-wah guitars to underpin his eloquent phrasing: “We can deal with rockets and dreams / But, reality – what does it mean?” he asks, picking up the socially aware baton of Marvin Gaye’s What’s Going On. These threads filter into ‘No Thing On Me (Cocaine Song)’, whose warning (“Playing fantasy / You have no reality”) resonates amid a triumphalist melody.

Elsewhere, big-band instrumentals showcase Mayfield and Johnny Pate’s sophisticated arrangements; ‘Give Me Your Love’ mounts a shivery cometo-bed symphony; and ‘Eddie You Should Know Better’ brims with drama. All strands converge miraculously on the title track, an infectious model of concision that never once compromises Mayfield’s questioning conscience. “The aim of his role was to move a lot of blow,” he sings, before landing the key question: “What does it mean? He wouldn’t know.”

Preceded by albums such as What’s Going On and films such as Shaft, Mayfield’s album meant plenty to its post-civil rights moment, and to future generations. ‘Freddie’s Dead’ and ‘Superfly’ were huge hits, while artists from Ice-T to Chuck D channelled its influence. For Director X’s 2018 remake (see review, p48), Atlanta MC Future curated an all-star soundtrack lineup instead of trying to match Mayfield. The original Super Fly contains multitudes: its strokes of funk-fiction genius could not be repeated, much less bettered. Kevin Harley