9 Curtis Mayfield New World Order WARNER BROS 1996 £5

You Say: “Wouldn’t know his physical limitations unless you were told.” Stephen Hofman, MOJO Facebook

Following the terrible accident of August 1990, which left Curtis paralysed from the neck down, he was unable to play guitar but still strong in mind and determined to write and record. Thus this wonderful and unexpected comeback album of hope, courage and renewal. Despite the challenges faced in recording – laying on his back in the Atlanta studios, singing one painstaking line at a time – New World Order is an immediate and organic piece of work with his original new material as melodically strong and lyrically wise as ever. Guests Mavis Staples and Aretha Franklin crowd in to support, but this was Curtis’s show, a valediction, and a triumphant close to the end of a rich working life.