NOW DIG THIS

For Curtis Mayfield boxes, start with Rhino’s 1996 3CD People Get Ready. There’s also MCA’s Impressions heavy 2CD set The Anthology 1961-77 from ’92. For such an erudite man, books are a rarity – but the recent Traveling Soul: The Life Of Curtis Mayfield by his son Todd with Travis Atria (reviewed p115) is both affectionate and candid. DVDs are more populous with The Music And Message collecting 1965-73 performances plus later interviews, Chuck D giving perspective. There are on-stage DVDs of sets at Montreux, Ronnie Scott’s and in Germany from April 1990, just weeks before his accident.