Curtis Mayfield - There's No Place Like America Today (1975)

"There's No Place Like America Today" is the seventh studio album by Curtis Mayfield, released in 1975 on Curtom Records. 

It peaked at number 120 on the Billboard 200 chart, as well as number 13 on the Soul LPs chart.

The title is intended in an ironic way, as illustrated not only by the cover -- a grim parody of late-'40s/early-'50s advertising imagery depicting white versus black social reality -- but the grim yet utterly catchy and haunting opening number, "Billy Jack." 

A song about gun violence that was years ahead of its time, it's scored to an incisive horn arrangement by Richard Tufo. 

"When Seasons Change" is a beautifully wrought account of the miseries of urban life that contains elements of both gospel and contemporary soul. The album's one big song, "So in Love," which made number 67 on the pop charts but was a Top Ten soul hit, is only the prettiest of a string of exquisite tracks on the album, including "Blue Monday People" and "Jesus" and the soaring finale, "Love to the People," broken up by the harder-edged "Hard Times." 

The album doesn't really have as clearly delineated a body of songs as Mayfield's earlier topical releases, but it's in the same league with his other work of the period and represents him near his prime as a composer.

The album cover was based on a 1937 monochrome photograph by Margaret Bourke-White, titled At the Time of the Louisville Flood, on which the advertising slogan was "There's No Way Like the American Way". 

The original photograph was published in the February 15, 1937 edition of Life magazine.

The album was featured in 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. In 2013, NME placed it at number 373 on the "500 Greatest Albums of All Time" list

Tracklist

1.  Billy Jack - 6:10

2.  When Seasons Change - 5:28

3.  So in Love - 5:15

4.  Jesus - 6:13

5.  Blue Monday People - 4:50

6.  Hard Times - 3:45

7.  Love to the People - 4:07

All tracks are written by Curtis Mayfield.

Personnel

Credits adapted from liner notes.

• Curtis Mayfield – vocals, guitar, keyboards, production
• Rich Tufo – keyboards, arrangement
• Gary Thompson – guitar
• Phil Upchurch – guitar
• Joseph "Lucky" Scott – bass guitar
• Quinton Joseph – drums
• Henry Gibson – percussion
• Harold Dessent - woodwinds

Companies, etc.

• Copyright © – Curtom Records, Inc.
• Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Warner Bros. Records Inc.
• Manufactured By – Warner Bros. Records Inc.
• Distributed By – Warner Bros. Records Inc.
• Published By – Mayfield Music
• Recorded At – Curtom Studios
• Pressed By – Columbia Records Pressing Plant, Santa Maria

Credits

• Arranged By – Rich Tufo
• Art Direction – Ed Thrasher
• Design – Lockart
• Engineer – Roger Anfinsen
• Illustration – Peter Palombi
• Lacquer Cut By – BH
• Management – Marv Stuart
• Producer, Written-By, Guitar, Keyboards – Curtis Mayfield

Notes

Released:  May 1975 

Recorded:  Studio Curtom Studios, Chicago, Illinois 

Genre:  Soul · funk

Length:  35:23 

Producer:  Curtis Mayfield 

Label - Curtom