music & lyrics by curtis mayfield

been on a minor gladys knight kick for about a minute, mainly due to her appearance on 30 rock last week, & specifically her 1974 soundtrack to the diahann carroll/james earl jones flick, claudine...the album was written & produced by curtis mayfield, who during the decade manufactured a whopping six soundtracks in addition to ten solo albums & two live records...all of which are pretty great by the way...i wouldn't rank claudine as my favorite when it comes to his soundtracks (that would probably be let's do it again or superfly) but it's still a solid record...in fact, instead of ranking them at all, i'll just post a couple tracks from each, & let you guys decide.

superfly (1972)
download: curtis mayfield - freddie's dead
download: curtis mayfield - give me your love

claudine (1974)
download: gladys knight & the pips - mr. welfare man
download: gladys knight & the pips - on and on

let's do it again (1975)
download: the staples singers - let's do it again
download: the staples singers - new orleans

sparkle (1976)
download: aretha franklin - sparkle
download: aretha franklin - jump

a piece of the action (1977)
download: mavis staples - chocolate city
download: mavis staples - a piece of the action

short eyes (1977)
download: curtis mayfield - do do wap is strong in here
donwload: curtis mayfield - short eyes/freak freak free free free

related: thought i'd use this soundtrack post as a lame excuse to run off another couple lists...my favorite movies of 2007 & my favorite movie performances of 2007...i'm beginning to realize that no one really cares what i think about this stuff, but i like doing it...i haven't seen everything (into the wild, the diving bell & the butterfly, atonement), but i've seen enough to feel comfortable with my picks...if you want, you can check out what i thought i'd like back in september...& then check out captain obvious's picks for 2008.

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movies

01. zodiac
02. no country for old men
03. michael clayton
04. juno
05. there will be blood
06. no end in sight
07. the ten
08. the darjeeling limited
09. gone baby gone
10. the bourne ultimatum

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performances
01. daniel day lewis (there will be blood)
02. philip seymour hoffman (before the devil knows you're dead)
03. ellen page (juno)
04. josh brolin (no country for old men)
05. javier bardem (no country for old men)
06. tilda swinton (micheal clayton)
07. gordin pinsent (away from her)
08. cate blanchett (i'm not there)
09. viggo mortenson (eastern promises)
10. jason segal (knocked up)