''Roots'' is

Curtis Mayfield Curtis Lee Mayfield (June 3, 1942 – December 26, 1999) was an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer. Dubbed the " Gentle Genius", he is considered one of the most influential musicians of soul and socially conscious Afric ...

’s second studio album, released in October 1971. Having received critical praise from a variety of publications, the album is regarded as not just one of Mayfield's best works but also as a classic release of the '70s

soul The soul is the purported Mind–body dualism, immaterial aspect or essence of a Outline of life forms, living being. It is typically believed to be Immortality, immortal and to exist apart from the material world. The three main theories that ...

era, with

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

critic Bruce Eder stating that "the album soars on some of the sweetest and most eloquent... soul sounds heard up to that time". The album became a commercial success as well, hitting the #6 slot on Billboard's Top R&B Albums chart.

Track listing

Original release

All songs written and composed by

, except as noted. #"Get Down" – 5:45 #"Keep On Keeping On" – 5:08 #"Underground" – 5:15 #"We Got to Have Peace" – 4:44 #"Beautiful Brother of Mine" – 7:23 #"Now You're Gone" (Mayfield, Joseph Scott) – 6:50 #"Love to Keep You in My Mind" – 3:48

Bonus tracks

In 1999,

Rhino Records A rhinoceros ( ; ; ; : rhinoceros or rhinoceroses), commonly abbreviated to rhino, is a member of any of the five extant taxon, extant species (or numerous extinct species) of odd-toed ungulates (perissodactyls) in the family (biology), famil ...

re-released the album with four bonus tracks including a demo version of "Underground" and single edits for "Get Down', "We Got to Have Peace" and "Beautiful Brother of Mine". # "Underground" emo version– 3:17 # "Get Down" ingle edit– 3:55 # "We Got to Have Peace" ingle edit– 3:39 # "Beautiful Brother of Mine" ingle edit– 3:09

Personnel

*Curtis Mayfield - vocals, guitar *Craig McMullen - guitar * Joseph "Lucky" Scott - bass *Tyrone McCullen - drums *

Henry Gibson James Bateman (September 21, 1935 – September 14, 2009), known professionally as Henry Gibson, was an American actor, comedian and poet. He played roles in the television sketch-comedy series ''Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In'' from 1968 to 1971, w ...

- percussion *

Leroy Hutson Leroy Hutson (born June 4, 1945) is an American soul and R&B singer, songwriter, arranger, producer and instrumentalist, best known as former lead singer of R&B vocal group The Impressions. His music concerns 1970s soul, as noted in the June ...

, Michael Hawkins - background vocals * Johnny Pate, Riley Hampton - arrangements

Chart positions

References

1971 albums Curtis Mayfield albums Albums arranged by Johnny Pate Albums produced by Curtis Mayfield Curtom Records albums Progressive soul albums {{1970s-R&B-album-stub