Curtis Mayfield was a genius.

One thing I’m going to get more into when I discuss the seventies is that, despite my alternative rock background, I love R&B of the seventies.  With that fact out of the way, it was only natural that Curtis Mayfield’s masterpiece Superfly would be one of the last albums I listened to before recently relocating to the Midwest.  Already after just starting to go through his discography, “Freddie’s Dead” has become one of my favorite R&B songs of the decade.  It’s so despondent, so emphatic in its call for greater protection of African Americans, all powered by one of the greatest keyboard riffs of the decade. And just like on “Freddie’s Dead,” the tense soul of “Little Child Runnin’ Wild” and “Don’t Worry (If There’s A Hell Below, Then We’re All Gonna Go)” was just cinematic in its execution, so powerful in its vision of Black America.

Before all that, Curtis was a singer in The Impressions, a soul group from the period where doo-wop began to morph into Motown soul.  Unlike the cataclysmic blaxploitation music he would become best known for, The Impressions were a trio that focused on feel-good tunes and pure optimism. Obvious as it may sound, true to the group’s name, they made a good first impression.

“It’s All Right” – The Impressions

#4 peak
#10 year-end

It may sound baffling to you since we’re three songs into this countdown, but when I initially put this list together in 2021, “It’s All Right” was the main song I considered chopping off the main list for “Ring Of Fire.”  But I couldn’t.  I just couldn’t because even though this song is really simple musically and lyrically compared to what Mayfield turned out as a solo artist, “It’s All Right” is just two and a half minutes of positive vibes.  

Musically, compared to the sprawling blaxploitation songs Mayfield is best known for, “It’s All Right” is very simple.  It consists of three staccato chords for the vast majority of the song: C#, F#, and G#.  The horns give us a simple but very groovy intro when the song begins, then have some effective blasts for the bridge.  And unlike the urban, drug, and race problems discussed on Superfly, “It’s All Right” is just about being happy.  The chorus to the song consists of:

It’s all right
Say, it’s all right
It’s all right, have a good time
‘Cause it’s all right, whoa, it’s all right

Things are good. Spend some time doing something you like because things is good. Not exactly Shakesphere, I would say.

But you know what?  Sometimes all we need is something positive.  That’s all this song is doing: spreading positivity, with some tight instrumentation to boot.  The unsung hero to this song may not even be Mayfield, but session drummer Al Duncan, whose deceptive 12/8 rhythm behind the basic 4/4 beat adds the level of complexity Mayfield would eventually be best known for. And then we get to the bridge, which is probably what allowed this song to stay in the top ten.  The three Impressions and their voices reach great elevation at the “Someday I’ll find me a woman” lyric, meaning that we’ve reached a climax of optimism after a minute straight of positivity.  While the group alternates between group harmonies and Mayfield singing solo, here we reach the point that I’m pretty sure The Impressions were getting at.  Happiness is best when shared.

The song ends with Mayfield singing to us, “Everybody clap your hands, now give yourself a chance,” and everyone starts doing just that.  “It’s All Right” succeeds in telling us all that everything will be alright not just because of the message, but because of the truly soulful vocals and vibrant positivity that radiates from them as well as the instrumentation. While Mayfield would be heading off to bigger and better things as both a performer and producer, “It’s All Right” showed a glimpse of what he would become.

SOURCES

Williams, Richard. “The Story Of Al Duncan.” thebluemoment.com 23 March 2018. WordPress. Web. 8 June 2022 https://thebluemoment.com/2018/03/23/the-story-of-al-duncan/.

Chords from AZChords: https://www.azchords.com/i/impressions-tabs-5219/itsallright-tabs-182447.html.

IMAGE SOURCES

Single cover from Amazon

Image of The Impressions from Jazz Music Archives