THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

719-Curtis Mayfield-Move On Up.

1971-Number 12 single.

Best Bit-At 3.58.’Master’ Henry Gibson (1942-2002) played those bongos, like they owed him money.

Curtis Lee Mayfield was born June 3rd, 1942, in Chicago, Illinois, United States, he died December 26th, 1999, from complications brought on by Type 2 Diabetes, he had to have his right leg amputated in 1998, due to diabetes.On August 13th, 1990 Mayfield became paralysed from the neck down, after stage lighting equipment fell on him at an outdoor concert at Wingate Field, New York.

Curtis Mayfield spent the majority of his music career highlighting the ‘civil rights movement,’of the late 1950’s, and 1960’s, and the plight of the under privileged. He had been a member of the American R&B/Soul/Gospel/Doo-Wop group The Impressions from 1958, until going solo in 1970. The civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr (1929-1968) named the Curtis Mayfield written ‘People Get Ready,’ recorded by The Impressions, as the unofficial anthem of the civil rights movement in America (see also best songs 195.)

‘Move On Up’ was taken from Mayfield’s first solo Album ‘Curtis,’ recorded in 1970. The songs message encourages listeners to strive for better, to get the most out of life, regardless of the obstacles in the way.

‘Bite your lip, and take a trip, though there maybe wet road ahead, and you cannot slip.’