CURTIS MAYFIELD - "BACK TO THE WORLD"

Artist: Curtis Mayfield
Album: Back To the World
Label: Curtom
Catalog: CRS 8015
Year: 1973
Designer: Glen Christensen
Artist: Gary Wolhowitz
Photographer: unknown
Grade: **** stars



I've been a big Curtis Mayfield fan since I was a child and probably would have bought 1973's "Back To the World"  simply for the stunning Gary Wolhowitz silk screen cover.  (The fact it's a classic Mayfield release with some of his most appealing songs was simply icing on the cake.)  Anyhow, back to the cover - I've seldom seen anything that screams '70s with such vibrancy as Wolhowitz's collage cover.  The bright colors; the super-imposed images of young African American children; military veterans, weapons systems, and political symbols all made for a stunning showcase of the country's promise and shortcomings.  Taken as a whole, you could literally spend hours absorbing the cover.  Forty years later and so much has changed and yes so little has changed ...

I'd love to know how the Mayfield-Wolhowitz collaboration came to be ...