Roots
by Curtis Mayfield

Roots by Curtis Mayfield
Year: 1971
Release date: 1971-10-00
Overall rank: 4,591st   Overall chart history
Average Rating: 
78/100 (from 94 votes)
  Ratings distribution   Average rating history
Accolades:
Award Top albums of 1971 (78th)
Award Top albums of of the 1970s (748th)
Award Best albums of all time (4,591st)

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Curtis Mayfield bestography

Roots is ranked 3rd best out of 26 albums by Curtis Mayfield on BestEverAlbums.com.

The best album by Curtis Mayfield is Super Fly which is ranked number 550 in the list of all-time albums with a total rank score of 3,117.

Curtis Mayfield album bestography « Higher ranked (722nd)
Curtis
This album (4,591st)
Roots
Lower ranked (4,591st) »
Roots

(N.B. Bestographies include all albums by an artist (and their variations), but do not include albums ranked outside the top 100,000).

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Roots rankings

Roots rankings summary
Overall rank: 4,591st | 1970s rank: 748th | 1971 rank: 78th  Overall chart history
(Calculated from aggregate positions across 60,000 charts (2 million album rankings). (Last updated: 6 hours ago).

Roots collection

Roots ratings

Average Rating: 
78/100 (from 94 votes)
  Ratings distribution Help Average Rating = (n ÷ (n + m)) × av + (m ÷ (n + m)) × AV
where:
av = trimmed mean average rating an item has currently received.
n = number of ratings an item has currently received.
m = minimum number of ratings required for an item to appear in a 'top-rated' chart (currently 10).
AV = the site mean average rating.

Showing latest 5 ratings for this album.  | Show all 94 ratings for this album.

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RatingDate updatedMemberAlbum ratingsAvg. album rating
 
80/100
 !
05/06/2026 19:07 Jakor  Ratings distribution  5,43770/100
 
85/100
 !
03/06/2026 15:50 matterhornrider  Ratings distribution  5,11481/100
 
100/100
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01/28/2026 00:10 Devilwoac  Ratings distribution  1,39897/100
 
85/100
 !
01/22/2026 21:21 cicadelic  Ratings distribution  13,54273/100
 
75/100
 !
12/05/2025 04:54 Exist-en-ciel  Ratings distribution  15,35470/100

Rating metrics: Help Outliers can be removed when calculating a mean average to dampen the effects of ratings outside the normal distribution. This figure is provided as the trimmed mean. A high standard deviation can be legitimate, but can sometimes indicate 'gaming' is occurring. Consider a simplified example* of an item receiving ratings of 100, 50, & 0. The mean average rating would be 50. However, ratings of 55, 50 & 45 could also result in the same average. The second average might be more trusted because there is more consensus around a particular rating (a lower deviation).
(*In practice, some albums can have several thousand ratings)

This album is rated in the top 2% of all albums on BestEverAlbums.com. This album has a Bayesian average rating of 78.1/100, a mean average of 78.3/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 78.7/100. The standard deviation for this album is 10.4.


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Roots favourites

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Roots comments

Showing all 6 comments |
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Rating:  
90/100
From 06/29/2022 18:00 | #286806
Album Rating: 83.71
(586/7)

1.Get Down. 83
2.Keep On Keeping On. 83
3.Underground. 85
4.We Got To Have Peace. 96
5.Beautiful Brother Of Mine. 83
6.Now You're Gone. 84
7.Love To Keep You In My Mind. 72
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
80/100
I never was the biggest fan of the debut album by Mr. Mayfield, barring If there's a Hell Below and Move on Up (which are two of the greatest soul songs of all time). I always found the rest of the album to be cheesy and boring.

This album right here though, Curtis decided to take the opener of the first album (Hell Below), and make an entire album in the same style. This one is much darker and kicks much more ass. Not as good as Superfly, but if you're looking for some filthy sounding soul, this is where to start.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Stands a bit in the shadow of the two records it was released inbetween, but there’s tons of dope tunes on this one too. How is it not even in the top 10 000 here? Yall need some more love for good soul/funk like this.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
80/100
A soulful album a little different & softer than his debut Curtis but just as solid. Underground & We Got to Have Peace are great songs along with Get Down which makes this a must for soul fans.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
80/100
A heartfelt release by Mr. Mayfield. Not as poppy as his previous records but a good album.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
70/100
Not on par with Curtis or Superfly, but still much better than this ranking suggests.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 helpful | 0 unhelpful)

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