Roots
by Curtis Mayfield

Roots by Curtis Mayfield
Year: 1971
Overall rank: 4,488th   
Average Rating: 
78/100 (from 93 votes)
     
Accolades:
Award Top albums of 1971 (77th)
Award Top albums of the 1970s (749th)
Award Best albums of all time (4,488th)

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Product Details
Availability

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Curtis Mayfield - Roots Vinyl LP - 1971 First Press - Curtom CRS 8009
Condition: Used


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Curtis Mayfield Roots Sealed 1971 Pressing With Calendar Curtom CRS 8009 Vinyl
Condition: Used


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Curtis Mayfield - Roots **BRAND NEW / SEALED** Gatefold Vinyl LP Impressions
Condition: New


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Curtis Mayfield bestography

Roots is ranked 3rd best out of 25 albums by Curtis Mayfield on BestEverAlbums.com.

The best album by Curtis Mayfield is Super Fly which is ranked number 543 in the list of all-time albums with a total rank score of 3,212.

Curtis Mayfield album bestography « Higher ranked (4,488th)
Roots
This album (4,488th)
Roots
Lower ranked (7,281st) »
There's No Place Like America Today

(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 track list

   The tracks on this album have an average rating of 81 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).

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1.
Average Rating: 84 (32 votes)Comments: View 0
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2.
Average Rating: 81 (27 votes)Comments: View 0
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3.
Average Rating: 83 (29 votes)Comments: View 1
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Average Rating: 83 (30 votes)Comments: View 0
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6.
Average Rating: 80 (22 votes)Comments: View 0
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Roots rankings

Rankings summary
Overall rank: 4,488th | 1970s rank: 749th | 1971 rank: 77th

Roots collection

Roots ratings

Average Rating: 
78/100 (from 93 votes)
   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 93 ratings for this album.

Sort by
RatingDate updatedMemberAlbum ratingsAvg. album rating
 
85/100
 !
4 days ago cicadelic   11,72173/100
 
75/100
 !
12/05/2025 04:54 Exist-en-ciel   7,25170/100
 
100/100
 !
10/03/2025 13:38 MarkusKosmo   60685/100
 
40/100
 !
09/05/2025 22:31 Proto   3,95033/100
 
90/100
 !
05/05/2025 03:59 stangetzaway   2,17485/100

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 77.8/100, a mean average of 78.0/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 78.4/100. The standard deviation for this album is 10.2.

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Roots favourites

Showing all 9 members who have added this album as a favourite

Roots comments

Showing all 5 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
From 04/22/2021 20:29 | #268901
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)
Rating:  
80/100
From 07/10/2016 13:24 | #171008
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
From 04/26/2016 10:38 | #164575
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
From 01/20/2015 03:56 | #132006
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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Best Albums of 1971
1. Untitled (Led Zeppelin IV) by Led Zeppelin
2. Who's Next by The Who
3. Hunky Dory by David Bowie
4. What's Going On by Marvin Gaye
5. Sticky Fingers by The Rolling Stones
6. Blue by Joni Mitchell
7. Tago Mago by Can
8. Meddle by Pink Floyd
9. L.A. Woman by The Doors
10. Tapestry by Carole King
11. Fragile by Yes
12. Bryter Layter by Nick Drake
13. Master Of Reality by Black Sabbath
14. Aqualung by Jethro Tull
15. Ram by Paul & Linda McCartney
16. Electric Warrior by T. Rex
17. Imagine by John Lennon
18. Maggot Brain by Funkadelic
19. There's A Riot Goin' On by Sly & The Family Stone
20. At Fillmore East by The Allman Brothers Band
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