Roots (Curtis Mayfield album)
1971 studio album by Curtis Mayfield

Roots is the second studio album by American soul musician Curtis Mayfield, released in October 1971. Having received critical praise from a variety of publications, the album is regarded as not just one of Mayfield's best works but also as a classic release of the '70s soul era, with AllMusic critic Bruce Eder stating that "the album soars on some of the sweetest and most eloquent... soul sounds heard up to that time". The album peaked at No. 6 on Billboard's Top R&B Albums chart.
Track listing
Original release
All songs written and composed by Curtis Mayfield, except as noted.
"Get Down" – 5:45
"Keep On Keeping On" – 5:08
"Underground" – 5:15
"We Got to Have Peace" – 4:44
"Beautiful Brother of Mine" – 7:23
"Now You're Gone" (Mayfield, Joseph Scott) – 6:50
"Love to Keep You in My Mind" – 3:48
Bonus tracks
In 1999, Rhino Records re-released the album with four bonus tracks including a demo version of "Underground" and single edits for "Get Down", "We Got to Have Peace", and "Beautiful Brother of Mine".
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Attribution, date and provenance are strongest when supported by the original work, a catalogue record and documented transmission. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 22, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q7366623. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1971 and 1999.
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This entry incorporates text from “Roots (Curtis Mayfield album)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.