''This Is My Country'' is an

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

by the

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun ''soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest attes ...

group the Impressions, released in 1968. It was their first album released on Curtis Mayfield's label,

Curtom Records Curtom Records was a record label started in 1968 by Curtis Mayfield and Impressions manager Eddie Thomas. The label's name was a combination of Mayfield's first name and Thomas' last name. Mayfield had previously made attempts at a record lab ...

Production

"Gone Away" was written by Mayfield,

Donny Hathaway Donny Edward Hathaway (October 1, 1945 – January 13, 1979) was an American soul singer, keyboardist, songwriter, and arranger whom ''Rolling Stone'' described as a "soul legend". His most popular songs include " The Ghetto", "This Christmas ...

, and Leroy Hutson. Hathaway also worked on "You Want Somebody Else".

Critical reception

The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cre ...

'' called the album inspiring and influential, writing that "even at its most syrupy, Mayfield gives his tunes elbow room, a muscular pulse, and an emotional complexity that's vengeful and redemptive all at once." In a retrospective article, ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'' called it one of the 20 best albums of 1968, writing that "Mayfield gave notice of his own black pride on the stirring title track on which he both celebrates and condemns the country that his people populate."

Track listing

All tracks composed by Curtis Mayfield; except where indicated #"They Don't Know" - 2:47 #"Stay Close to Me" - 2:03 #"I'm Loving Nothing" - 2:31 #"Loves Happening" - 3:07 #"Gone Away" (

, Mayfield, Leroy Hutson) - 3:41 #"You Want Somebody Else" ( Billy Griffin, Donny Hathaway) - 3:12 #"So Unusual" - 2:56 #"My Woman's Love" - 3:02 #"Fool for You" - 2:52 #"This Is My Country" - 2:48

Personnel

* Curtis Mayfield -

producer Producer or producers may refer to: Occupations *Producer (agriculture), a farm operator *A stakeholder of economic production *Film producer, supervises the making of films **Executive producer, contributes to a film's budget and usually does not ...

Charts

References

{{Authority control 1968 albums The Impressions albums Albums produced by Curtis Mayfield Charly Records albums Sunspot Records albums Curtom Records albums