Young-Holt Unlimited - Plays Super Fly (1973/2017)

The final Young-Holt Unlimited album captures their seamless transition into a new era of Chicago soul heralded by Curtis Mayfield's landmark Superfly score. A skilled and deeply funky interpretation of the emerging blaxploitation sound that sacrifices none of the group's signature groove, Plays Super Fly is the rare cash-in record with integrity and invention to spare. Only half of the album reprises Superfly material, most notably a percolating rendition of "Freddie's Dead" -- the remainder of the set casts Y-HU in dramatically different directions, including the loping original "Hey Pancho," a sweet but never saccharine cover of "Could It Be I'm Falling in Love" and a mind-boggling rendition of "Close to You" spotlighting Ken Chaney's future-forward electric piano.