People Get Ready! The Curtis Mayfield Story (1996)

Disguised as a Top 40 tunesmith, Mayfield — one of rock's first genuine auteurs — created music of lasting beauty and soulfulness, from his '60s hits with the Impressions (''Gypsy Woman,'' ''People Get Ready'') to his early-'70s Superfly soundtrack. Unfortunately, the three-CD box People Get Ready! The Curtis Mayfield Story is 90 minutes too long, meandering through Mayfield's anticlimactic post-Superfly years. MCA's 1992 set, which goes heavier on the Impressions material, lighter on the solo years, is a better buy. B-