This Is My Country (The Impressions album)
{{Infobox album
| name = This Is My Country
| type = Album
| artist = The Impressions
| cover = Thisismycountry.jpg
| alt =
| released = November 1968
| recorded =
| venue =
| studio =
| genre = Chicago soul{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Y5uyLgEfk34C&pg=PT146|title=Higher Ground: Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin, Curtis Mayfield, and the Rise and Fall of American Soul|first=Craig|last=Werner|date=December 18, 2007|publisher=Crown|via=Google Books}}
| length = 29:13
| label = Curtom{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=plDUDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA322|title=Goldmine Record Album Price Guide|first=Dave|last=Thompson|date=December 11, 2018|publisher=Penguin|via=Google Books}}
| producer = Curtis Mayfield
| prev_title = We're a Winner
| prev_year = 1968
| next_title = The Versatile Impressions
| next_year = 1969
}}
{{Album reviews
|rev1 = AllMusic
|rev1score = {{Rating|4.5|5}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/this-is-my-country-mw0000327762|title=This Is My Country - The Impressions | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic|via=www.allmusic.com}}
|rev2 = The Encyclopedia of Popular Music
|rev2score = {{rating|3|5}}{{cite book |last1=Larkin |first1=Colin |title=The Encyclopedia of Popular Music |date=2006 |publisher=MUZE |volume=4 |page=464}}
}}
This Is My Country is an album by the soul group the Impressions, released in 1968.{{Cite web|url=https://www.austinchronicle.com/daily/music/2008-05-05/619764/|title=Lasting Impressions|website=www.austinchronicle.com}}{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wlkPwgC_bgwC&pg=PA58|title=Music and Protest in 1968|first1=Beate|last1=Kutschke|first2=Barley|last2=Norton|date=April 25, 2013|publisher=Cambridge University Press|via=Google Books}} It was their first album released on Curtis Mayfield's label, Curtom Records.
Production
"Gone Away" was written by Mayfield, Donny Hathaway, and Leroy Hutson.{{Cite web|url=https://www.waxpoetics.com/rediscovery/roberta-flack-gone-away/|title=Roberta Flack: Gone Away|website=wax-poetics}} Hathaway also worked on "You Want Somebody Else".
Critical reception
The A.V. Club 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."{{cite web |title=The Impressions: This Is My Country |url=https://www.avclub.com/the-impressions-this-is-my-country-1798212467 |website=The A.V. Club |access-date=8 May 2021}} In a retrospective article, The Independent 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."{{Cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/best-songs-1968-albums-the-beatles-rolling-stones-van-morrison-jimi-hendrix-a8323406.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220507/https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/best-songs-1968-albums-the-beatles-rolling-stones-van-morrison-jimi-hendrix-a8323406.html |archive-date=2022-05-07 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Playlist: The 20 best albums from 1968|date=August 13, 2018|website=The Independent}}{{cbignore}}
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" (Donny Hathaway, 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
Charts
| class="wikitable"
!Year !Chart !Peak position |
| rowspan="2"|1969
|R&B & Soul Albums |align="center"|5 |
| Pop Albums
|align="center"|107{{cite book |last1=Whitburn |first1=Joel |title=Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Albums, 1955-2001 |date=2001 |publisher=Record Research |page=402}} |
References
{{reflist}}
{{The Impressions}}
{{Authority control}}
Category:The Impressions albums
Category:Albums produced by Curtis Mayfield
Category:Charly Records albums