5 Stairsteps & Cubie: "Love's Happening"

Beautiful windy city soul by this young singing group, who would hit it big a couple of years later with the song “O-o-h Child.”  Curtis Mayfield produced this LP, and the same sound that he was crafting for the later Impressions material is in full effect here, including a redone version of the title track, which first appeared on the Impressions’ “This Is My Country.”  The 5 Stairsteps, led by their father Clarence Burke, Sr., aren’t the seasoned singers that the Impressions were—their ages ranging from 3 (that’s Cubie!) to 18—but they make up for it with raw, youthful enthusiasm and passion.  Mayfield also contributes some peculiar production touches, especially on the cover of “Love’s Happening,” which begins and ends with some trippy early synth effects.  Other gems are the strolling “Don’t Change Your Love” (with break-beat intro), the swinging “Stay Close To Me,” and the lovely, elevating “I’m The One Who Loves You.”  Every track on this LP, actually, is quality.  Further evidence not only of the genius of Curtis Mayfield (as if any further evidence was necessary), but also that the amount of explosive talent emerging from the late ‘60’s/early ‘70’s Chicago soul scene was endlessly vast.