"Freddie's Dead" is a song by Curtis Mayfield. It was the first single
from his 1972 soundtrack album for the film Super Fly. The single was
released before the Super Fly album, and before the film was in theaters.
The song laments the death of Fat Freddie, a character in the film who
is run over by a car. It peaked at #4 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100
and #2 on their R&B chart.
Like most of the music from the Super Fly album, "Freddie's Dead"
appears in the film only in an instrumental arrangement, without any lyrics.
The song's music is featured prominently in the film's opening sequence and
also recurs at several other points. The song was nominated for a Grammy
Award in the category Best Rhythm & Blues Song but lost to "Papa Was a
Rollin' Stone". "Freddie's Dead" was ruled ineligible for the Academy
Award for Best Original Song because its lyrics are not sung in the film.
Super Fly is the third studio album by American soul musician Curtis
Mayfield, released in July 1972 on Curtom Records. It was released as the
soundtrack for the Blaxploitation film of the same name. The film was
released on August 4, 1972. Widely considered a classic of 1970s soul and
funk music, Super Fly was an immediate hit. It's sales were bolstered by
two million-selling singles, "Freddie's Dead" and the title track. Super
Fly is one of the few soundtracks to out-gross the film it accompanied.
A Playlist of all HT Class of '73 Songs of the Day is available by clicking below:
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