Can't speak on T Ali. My impression is that Curtis, for all his virtues, was pretty derivative too. Tho I'm just an armchair musicologist. He just passed away, BTW.
mbs
Max, you are hitting on all cylinders today. Wonder why Tariq Ali did not delve into the Rolling Stones' great unacknowledged debt to Howling Wolf and Johnnie Lee Hooker. And let's put the focus where it belongs--Curtis Mayfield. rb