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Curtis Mayfield

With a distinctive, highly recognizable tenor voice, an unparalleled catalog of enduring pop and soul classics and an honored place in the pantheon of American music, Curtis Mayfield is without question one of the most influential and beloved artist/songwriters of his time.

Born in Chicago in 1942, Mayfield absorbed the city's rich heritage of blues and gospel music and even before reaching his teen years he had formed his first group, The Alphatones. Later, renewing a childhood friendship with Jerry Butler, he formed a group with three others, brothers Arthur and Richard Brooks and Sam Gooden, all from Tennessee. First called The Roosters the band was soon re-christened The Impressions, who recorded a breakthrough hit, "For Your Precious Love," in 1958, one of what was to become an almost endless string of Mayfield hit songs to hit high positions on the record charts.

Following Butler's departure for a solo career in 1959, Mayfield re-formed The Impressions with Sam Gooden and newcomer Fred Cash, and almost immediately landed a contract with ABC Paramount Records. Within a year, Mayfield's song, "Gypsy Woman," reached the top 20 on the charts. The group scored another success with Mayfield's "It's All Right" in 1963, while simultaneously Mayfield was also discharging his new duties at the Columbia Records affiliate Okeh Records, as staff producer. While on this assignment, he was associated with recordings by such stars to be as Major Lance, Gene Chandler, Jan Bradley and Walter Jackson, among others. The Impressions, meanwhile, continued to record Mayfield songs into major hits with such titles as "Talking About My Baby," "I'm So Proud," "Keep On Pushing," "You Must Believe Me," "Amen," "Woman's Got Soul" and the immortal "People Get Ready."

During the late '60s, while continuing at a breakneck pace with his music creativity, Mayfield began to develop an interest in social and political issues of that moment, contributing such songs as "We're a Winner," a tome to black power and pride which became controversial enough to be banned by a number of pop radio stations.

In 1967, Mayfield co-founded Curtom records, and in 1970 he launched a solo recording career. His first album,”Curtis,” containing such Mayfield classics to be as "Move On Up," and "(Don't Worry) If There's a Hell Down Below, We're All Going To Go," reached the top 20 on the charts and was soon followed within the year by “Curtis Live” in 1971.

Later, Mayfield again scored by writing, producing and recording “Superfly”one of the outstanding albums of the 1970’s. Decrying violence and drug use depicted in the film, "Superfly" combined Mayfield's proven music skills with a powerful social consciousness in such hits as the title track for the film and "Freddie's Dead," both certified million-sellers. The album itself spent four weeks at the number one position on the charts.

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Music and the Creative Spirit

Curtis Mayfield: After the Rain

Read "Curtis Mayfield: After the Rain" reviewed by Lloyd N. Peterson Jr.


Throughout the passageways of my youth, perhaps no other voice was as critically important. When I questioned my own existence in a predominantly white school and community, it was his voice and music that carried me through. During my saddest and most vulnerable moments, he filled me with hope and the strength to face another day. When I was locked inside the torments of my own mind, he would free me from the shackles of despair. The Reverend Andrew Young ...

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Music Industry

Jazz Soul Seven: Curtis Mayfield

Jazz Soul Seven: Curtis Mayfield

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers

Singer-songwriter and guitarist Curtis Mayfield (1942-1999) isn't nearly as well known today as he should be. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Mayfield, like Sly Stone, leveraged the assertive music and messages of James Brown—whose Say It Loud (I'm Black and I'm Proud in 1968 launched a socially conscious soul music revolution.  After leaving the Impressions in 1970, Mayfield wrote sweeping and critical orchestral works that were developed for LP rather than the singles market. Starting with the album ...

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Recording

Jazz Soul Seven Release "Impressions of Curtis Mayfield" on BFM Jazz

Jazz Soul Seven Release "Impressions of Curtis Mayfield" on BFM Jazz

Source: Two for the Show Media

Curtis Mayfield ranks among the most important and influential artists of the past century, the definition of soul both as leader of the Impressions and as a solo artist. As a singer and musician, his pure tone melted hearts and as a songwriter, he was peerless, a voice of African-American pride as well as a man whose insights into the ways of the heart spoke to generations. Mayfield's impact on artists of all persuasions is incalculable, and jazz musicians have ...

190

Recording

William Parker - I Plan to Stay a Believer: The Inside Songs of Curtis Mayfield (2010)

William Parker - I Plan to Stay a Believer: The Inside Songs of Curtis Mayfield (2010)

Source: Something Else!

By Pico When we last visited the music of the brilliant bassist and composer William Parker three years ago, he was putting his poetry to his music on Corn Meal Dance. Yesterday, he introduced a new album that again revolves around poetry but this time it's based on the poetic music of Curtis Mayfield. I Plan To Stay A Believer: The Inside Songs Of Curtis Mayfield is a live compilation of Mayfield songs Parker and his band had performed in ...

138

Recording

One Track Mind: Curtis Mayfield "Freddie's Dead" (1972)

One Track Mind: Curtis Mayfield "Freddie's Dead" (1972)

Source: Something Else!

By PicoAs the sixties turned into the seventies, soul, like rock, got tougher and edgier. In 1971 alone, Sly Stone's There's A Riot Goin' On, Marvin Gaye's What's Going On and Gil Scott-Heron's Pieces Of A Man raised the stakes in R&B that was serious, far-reaching and influential to several generations. Others like the Temptations, Donny Hathaway, Isaac Hayes, James Brown and later on, Stevie Wonder, also raised social consciousness or at the least moved away from strictly ...

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