curtis

Curtis Mayfield kept on pushin' through to a feeling darker than blue in this socially conscious psychedelic soul symphony.     After a dozen albums (The Impressions in 1963,  The Never Ending Impressions  and  Keep on Pushing in 1964,  People Get Ready  and  One by One  in 1965,  Ridin' High in 1966,  The Fabulous Impressions in 1967,  We're a Winner  and  This Is My Country in 1968,  The Versatile Impressions  and  The Young Mods' Forgotten Story  in 1969,  and  Check Out Your Mind! in 1970) with The Impressions, Mayfield was ready to cut a new path to satisfy “a feeling in me that there need to be songs that relate not so much to civil rights but to the way we as all people deal with our lives.”   

He had formed Curtom Records in 1968 with the manager of The Impressions Eddie Thomas, which became one of the first record labels owned by an African-American recording artist.  Mayfield would express:   "I was always in search of knowing how I might own as much of myself as possible,  I had heard stories of guys selling songs for twenty-five dollars; [music] publishers were hitting the lottery off of people’s material. Of course, what was considered Black money was a Cadillac and $2,500 in fives, tens, and twenties. Nigger rich. When I started recording, I saw very few people who owned themselves. There were so many fights with record companies. They couldn’t understand it. ‘He wants his publishing!’ they would say to each other. Like it wasn’t mine to have."

His solo debut 'Curtis' was produced by Mayfield at at RCA Studios in Chicago with co-producers Riley Hampton and Gary Slabo and engineers  R.J. Anfinson and Tom Flye.   The sessions featured musicians Leonard Druss, John Howell, Harold Lepp, Loren Binford, Clifford Davis, Patrick Ferreri, Richard Single, Rudolph Stauber, Donald Simmons, Robert Lewis, Harold Dessent, Ronald Kolber, Harold Klatz, John Ross, Sol Bobrob, Sam Heiman, Elliot Golub, Henry Gibson, Robert Sims, Gary Slabo, and Philip Upchurch.  

'Curtis' moved on up to number thirty in the UK, nineteen on the US popular album chart, and number one on the US R&B album chart.   Mayfield explained:   "I would get most of my ideas from meditations or by the laughter and happiness of the moment, or just good down-to-earth, one-on-one conversation...All the hurt and reflecting on life, that also went into the songs. Whatever you’re feeling, whatever your moods, whatever you were trying, whatever you had observed, whatever made you laugh—all of that was inspiration for my songs....There were some things I long wanted to do, but they were out of the category of what was expected of me and the Impressions...When I got off in the Curtis album, it allowed me to be more personal for myself....Music was changing so much, it was the ’70s, and there was a new freedom to the music.  People like Isaac Hayes, Gamble and Huff, and myself were trying to get away from just R&B as we looked upon it; we wanted to be freer. When I first started making music in 1958, a song was two minutes and forty-five seconds at the longest. As time went on, FM radio and flower power happened; people got into smoking herb...I wasn’t dropping acid, but I guess it’s safe for me to say that I too smoked herb.  It was no big deal. I didn’t do nothing until I was twenty-seven years old, and smoking herb didn’t seem like a heavy cost to pay to cure my curiosity.”





http://www.curtismayfield.com/





"Move On Up" charted at number twelve in the UK
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PpD8FpGpBjE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Z66wVo7uNw





"(Don't Worry) If There's a Hell Below, We're All Going to Go"  
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X_ebdER-Egk




'Curtis' 
full album:


All songs written and composed by Curtis Mayfield.

Side one
1. "(Don't Worry) If There's a Hell Below, We're All Going to Go"   7:50
2. "The Other Side of Town"   4:01
3. "The Makings of You"   3:43
4. "We People Who Are Darker Than Blue"   6:05
Side two
5. "Move On Up"   8:45
6. "Miss Black America"   2:53
7. "Wild and Free"   3:16
8. "Give It Up"   3:49

people get ready

Curtis Mayfield and the Impressions captured the spirit of the times with the transcendent optimism of this gospel deliverance.  The group had started in Chicago as the Roosters with Jerry Butler, Curtis Mayfield, Sam Gooden, and brothers Richard and Arthur Brooks.  They changed their name to Jerry Butler & the Impressions and signed a deal with Vee-Jay Records, scoring hits with "For Your Precious Love" and "Come Back My Love", Butler went solo and Fred Cash came in to fill the gap.   "Gypsy Woman" became their biggest hit yet; but when they had trouble following it up, the Brooks brothers called it quits. 

The remaining trio of Gooden, Cash, and Mayfield signed with ABC-Paramount and had their biggest hit with "It's All Right".  With their sweet harmonies and swinging rhythms, the group had established themselves as soul pioneers on their self titled debut and 'Keep On Pushing'.  Producer Johnny Pate created a rich sonic backdrop for the increasingly socially conscious lyrics of songwriter Mayfield.  

Their fourth album, 'People Get Ready' went to number twenty-three on the pop album chart and number one on the R&B chart.  




http://www.curtismayfield.com/

http://www.the-impressions.com/




Inspired by the 1963 march on Washington, "People Get Ready" became an anthem for the Civil Rights Movement and their most enduring song.  It went to number fourteen on the pop singles chart and number three on the R&B chart.  Mayfield would reflect:   “While I had written a few Gospel songs, what would be looked upon as Gospel, I called them more inspirational, such things as ‘People Get Ready, This is a perfect example of what I believe has laid in my subconscious as to the preaching of my grandmother, and most ministers when they reflect from the Bible ... I found myself in the church...You hear all kinds of voicings. Along with the gift or music I inherited, I also learned a lot from the introductions of my mother, Laurence Dunbar, Dr. Seuss and limericks..I learned differences in timing with Dr. Seuss and limericks. Those influences made me able to change tempos. It gave me the ability to write.”





People get ready, there's a train comin'
You don't need no baggage, you just get on board
All you need is faith to hear the diesels hummin'
Don't need no ticket you just thank the Lord

So people get ready, for a train to Jordan
Picking up passengers coast to coast
Faith is the key, open the doors and board them
There's hope for all among those loved the most

There ain't no room for the hopeless sinner
Whom would hurt all mankind just to save his own, believe me now
Have pity on those whose chances grow thinner
For there is no hiding place against the kingdoms throne

So people get ready there's a train comin'
You don't need no baggage, you just get on board
All you need is faith to hear the diesels hummin'
Don't need no ticket, you just thank the Lord






"Woman's Got Soul"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_aADMrUiSXQ

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xuhnr_the-impressions-woman-s-got-soul_shortfilms

The Impressions - Woman's Got Soul by soulpatrol




"You Must Believe Me"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JAA6EcrikIY






'People Get Ready' 
full album:







All songs by Curtis Mayfield.

"Woman's Got Soul"
"Emotions (Won't You Let Me Cry)"
"Sometimes I Wonder"
"We're in Love"
"Just Another Dance"
"Can't Work No Longer"
"People Get Ready"
"I've Found Out That I've Lost"
"Hard to Believe"
"See the Real Me"
"Get Up and Move"
"You Must Believe Me"

super fly

Curtis Mayfield dug deep and found his most enduring music on the classic soul soundtrack of this iconic blaxploitation film.  Director Gordon Parks, Jr. made his directorial debut with 'Super Fly', a film about Youngblood Priest, a drug dealer that is trying to get out of the business.  Parks' father Gordon Parks, Sr. had directed the hugely successful 'Shaft' the year before and helped produce the film.  While 'Super Fly' might seem to glorify drugs and prostitution, the gritty depictions of real inner city life also provide a cautionary tale.  In any case, it became a cultural phenomenon.  

Mayfield's soundtrack was less ambiguous, providing a funky undercurrent to the action with straightforward stories and character studies that were actually critical of the drug culture.  Curtis Mayfield wrote and produced the album, sang, and played guitar with Joseph Lucky Scott on bass, Craig McMullen on guitar, Master Henry Gibson on percussion, and Morris Jennings on drums. Roger Anfinsen was the engineer and Johnny Pate did arrangements and orchestration.  The 'Super Fly' album was an even bigger success than the film with two million selling singles.  It went to number two on the jazz chart, and spent four weeks on the top of the album chart and six weeks on top of the black album chart.  






http://www.curtismayfield.com/









'Pusherman' was the only song with Tyrone McCullen on drums.






'Superfly' hit number eight on the pop chart and number five on the R&B chart. 




'Freddie's Dead' went to number four on the pop chart and number two on the R&B chart.







'Super Fly' 
full album:




All songs written and composed by Curtis Mayfield.

Side one
1. "Little Child Runnin' Wild" 5:23
2. "Pusherman" 5:04
3. "Freddie's Dead" 5:27
4. "Junkie Chase (Instrumental)" 1:36
Side two
5. "Give Me Your Love (Love Song)" 4:20
6. "Eddie You Should Know Better" 2:16
7. "No Thing on Me (Cocaine Song)" 4:53
8. "Think (Instrumental)" 3:43
9. "Superfly" 3:55