Curtis Mayfield

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Image:METRCD008.jpg Curtis Mayfield (June 3, 1942 – December 26, 1999) was an American soul, funk and R&B singer, songwriter and guitarist probably best known for his soundtrack to the blaxploitation film Superfly.

1 Biography
2 Discography
3 Reference
4 External links

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Biography

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Early years and the Impressions

Born in Chicago, Illinois, Mayfield attended Roosevelt High School, where he came to prominence as lead singer and songwriter for The Impressions, then went on to a successful solo career. Perhaps most notably, Mayfield was among the first of a new wave of mainstream African-American R&B performing artists and composers who injected social commentary into their work. This "message music" became extremely popular during the period of political ferment and social upheaval of the 1960s and '70s.

Mayfield taught himself how to play guitar, and by instinct he tuned the guitar to the black keys of the piano, which gave him the distinctive open F-sharp tuning -- F#, A#, C#, F#, A#, F# -- that he used throughout his career.

Mayfield's career began in 1956 (see 1956 in music) when he formed The Roosters with Arthur and Richard Brooks and Jerry Butler. Four years later The Roosters, now including also Sam Gooden, became The Impressions. [1] The band had hits with "For Your Precious Love" and "Gypsy Woman." After Butler left the group and was replaced with Fred Cash, Mayfield became lead singer, frequently composing for the band, as well. "Amen", an updated version of an old gospel tune, was included in the soundtrack of 1963 MGM film Lilies of the Field, which starred Sidney Poitier. The Impressions reached the height of their popularity in the mid to late 1960s, with a string of Mayfield compositions that included "Keep On Pushin'", "People Get Ready", "Choice of Colors", "This is My Country", and "We People Who Are Darker than Blue." Mayfield's "We're a Winner" became an anthem of the black power and black pride movements when it was released in late 1967.

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Solo career

In 1970, Mayfield left The Impressions and began a solo career, founding the independent record label Curtom Records. Curtom would go on to release most of Mayfield's landmark 1970s records, as well as records by the Impressions, Leroy Hutson, The Staple Singers, and Mavis Staples, and Baby Huey and the Babysitters, a group which at the time included Chaka Khan. Many of these records were also produced by Mayfield.

The commercial and critical peak of his solo career came with his 1972 album Superfly, the soundtrack to the blaxploitation film of the same name, and one of the most influential albums in history. Mayfield's lyrics included hard-hitting commentary on the state of affairs in black, urban ghettos at the time, previously unheard of in blaxploitation films. Bob Donat (1972), wrote in Rolling Stone that while the film's message "was diluted by schizoid cross purposes" because it "glamorizes machismo-cocaine consciousness... the anti-drug message on [Mayfield's soundtrack] is far stronger and more definite than in the film." Along with Marvin Gaye's What's Going On and Stevie Wonder's Innervisions, this album ushered in a new socially conscious, funky style of popular soul music.

Superfly's success lead to Mayfield being tapped for two more blaxploitation soundtracks, which he wrote and produced while having others perform the vocals. Gladys Knight & the Pips recorded Mayfield's soundtrack for Claudine in 1974, while Aretha Franklin recorded the soundtrack for Sparkle in 1976.

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Later years

Mayfield was active throughout the 1970s and 1980s, though he had a somewhat lower public profile. On August 13, 1990, Mayfield was paralyzed from the neck down after stage lighting equipment fell on him at a concert in Brooklyn, New York. This tragedy set him back, but Mayfield forged ahead. He was unable to play guitar, but he wrote, sang and directed the recording of his comeback New World Order. Mayfield's vocals were painstakingly recorded, usually line-by-line.

In February 1998, he had to have his right leg amputated due to diabetes. Mayfield died on December 26, 1999 in Roswell, Georgia. As a member of The Impressions, Mayfield was posthumously inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2003.

In terms of Curtis' legacy perhaps it should be noted that musicians such as Jimi Hendrix cited Mayfield as one of their most powerful influences. Also Mayfields work has not been fully explored retrospectively, for instance the rarely played soundtrack to Mayfields film "Short Eyes" has a very powerful soundtrack from 1972 including "Do Do Wap is strong in here" and "Back Against the Wall" which do not sound out of date today.

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