Curtis Mayfield (Born 03/06/1942, Died 26/12/1999)

Mayfield's reputation has occasionally been tarnished by forays into the mundane, but temporary lapses should not detract from his true abilities and what, when taken in the round, is an important and distinguished body of work.

Initially joining the Impressions with his friend Jerry Butler (the latter leaving after the success of 'For Your Precious Love'), Curtis contributed to Jerry's burgeoning solo career with songs such as 'He Will Break Your Heart' and 'Find Yourself Another Girl' but stayed with the Impressions until 1970. Increasingly throughout a twelve year period, he provided the group's overall direction, contributing key producing, arranging and songwriting skills. The group became one of the most consistent R&B acts of the time; and from the mid 60s you could see (and hear!) Curtis' development as a songwriter, tackling themes such as racial integration and harmony on tracks such as 'People Get Ready', 'Keep On Pushing' and 'We're A Winner'. All of these great songs can be found on the excellent mid price UK release "The Best Of The Impressions featuring Curtis Mayfield - 1961-68". These tracks are leased from MCA and are available on a number of current CDs (such as the one illustrated), one of which should be available in your country.

1970 saw the release of Mayfield's first solo album ("Curtis"), taking his music in a much funkier direction than ever before - 'Move On Up' was the key single release from the album, although it fared better in the UK than in Curtis' homeland.
Following Isaac Hayes' success with the Shaft soundtrack, Mayfield was asked to compose for the film Superfly - a fine achievement, far better than the film for which it was made, with both 'Freddie's Dead' and the title track proving highly successful singles. His follow up album proper, "Back To The World" continued the social and real world themes.

In the mid 70s, he spent much of his energy producing, writing and collaborating with other artists. Amongst others, he worked with Donny Hathaway, Gladys Knight and the Staple Singers as well as producing a couple of albums for Aretha Franklin (although, in the Primer's view, not two of Aretha's finest).
In 1979 he sold his Curtom label to RSO and continued to produce albums at fairly regular intervals throughout the 80s. In 1990, tragically, he was paralysed from the neck down following a stage accident at an outdoor festival in Brooklyn. Tributes galore have followed, including a couple of "star tribute" CDs, definitely worth following up to hear a range of artists tackling Mayfield songs - they highlight the depth of the writing when heard in contexts other than Curtis' own superb voice. Of the two tributes, the lower key "People Get Ready" seems more in tune with the spirit of the material than the glitzier "A Tribute To Curtis Mayfield".

1996 saw the release of a new album ("New World Order"), a triumph over adversity made all the more memorable and poignant by the quality of the material. An album which can be applauded on its merits rather than simply through sentiment, it is of course still a monumental achievement against almost insurmountable odds for Mayfield simply to have completed a new album at that stage of his career. A man who has produced more than his share of mediocrity for such a major figure, he should nonetheless be recognised as a true pioneer, a great writer and producer (and no mean guitarist either) and an artist who has influenced careers as varied as the aforementioned Jerry Butler, Donny Hathaway, Aretha, Marvin Gaye, Bob Marley and Prince.

There is an excellent 2CD compilation of Curtis Mayfield's work, combining Impressions material recorded for Curtis' own label (post 1968 recordings) with a fine selection of his solo work. "The Ultimate Curtis Mayfield" is a great way to find out more about his talents. The import "Anthology" is another 2CD retrospective. Get whichever you can find. Sadly, Mayfield died at the end of 1999.