He was a singer, songwriter, guitarist, arranger, activist, publisher, producer, and record label head. Curtis Mayfield was called the “gentle genius,” and he wrote songs to represent us all. On the surface, it seemed he was an outspoken representative of the Black community, and he was accused of being militant more than a few times. Raised in the Caprini Green area of Chicago, Mayfield drew from his faith and wrote anthemic songs about the everyman, the downtrodden, and the minorities. He wrote about urban unrest in the North and arrests and sit-ins in the South. Mayfield was considered a Black Bob Dylan. Bob Dylan may be a white Curtis Mayfield. Let’s look at five fascinating facts about Curtis Mayfield.
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1. Mayfield Wrote “Gypsy Woman” at 12 Years Old
Curtis Lee Mayfield was born in Chicago, Illinois, on June 3, 1942. He started singing at a young age. In the 1995 documentary Darker Than Blue, his mother recounted how he would stand on a tree stump at three years old, singing “Pistol Packin’ Mama” to the engineers as they drove the trains.
The church was always a constant. Fellow singer Jerry Butler would meet eight-year-old Mayfield while attending church. Mayfield’s Grandmother ran the Traveling Soul Spiritualist Church. The music was all around Mayfield. He got a guitar and started performing with Butler. One of the first songs he wrote was “Gypsy Woman,” which would be a top-twenty hit in 1961, sung by Mayfield and his group The Impressions. It reached the top five a decade later, sung by Brian Hyland.
2. Mayfield Started a Publishing Company at 17
As Butler and Mayfield performed, they began with the name The Roosters. They added various members and changed their name to The Impressions at the urging of manager Eddie Thomas. Butler was the lead singer, and Mayfield played guitar, sang, and wrote songs. Their first hit was “For Your Precious Love” (not written by Mayfield). Inspired by Sam Cooke, who started his own publishing and record companies, Mayfield and Thomas started Curtom Publishing and, later, a record label under the same combination of their names. Butler left the band to be a solo artist. Mayfield went on the road with him for a bit, playing guitar, singing backup, and writing songs for him. “He Will Break Your Heart” peaked at No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1960.
3. Mayfield Wrote Songs for Many Artists
After working with Butler, Mayfield returned to The Impressions and became their lead singer, guitarist, and primary songwriter. He also contributed hits to artists such as Major Lance, Gene Chandler, Walter Jackson, Jan Bradley, Billy Butler, and the Four Enchanters, The Fascinations, The Staple Singers, and Gladys Knight and the Pips. Later, covers of his songs were hits by Johnny Rivers, Tony Orlando and Dawn, Bob Marley, Santana, Rod Stewart, Deniece Williams, and En Vogue.
The Impressions offered a virtual “soundtrack of the ’60s” as they had success with “Gypsy Woman,” “It’s All Right,” “Talking About My Baby,” “I’m So Proud,” “Keep on Pushing,” “You Must Believe Me,” “Amen,” “People Get Ready,” “We’re a Winner,” and “Choice of Colors.”
[RELATED: 25 Songs You Didn’t Know Curtis Mayfield Wrote for Other Artists]
4. Martin Luther King, Jr. Used Mayfield’s Music as a Rallying Cry
“Keep on Pushing” was often sung by protesters during the Freedom Rides. King often played “We’re a Winner” and “People Get Ready” to inspire marchers. Carlos Santana shared his feelings on the latter song on the Movin’ on Up: The Music and Message of Curtis Mayfield and the Impressions documentary.
“‘Amazing Grace,’ ‘Redemption Song,’ and ‘People Get Ready,’ they all come from a place that either when you are born, or when you die, they should sing that song … ‘People Get Ready’ means, like man, no matter what color you are, just get on this train, and get on board, and this train will take you to the gates of heaven. That’s why that song is so important, because it transcends the slaves or the slavemaster. It goes into a place of real salvation for people. It’s an invitation. You know, you don’t need a ticket, man. You just get on board. If you just take those lyrics and give them to people in school to read them, it’s very spiritual.”
Mayfield endorsed King as he believed in his theories and respected him as a leader. He was on board with the movement and was undoubtedly young, gifted, and Black.
In 1970, Mayfield left The Impressions and went solo. He continued along the same artistic path, representing the downtrodden and marginalized. Mayfield was aware that Blacks and poor whites made up a disproportionately high percentage of the troops fighting in the Far East.
5. Mayfield Was Paralyzed Onstage in 1990
His biggest success as a solo artist was providing the soundtrack for the blaxploitation movie Super Fly. Mayfield was shown an early cut of the movie, and the singer was concerned the film glamorized the easy money and fast deals of the drug world. He wrote the soundtrack to undermine the so-called glamor of “life on the streets.” Mayfield was intrigued by the main character and felt he was a good guy who got the short end of the stick.
On August 13, 1990, Mayfield was being introduced at an outdoor concert in Flatbush, Brooklyn, New York, when the stage lighting rig fell, paralyzing him from the neck down. He died from complications of type 2 diabetes in 1999.
Chuck D of Public Enemy summed it up in the Movin’ on Up documentary. “The inspiration coming from him and his music and his words and his reflections gave people, I guess, the audacity to have hope and strength in a blizzard of chaos. Whatever road that Curtis Mayfield wanted to take with the music, the community followed in the same vein. It was almost like he was a soundtrack to our everyday lives.”
Photo by David Redfern/Redferns
