![]() His next significant move was into cinematic scores, composing the soundtrack for the blaxploitation film Super Fly in 1972, which sold 12 million copies. More acclaimed songs followed, including Right On For The Darkness and We The People Who Are Darker Than Blue. You can see how he becomes an influence on Terrence Trent D'Arby, Lenny Kravitz, Prince – these multi-instrumentalists that have a control-freak tendency about them. “He is, I think, the first black artist to own his own label and be a musician on it. He established his own label Curtom Records and signed his old group The Impressions, who he continued to write songs for. He covered a lot of The Impressions songs."Īfter leaving The Impressions in 1970, Mayfield went on to release several solo albums, including Curtis. ![]() "The original Wailers were a vocal trio essentially formed around the idea of what The Impressions were doing and obviously Bob Marley covered People Get Ready and incorporated it into his Three Little Birds song. “The Impressions are a really influential vocal group and one of the people that they inspired hugely is Bob Marley," he says. Mayfield’s lyrical appeal and musical style was already being widely felt, even reaching the shores of Jamaica. He was one of the great voices in that movement.” Curtis was a key figure in writing songs for protest movements for civil rights. “As the music progresses through the ‘60s in becomes a little more psychedelic, very political. In 1965, he wrote People Get Ready, which promoted black unity, faith and the civil rights struggle, to critical acclaim. Photo: AFPĭuring this era Mayfield was noted as one of the first musicians to bring more prevalent themes of social awareness into soul music. He was a highly-influencial black music artist and his politically-charged songs resonate deeply in the US today, as Black Lives Matter protests rage. ![]() His big hero was Muddy Waters, the big Chicago bluesman and he got hooked on the gospel sound of the church, that’s where he learned to sing."Ĭurtis Mayfield pictured in 1984. "He grew up in Chicago and grew up in a poor, broken-down family – kind of the usual story for blues and soul singers. “It started off as a vocal trio," Sweetman says. ![]() During the previous decade he had been involved with vocal group The Impressions, where he became famous for his lead falsetto voice and his poetic song-writing. His 1970 solo album Curtis heralded a new, more raw, innovative sound for Mayfield. Some people may recognise the name straight away, but they don’t know straight-away the breadth of talent and the hits.” “I’m interested in him because…he’s done a whole lot more than you possibly could have realised and has written songs for other people, produced records for other people, helped careers really flourish and had significant success. Sweetman says the performer’s sheer volume of work and impact on other singers makes him a stand-out within the music industry. ![]()
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