Movin' On Up" The Music and Message of Curtis Mayfield & The Impressions
Curtis Mayfield & The Impressions
The story of the Impressions is really the story of two R&B singers, Jerry Butler and Curtis Mayfield, who met in a Chicago church choir in the late Fifties. Realizing even then that they wanted to sing secular music, they joined the local doo-wop group the Roosters in 1957.The group was founded by Chattanooga, Tennessee natives Sam Gooden, Richard Brooks, and Arthur Brooks, who moved to Chicago and added Jerry Butler and Curtis Mayfield By the next year, they'd become Jerry Butler and the Impressions, and with their contacts at the local Vee-Jay label, scored a huge R&B hit with Mayfield's "For Your Precious Love." After just one followup, however, Butler left to go solo, although Curtis continued to write and even gig with him immediately afterwards. By 1962, Butler and the Brookses had departed, and after switching to ABC-Paramount Records, Mayfield, Gooden, and new Impression Fred Cash collectively became a top-selling soul act.
Although "For Your Precious Love" and its ultra-reverent style were a harbinger of the soul movement to come, the most endearing form of the Impressions music wasn't to take shape until 1961 and the hit "Gypsy Woman." Utilizing three-part gospel harmony and backed by an easygoing, lightweight, uplifting groove, the new Impressions (now a trio) scored massive hits throughout the Sixties. Mayfield soon began to incorporate coded messages of encouragement to the black race during the civil-rights movement, culminating in outright solidarity with late-Sixties hits like "We're A Winner" and "This Is Our Country."
Born on June 3, 1942 in Chicago, Illinois, Mayfield was the son of Marion Washington and Kenneth Mayfield. Mayfield's father abandoned the family when Mayfield was five and his mother moved Curtis and his siblings into various Chicago projects before settling at the Cabrini green projects when Mayfield reached teenage. Mayfield attended Wells High School. He dropped out of high school early to become 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 injecting social commentary into their work. This "message music" became extremely popular during the 1960s and 1970s.
Mayfield had several distinctions to his style of playing and singing, adding to the uniqueness of his music. When he taught himself how to play guitar, he tuned the guitar to the black keys of the piano, giving him an open F-sharp tuning — F#, A#, C#, F#, A#, F# — that he used throughout his career.Also, he sang most of his lines in falsetto (not unique in itself, but other singers in his time mostly sang tenor), adding another flavor to his music. The Impressions - This Is My Country
With their elegant, intricate and flawless vocal arrangements, the Flamingos are widely regarded as one of the best vocal groups in music history. The graceful vocals and sharp choreography of Motown’s biggest stars – the Temptations, the Supremes, the Jackson 5 and the Miracles among them – owe a debt to the Flamingos, as do such paragons of Philadelphia soul as the Spinners and Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes. Though many of the Flamingos’ recordings did not make the pop charts or even get heard beyond a regional fan base, they have with hindsight acquired a reputation as vocal-group classics. In particular, their third single, “Golden Teardrops,” has been hailed as “the most perfect-sounding single of all time” and “a legendary masterpiece.” Yet it failed to reach the national pop charts upon its initial release in 1953, and a reissue eight years later stalled at #108. Still, the Flamingos charted nine singles between 1956 and 1970 and made the Top Ten with “I’ll Be Home” (#5 R&B) and “I Only Have Eyes For You” (#3 R&B, #11 pop).
The Flamingos formed in 1952 in Chicago, where they sang in a church choir. Somewhat uniquely, the congregation to which founding members Jake Carey, Zeke Carey, Paul Wilson and Johnnie Carter belonged was the black Jewish Church of God and Saints of Christ. Having mastered the minor-key melodies of Jewish hymns, they retained this influence when they began singing pop and R&B. Initially known as the Swallows, then the Five Flamingos, and eventually just the Flamingos, they became a quintet with the addition of Earl Lewis. They signed to the Chicago-based Chance label in 1953. By then, they had a new lead vocalist, Sollie McElroy, who was discovered at a talent show. They recorded in a variety of styles, including midtempo ballads (“Someday, Someway”), lowdown blues (“Blues in a Letter”), pop standards (“That’s My Desire”) and jump tunes (“Jump Children”).
In 1958, the group moved to George Goldner’s End Records, and they moved from Chicago to New York City as well. Their lineup now consisted of Zeke and Jake Carey, Paul Wilson, Nate Nelson, new singer Tommy Hunt and guitarist/singer Terry Johnson, the Flamingos cut some of their most enduring sides for End, including the exquisite “Lovers Never Say Goodbye” and their satiny signature song, “I Only Have Eyes for You” (#3 R&B, #11 pop). The latter, originally a 1934 hit for Ben Selvin, is one of the most sublime and enduring vocal-group recordings of all time. While at End the Flamingos released four albums, including Flamingo Serenade, a masterful album of pop standards by Cole Porter, George Gershwin and others.
Though the Flamingos’ popularity tailed off in the Sixties with the rise of the British Invasion bands, they continued recording and performing down the decades. After the deaths of cousins Jake and Zeke Carey, Terry Johnson continued to lead and perform with a new line-up of the Flamingos.
Posts
.jpg)
