VERY SAD NEWS
Soul Stomper
By RUSS BYNUM Associated Press Writer
ATLANTA (AP) - Soul singer and
songwriter Curtis Mayfield, whose
work introduced a social conscience
into black music at the height of the
civil rights movement and who
continued to make music for a decade after an accident left
him paralyzed, died Sunday. He was 57.
Mayfield's string of hits included ``Gypsy Woman,'' the
gospel-tinged ``People Get Ready,'' the rallying cry ``Keep On
Pushing'' and the funk classic ``Superfly.''
Warner Bros. Records spokeswoman Karen Lee announced the
death Sunday. A nurse at the North Fulton Regional Hospital in
Roswell confirmed that Mayfield died there Sunday morning.
The exact cause of his death was not immediately available.
An onstage accident in 1990 left Mayfield paralyzed from the
neck down, a condition that caused his health to deteriorate in
recent years. Doctors amputated his right leg last year because of
diabetes brought on by the injury.
Mayfield was too ill to attend a March ceremony in which he was
inducted him into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He became a
Grammy Legend Award winner in 1994 and a Grammy Lifetime
Achievement Award winner the next year.
In a 1996 interview with The Associated Press, Mayfield said he
was happy his songs had touched so many people.
``I wrote them for myself,'' he said. ``Being a young black man,
observing and sensing the need for race equality and women's
rights, I wrote about what was important to me.''
Longtime manager and business partner Marv Heiman said
Mayfield knew he was leaving behind a legacy that not only
entertained but improved the world.
``He wanted people to think about themselves and the world
around them, making this a better place for everyone to live,''
Heiman said.
While other black singers stuck to love songs and dance tunes,
Mayfield pushed the boundaries of rhythm and blues in the
mid-1960s by singing of black pride and gritty urban landscapes
- paving the way for funk and rap artists for decades to come.
``Black music as we hear it today simply wouldn't exist without
him,'' Rolling Stone magazine declared in naming a Mayfield
anthology to its list of 200 essential albums in 1997.
It was 1964's ``Keep On Pushing'' that marked a turning point
for Mayfield and broadened the parameters of black music.
Widely regarded as the first rhythm-and-blues song to rally
blacks behind the civil rights movement, ``Keep On Pushing''
became a Top 10 R&B and pop hit.
Mayfield continued putting black pride and social issues at the
forefront in Impressions hits such as ``We're a Winner,'' ``This is
My Country'' and ``Choice of Colors,'' which asked ``How long
have you hated your white teacher? / Who told you to love your
black preacher?''
Such songs made Mayfield ``black music's most unflagging civil
rights champion,'' music critic Nelson George wrote in his 1988
book ``The Death of Rhythm & Blues.''
Mayfield blazed the trail others followed. Sam Cooke recorded
``A Change Is Gonna Come'' shortly before he was shot to death
in December 1964. James Brown hit four years later with the
strident ``Say It Loud - I'm Black and I'm Proud.'' And Marvin
Gaye joined Mayfield on the cutting edge of thinking man's soul in
1971 with ``What's Going On.''
Riding the popularity of so-called ``blaxploitation'' movies,
Mayfield had one of his greatest critical and commercial
successes in 1972 with the soundtrack to ``Superfly,'' a film
about a drug dealer trying to go straight.
Mayfield was paralyzed in a 1990 accident in which he was
struck by a rig that toppled while he was on stage performing in
Brooklyn.
Born in Chicago on June 3, 1942, Mayfield's distinctive tenor
voice was developed with his pre-teen band, The Alphatones. In
1956, he joined church choir member Jerry Butler, brothers
Arthur and Richard Brooks, and Sam Gooden in a new group,
The Roosters.
In 1958, The Roosters were renamed The Impressions and
recorded ``For Your Precious Love,'' which was No. 11 in the
United States. Although Butler left the group, Mayfield continued
with a string of hits including, ``He Will Break Your Heart,''
``Need To Belong To Someone,'' and ``Find Yourself Another
Girl.''
ABC Paramount Records later gave The Impressions a recording
contract and the group followed with a Top 20 hit, ``Gypsy
Woman,'' which was followed by many others.
Mayfield compositions including ``It's All Right,'' 1963, hit the
charts and influenced the musical style of artists including Gene
Chandler, Major Lance, Jan Bradley and Walter Jackson.
Mayfield produced most of their hits.
As a producer, Mayfield shepherded the hit soundtracks to the
films, ``Claudine,'' 1974 with Gladys Knight & The Pips, and
``Let's Do It Again,'' 1975, with the Staple Singers. He produced
two Aretha Franklin albums, ``Sparkle,'' 1976, and ``Almighty
Fire,'' 1978.
He also recorded critically-acclaimed solo albums including
``Back To The World,'' 1973, ``Sweet Exorcist,'' 1974, ``Got
To Find A Way,'' 1974 and ``There's No Place Like America
Today,'' 1975. But as the disco craze took over, Mayfield's
sound and socially-pertinent lyrics became out of step.
A two-time inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame -
recognized in 1991 as a member of the Impressions, again in
1999 as a solo artist - Mayfield ranked among soul music's
premiere songwriters.
``I lost my husband, the father of our children, my best friend and
my soulmate,'' said Mayfield's widow, Altheida. ``Thank God his
music and his legacy will live far beyond today.''
Mayfield's legacy lives on with his work being sampled by
contemporary hip-hop and rap artists including Coolio, Dr. Dre,
Snoop Doggy Dogg and R. Kelly.
In addition to his wife, Mayfield is survived by his mother; 10
children; two sisters; a brother; and seven grandchildren.
Respect,
Billy
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