Curtis Mayfield: his life and work
Tony Minvielle gives us an overview of the life and career of the legendary Curtis Mayfield
To describe the late great soul legend Curtis Mayfield simply as iconic is to do him a disservice...
With a career that spanned over 40 years, Curtis Mayfield produced music, within both a group and a solo setting, that covered love, despair, happiness, protest and ultimately empowerment with a falsetto drawl that was heard across the globe.
Tony Minvielle reflects on Curtis' career and life, even revealing his time spent with him.
Curtis Mayfield's early life
Born in 1942 in Chicago, he was raised in the unforgiving Cabrini-Green projects of the city. His father left the family home when he was very young, leaving Curtis to be raised by his mother and his grandmother. He learned to play the guitar after finding a battered instrument in the family home and thanks to the church, which his grandmother was heavily involved with, he found an outlet to develop and grow.
Curtis Mayfield and The Impressions
He formed his first band in 1958 and this eventually went on to become The Impressions with singer Jerry Butler in the lead vocal spot. There were multiple hits with The Impressions including ‘It’s Alright’, ‘Gypsy Woman’ and the LP The Young Mod’s Forgotten Story.
Curtis Mayfield's solo career
He also had an incredible solo career that centred around his own record label, Curtom Records, which saw him achieve incredible success with multiple album and single releases. The highlights of which included the soundtracks to the films Superfly and Let’s Do It Again, hits such as ‘We’re A Winner’ and ‘Move On Up’ and LPs such as Curtis, Roots, Back To The World and Curtis / Live!.
His music was steeped in social commentary, relationships, and the greater good - subjects that particularly resonated with his audience, not just in the US but around the world. His other speciality was nurturing new talent who included the likes of Donny Hathaway, Linda Clifford, Baby Huey and Leroy Hutson (who went on to replace him as lead singer with The Impressions).
I first met Curtis in 1986 in the UK whilst he was on tour and I was a young DJ and I had the great pleasure of meeting him again 10 years later in his home in Atlanta as part of a journalistic piece. Both these occasions had a profound effect on my life. He imparted to me that he didn’t want to become a lead singer with The Impressions as he preferred staying in the background and concentrating on the writing but had no choice but to pick up the reins once Jerry Butler had left the group. He also told me that he had written speeches for Martin Luther King, a fact which all made sense to me after being a fan of his music for so many years, but the most important thing that he told me was that "the truth always comes in pieces and to hear the full truth you have to hear all the pieces".
Curtis Mayfield's later life and legacy
His career took a tragic turn when in 1990 a freak accident, whilst on stage at a festival in New York, left him a quadriplegic. He went on to produce one more LP called New World Order in 1996 which beautifully framed his incredible career. It was an album that had the messages of hope and triumph over adversity at its heart which just about defined everything that his music was about.
He passed away at his Atlanta home on Boxing day in 1999 but his musical legacy still lives on in the work of artists such as D’Angelo, Erykah Badu, Lauryn Hill, Maxwell, Dwele and so many others.