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Curtis Mayfield

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This article is about the musician. For the Canadian Football League player, see Curtis Mayfield (Canadian football).

Curtis Mayfield
Mayfield performing for Dutch television in 1972
Mayfield performing for Dutch television in 1972
Background information
Birth nameCurtis Lee Mayfield
Born(1942-06-03)June 3, 1942
Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
DiedDecember 26, 1999(1999-12-26) (aged 57)
Roswell, Georgia, U.S.
Genres
Occupations
  • Singer-songwriter
  • guitarist
  • record producer
Instruments
  • Vocals
  • guitar
  • piano
  • keyboards
DiscographyCurtis Mayfield discography
Years active1956–1999
Labels

Curtis Lee Mayfield (June 3, 1942 – December 26, 1999) was an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer. Dubbed the "Gentle Genius",[5][6] he is considered one of the most influential musicians of soul and socially conscious African-American music.[7][8] Mayfield first achieved success and recognition with the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame-inducted vocal group The Impressions during the civil rights movement of the late 1950s and the 1960s, and later worked as a solo artist.

Mayfield started his musical career in a gospel choir. Moving to the North Side of Chicago, he met Jerry Butler in 1956 at the age of 14 and joined The Impressions. The group's lead singer and primary songwriter, Mayfield became noted as one of the first musicians to bring more prevalent themes of social awareness into soul music. In 1965, he wrote "People Get Ready" for The Impressions, which was ranked No. 24 in Rolling Stone's list of the "500 Greatest Songs of All Time" in 2004.[9] The song received numerous other awards; it was included in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's "500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll",[10] and was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1998.

After leaving The Impressions in 1970 in pursuit of a solo career, Mayfield released several albums throughout the decade, including his debut Curtis (1970) and the soundtrack for the 1972 blaxploitation film Super Fly. The soundtrack was noted for its socially conscious themes, primarily addressing issues that heavily affected inner city residents and racial minorities such as crime, poverty and drug abuse. The album was ranked No. 72 in Rolling Stone's list of the "500 Greatest Albums of All Time" in 2003.[11]

On August 13, 1990, Mayfield was paralyzed from the neck down during an accident in which lighting equipment fell on him during a live performance at Wingate Field in Flatbush, Brooklyn, New York.[12] Despite this, he continued his career as a recording artist, releasing his final album New World Order in 1996. Mayfield won a Grammy Legend Award in 1994 and a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1995.[13] He is a double inductee into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, as a member of The Impressions in 1991, and again in 1999 as a solo artist. He is also a two-time Grammy Hall of Fame inductee. He died from complications of type 2 diabetes at the age of 57 on December 26, 1999.[14]

Early life

[edit]

Curtis Lee Mayfield was born on Wednesday, June 3, 1942, in Cook County Hospital in Chicago, Illinois,[15] the son of Marion Washington and Kenneth Mayfield, one of five children.[16][17] Mayfield's father left the family when Curtis was five; his mother (and maternal grandmother) moved the family into several Chicago public housing projects before settling in Cabrini–Green during his teen years. Mayfield attended Wells Community Academy High School before dropping out his second year. His mother taught him piano and, along with his grandmother, encouraged him to enjoy gospel music. At the age of seven he sang publicly at his aunt's church with the Northern Jubilee Gospel Singers.[18]

Mayfield received his first guitar when he was ten, later recalling that he loved his guitar so much he used to sleep with it.[13] He was a self-taught musician, and he grew up admiring blues singer Muddy Waters and Spanish guitarist Andres Segovia.[13]

When he was 14 years old he formed the Alphatones when the Northern Jubilee Gospel Singers decided to try their luck in downtown Chicago and Mayfield stayed behind. Fellow group member Sam Gooden was quoted "It would have been nice to have him there with us, but of course, your parents have the first say."

Later in 1956, he joined his high school friend Jerry Butler's group The Roosters with brothers Arthur and Richard Brooks.[13] He wrote and composed songs for this group who would become The Impressions two years later. He was also notably a childhood friend of fellow musician Terry Callier.[19]

Career

[edit]

The Impressions

[edit]
Main article: The Impressions
The three singers wearing suits
The Impressions in 1964, from left to right: Sam Gooden, Curtis Mayfield, and Fred Cash

Mayfield's career began in 1956 when he joined the Roosters with Arthur and Richard Brooks and Jerry Butler.[20] Two years later the Roosters, now including Sam Gooden, became the Impressions.[20] The band had two hit singles with Butler, "For Your Precious Love" and "Come Back My Love", then Butler left. Mayfield temporarily went with him, co-writing and performing on Butler's next hit, "He Will Break Your Heart", before returning to the Impressions with the group signing for ABC Records and working with the label's Chicago-based producer/A&R manager, Johnny Pate.[21]

Butler was replaced by Fred Cash, a returning original Roosters member, and Mayfield became lead singer, frequently composing for the band, starting with "Gypsy Woman", a Top 20 Pop hit. Their hit "Amen" (Top 10), an updated version of an old gospel tune, was included in the soundtrack of the 1963 United Artists film Lilies of the Field, which starred Sidney Poitier. The Impressions reached the height of their popularity in the mid-to-late-'60s with a string of Mayfield compositions that included "Keep On Pushing," "People Get Ready", "It's All Right" (Top 10), the up-tempo "Talking about My Baby"(Top 20) and "Woman's Got Soul".

He formed his own label, Curtom Records in Chicago in 1968 and the Impressions joined him to continue their run of hits including "Fool For You," "This is My Country", "Choice Of Colors" and "Check Out Your Mind". Mayfield had written much of the soundtrack of the Civil Rights Movement in the early 1960s, but by the end of the decade, he was a pioneering voice in the black pride movement along with James Brown and Sly Stone. Mayfield's "We're a Winner" was their last major hit for ABC. Reaching number 14 on Billboard's pop chart and number one on the R&B chart, it became an anthem of the black power and black pride movements when it was released in late 1967,[22][23][24] much as his earlier "Keep on Pushing" (whose title is quoted in the lyrics of "We're a Winner" and also in "Move On Up") had been an anthem for Martin Luther King Jr. and the Civil Rights Movement.[25]

Mayfield was a prolific songwriter in Chicago even outside his work for the Impressions, writing and producing scores of hits for many other artists. He also owned the Mayfield and Windy C labels which were distributed by Cameo-Parkway, and was a partner in the Curtom (first independent, then distributed by Buddah then Warner Bros and finally RSO) and Thomas labels (first independent, then distributed by Atlantic, then independent again and finally Buddah).

Among Mayfield's greatest songwriting successes were three hits that he wrote for Jerry Butler on Vee Jay ("He Will Break Your Heart", "Find Another Girl" and "I'm A-Tellin' You"). His harmony vocals are very prominent. He also had great success writing and arranging Jan Bradley's "Mama Didn't Lie". Starting in 1963, he was heavily involved in writing and arranging for OKeh Records (with Carl Davis producing), which included hits by Major Lance such as "Um, Um, Um, Um, Um, Um" and "The Monkey Time",[26] as well as Walter Jackson, Billy Butler and the Artistics. This arrangement ran through 1965.

Solo career

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In 1970, Mayfield left the Impressions and began a solo career. Curtom released many of Mayfield's 1970s records, as well as records by the Impressions, Leroy Hutson, the Five Stairsteps, the Staples Singers, Mavis Staples, Linda Clifford, Natural Four, The Notations and Baby Huey and the Babysitters. Gene Chandler and Major Lance, who had worked with Mayfield during the 1960s, also signed for short stays at Curtom. Many of the label's recordings were produced by Mayfield.

Mayfield's first solo album, Curtis, was released in 1970, and hit the top 20, as well as being a critical success. It pre-dated Marvin Gaye's album, What's Going On, to which it has been compared in addressing social change.[27] The commercial and critical peak of his solo career came with Super Fly, the soundtrack to the blaxploitation Super Fly film, which topped the Billboard Top LPs chart and sold more than 12 million copies.[13] Unlike the soundtracks to other blaxploitation films (most notably Isaac Hayes' score for Shaft), which glorified the ghetto excesses of the characters, Mayfield's lyrics consisted of hard-hitting commentary on the state of affairs in black, urban ghettos at the time, as well as direct criticisms of several characters in the film. Bob Donat wrote in Rolling Stone magazine in 1972 that while the film's message "was diluted by schizoid cross-purposes" because it "glamorizes machismo-cocaine consciousness... the anti-drug message on [Mayfield's soundtrack] is far stronger and more definite than in the film."[28] Because of the tendency of these blaxploitation films to glorify the criminal life of dealers and pimps to target a mostly black lower class audience, Mayfield's album set this movie apart. With songs like "Freddie's Dead", a song that focuses on the demise of Freddie, a junkie that was forced into "pushin' dope for the man" because of a debt that he owed to his dealer, and "Pusherman", a song that reveals how many people in the ghetto fell victim to drug abuse, and therefore became dependent upon their dealers, Mayfield illuminated a darker side of life in the ghetto that these blaxploitation films often failed to criticize. However, although Mayfield's soundtrack criticized the glorification of dealers and pimps, he in no way denied that this glorification was occurring. When asked about the subject matter of these films he was quoted stating "I don't see why people are complaining about the subject of these films", and "The way you clean up the films is by cleaning up the streets."[29]

Along with What's Going On and Stevie Wonder's Innervisions, this album ushered in a new socially conscious, funky style of popular soul music. The single releases "Freddie's Dead" and "Super Fly" each sold more than one million copies, and were awarded gold discs by the R.I.A.A.[30]

Super Fly brought success that resulted in Mayfield being tapped for additional soundtracks, some of which he wrote and produced while having others perform the vocals. Gladys Knight & the Pips recorded Mayfield's soundtrack for Claudine in 1974,[31] while Aretha Franklin recorded the soundtrack for Sparkle in 1976.[32] Mayfield also worked with The Staples Singers on the soundtrack for the 1975 film Let's Do It Again,[13] and teamed up with Mavis Staples exclusively on the 1977 film soundtrack A Piece of the Action (both movies were part of a trilogy of films that featured the acting and comedic exploits of Bill Cosby and Sidney Poitier and were directed by Poitier).

In 1973 Mayfield released the anti-war album Back to the World, a concept album that dealt with the social aftermath of the Vietnam War and criticized the United States' involvement in wars across the planet.[33] One of Mayfield's most successful funk-disco meldings was the 1977 hit "Do Do Wap is Strong in Here" from his soundtrack to the Robert M. Young film of Miguel Piñero's play Short Eyes. In his 2003 biography of Curtis Mayfield, People Never Give Up, author Peter Burns noted that Mayfield has 140 songs in the Curtom vaults. Burns indicated that the songs were maybe already completed or in the stages of completion, so that they could then be released commercially. These recordings include "The Great Escape", "In The News", "Turn up the Radio", "What's The Situation?" and one recording labelled "Curtis at Montreux Jazz Festival 87".Two other albums featuring Curtis Mayfield present in the Curtom vaults and as yet unissued are a 1982/83 live recording titled "25th Silver Anniversary" (which features performances by Mayfield, the Impressions, and Jerry Butler) and a live performance, recorded in September 1966 by the Impressions titled Live at the Club Chicago.

In 1982, Mayfield decided to move to Atlanta with his family, closing down his recording operation in Chicago.[13] The label had gradually reduced in size in its final two years or so with releases on the main RSO imprint and Curtom credited as the production company. Mayfield continued to record occasionally, keeping the Curtom name alive for a few more years, and to tour worldwide. Mayfield's song "(Don't Worry) If There's a Hell Below, We're All Going to Go" has been included as an entrance song on every episode of the drama series The Deuce. The Deuce tells of the germination of the sex-trade industry in the heart of New York's Times Square in the 1970s. Mayfield's career began to slow down during the 1980s.

In later years, Mayfield's music was included in the movies I'm Gonna Git You Sucka, Hollywood Shuffle, Friday (though not on the soundtrack album), Bend It Like Beckham, The Hangover Part II and Short Eyes, where he had a cameo role as a prisoner.[34]

Social activism

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"His most affecting songs carried the optimism and conviction of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s most celebrated sermons. His music was a major influence on many of today's most influential rap and hip-hop stars, from Lauryn Hill to Public Enemy."

— Los Angeles Times Pop Music Critic Robert Hilburn (1999)[13]

Mayfield sang openly about civil rights and black pride,[35] and was known for introducing social consciousness into African-American music.[13] Having been raised in the Cabrini-Green projects of Chicago, he witnessed many of the tragedies of the urban ghetto first hand, and was quoted saying "With everything I saw on the streets as a young black kid, it wasn't hard during the later fifties and sixties for me to write my heartfelt way of how I visualized things, how I thought things ought to be."

Following the passing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, his group the Impressions produced music that became the soundtrack to a summer of revolution. It is even said that "Keep On Pushing" became the number one sing along during the Freedom Rides.[36] Black students sang their songs as they marched to jail or protested outside their universities, while King often used "Keep On Pushing", "People Get Ready" and "We're A Winner" because of their ability to motivate and inspire marchers. Mayfield had quickly become a civil rights hero with his ability to inspire hope and courage.[37]

Mayfield was unique in his ability to fuse relevant social commentary with melodies and lyrics that instilled a hopefulness for a better future in his listeners. He wrote and recorded the soundtrack to the 1972 blaxploitation film Super Fly with the help of producer Johnny Pate. The soundtrack for Super Fly is regarded as an all-time great body of work that captured the essence of life in the ghetto while criticizing the tendency of young people to glorify the "glamorous" lifestyles of drug dealers and pimps, and illuminating the dark realities of drugs, addiction, and exploitation.[38]

Mayfield, along with several other soul and funk musicians, spread messages of hope in the face of oppression, pride in being a member of the black race and gave courage to a generation of people who were demanding their human rights. He has been compared to Martin Luther King Jr. for making a lasting impact in the civil rights struggle with his inspirational music.[13][36] By the end of the decade Mayfield was a pioneering voice in the black pride movement, along with James Brown and Sly Stone. Paving the way for a future generation of rebel thinkers, Mayfield paid the price, artistically and commercially, for his politically charged music. Mayfield's "Keep On Pushing" was actually banned from several radio stations, including WLS in his hometown of Chicago.[39] Regardless of the persistent radio bans and loss of revenue, he continued his quest for equality right until his death.

Mayfield was also a descriptive social commentator. As the influx of drugs ravaged through black America in the late 1960s and 1970s his bittersweet descriptions of the ghetto would serve as warnings to the impressionable. "Freddie's Dead" is a graphic tale of street life,[37] while "Pusherman" revealed the role of drug dealers in the urban ghettos.

Personal life

[edit]

Mayfield was married twice.[14] He had 10 children from different relationships. At the time of his death he was married to Altheida Mayfield. Together they had six children.[40]

Accident

[edit]

On August 13, 1990, Mayfield became paralyzed from the neck down after stage lighting equipment fell on him while he was being introduced at an outdoor concert at Wingate Field in Flatbush, Brooklyn, New York.[12][41][42] Afterwards, he sang the second verse of a remake of "Let's Do It Again" being produced by Gary Katz by the Repercussions for All Men Are Brothers: A Tribute to Curtis Mayfield, while lying on his back in the recording studio.[43] Although he was unable to play the guitar, he continued to compose and sing, which he found he could do by lying down and letting gravity pull down on his chest and lungs. The 1996 album New World Order was recorded in this way, with vocals sometimes recorded in lines at a time.[44]

Final years and death

[edit]

Mayfield received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1994. In February 1998, he had to have his right leg amputated due to diabetes. He was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame on March 15, 1999. Health reasons prevented him from attending the ceremony, which included fellow inductees Paul McCartney, Billy Joel, Bruce Springsteen, Dusty Springfield, George Martin, and 1970s Curtom signees and labelmates the Staple Singers.

Mayfield's last appearance on record was with the group Bran Van 3000 on the song "Astounded" for their album Discosis, recorded just before his death and released in 2001. However, his health had steadily declined following his paralysis, so his vocals were not new but were instead lifted from archive recordings, including "Move On Up".

Mayfield died from complications of type 2 diabetes at 7:20 EST (12:20 GMT) on December 26, 1999, at the North Fulton Regional Hospital in Roswell, Georgia.[44] He was survived by his wife, Altheida Mayfield; his mother, Mariam Jackson; 10 children; two sisters, Carolyn Falls and Judy Mayfield; a brother, Kenneth Mayfield; and seven grandchildren.[13][45][44]

Musical legacy

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Influence

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Mayfield was among the first of a new wave of mainstream black R&B performing artists and composers injecting social commentary into their work.[7] This "message music" proved immensely popular during the 1960s and 1970s.

Mayfield taught himself how to play guitar, tuning it to the black keys of the piano, giving the guitar an open F-sharp tuning that he used throughout his career.[46][47] He primarily sang in falsetto register. His guitar playing, singing, and socially aware song-writing influenced a range of artists, including Jimi Hendrix, Bob Marley, Tracy Chapman, Sly Stone, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder and Sinéad O'Connor.[21][48][49][50]

In 2017, it was reported that Lionel Richie had secured the rights to produce a biographical film about Mayfield. Richie said, "I'm so grateful to be working closely with [Mayfield's widow] Altheida Mayfield, [son] Cheaa Mayfield and the Curtis Mayfield Estate and couldn't be happier to be moving forward on this amazing project about a one-of-a-kind music genius."[51]

Accolades

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  • The Impressions' 1965 hit song "People Get Ready," composed by Mayfield, has been chosen as one of the Top 10 Best Songs Of All Time by a panel of 20 top industry songwriters and producers, including Paul McCartney, Brian Wilson, Hal David, and others, as reported to Britain's Mojo music magazine.
  • In 2019, Super Fly was selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the National Recording Registry for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".[52]

Rolling Stone rankings

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  • The Impressions hits, "People Get Ready" and "For Your Precious Love" are both ranked on Rolling Stone′s list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, as No. 24 and No. 327 respectively.
  • Mayfield is ranked No. 34 on Rolling Stone′s list of the 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time.[53]
  • Mayfield is ranked no. 38 on Rolling Stone′s list of the 200 Greatest Singers of All Time.[54]
  • Mayfield is ranked No. 40 on Rolling Stone′s list of the 100 Greatest Singers of All Time.[48]
  • Mayfield is ranked No. 48 on Rolling Stone's list of the 250 Greatest Guitarists of All Time.[55]
  • Mayfield's album Super Fly is ranked No. 72 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.
  • Mayfield is ranked No. 78 on Rolling Stone′s list of the 100 Greatest Songwriters of All Time.[56]
  • In 2004, Rolling Stone ranked Mayfield No. 98 on their list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.[57]
  • The Impressions' album/CD The Anthology 1961–1977 is ranked at No. 179 on Rolling Stone magazine's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.
  • Mayfield's eponymous album Curtis is ranked No. 275 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.

Awards and nominations

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In 1972, the French Academy of Jazz awarded Mayfield's debut solo album Curtis the Prix Otis Redding for best R&B record.[58]

Hall of Fame

[edit]
  • 1991: Along with his group the Impressions, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
  • 1999: Mayfield was inducted into The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a solo artist making him one of the few artists to become double inductees.
  • 1999: Mayfield was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame just prior to his death.[59]
  • 2003: As a member of the Impressions, he was posthumously inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame.

Grammy Awards

[edit]

Mayfield was nominated for eight Grammy Awards during his career.[60] He is a winner of the prestigious Grammy Legend Award and Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.

Year Nominee / work Award Result
1964 "Keep On Pushing" Best R&B Performance Nominated
1972 "Freddie's Dead" Best R&B Vocal Performance, Male Nominated
1972 "Freddie's Dead" Best R&B Song Nominated
1972 "Junkie Chase" Best R&B Instrumental Performance Nominated
1972 Super Fly Best Score Written for Motion Picture or Television Special Nominated
1994 Himself Legend Award Won
1995 Himself Lifetime Achievement Award Won
1996 New World Order Best R&B Vocal Performance, Male Nominated
1997 "New World Order" Best R&B Song Nominated
1997 "Back to Living Again" Best R&B Vocal Performance, Male Nominated

Grammy Hall of Fame

[edit]
Year Nominee / work Award Result
1998 "People Get Ready" (with the Impressions) Hall of Fame (Single) Inducted
1998 Super Fly Hall of Fame (Album) Inducted
2019 "Move On Up" Hall of Fame (Single) Inducted

Discography

[edit]
Main article: Curtis Mayfield discography

Filmography

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Unterberger, Richie (n.d.). "Curtis Mayfield: Biography & History". AllMusic. Retrieved January 30, 2021.
  2. ^ Hoard, Christian; Brackett, Nathan, eds. (2004). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide. Simon & Schuster. p. 524. ISBN 9780743201698.
  3. ^ Garofalo, Reebee (2008). Rockin' Out: Popular Music in the USA. Pearson Prentice Hall. p. 179. ISBN 9780132343053. ... it was not until the mid-1960s that the social consciousness of folk music was linked to the popular appeal of the gospel/r&b fusion. The center for this innovation was Chicago and the often underappreciated Curtis Mayfield.
  4. ^ "Psychedelic Soul Music Genre Overview". AllMusic. Retrieved January 30, 2021.
  5. ^ Mitchell, Gall (March 30, 2015). "Curtis Mayfield Estate Gears Up for Soul Icon's 60th Anniversary". Billboard. Retrieved December 26, 2022.
  6. ^ Crandall, Bill (February 23, 2000). "Wonder, Hill, Clapton Praise Mayfield". Rolling Stone. Retrieved December 26, 2022.
  7. ^ a b Curtis Mayfield Archived November 23, 2006, at the Wayback Machine, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum. "...significant for the forthright way in which he addressed issues of black identity and self-awareness. ...left his imprint on the Seventies by couching social commentary and keenly observed black-culture archetypes in funky, danceable rhythms. ...sounded urgent pleas for peace and brotherhood overextended, cinematic soul-funk tracks that laid out a fresh musical agenda for the new decade." Accessed November 28, 2006.
  8. ^ "Soul icon Curtis Mayfield dies", BBC News, December 27, 1999: "Credited with introducing social comment to soul music". Accessed November 28, 2006.
  9. ^ "500 Greatest Songs of All Time". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on June 15, 2018. Retrieved February 9, 2015.
  10. ^ "500 Songs That Shaped Rock". Infoplease. Retrieved February 9, 2015.
  11. ^ "500 Greatest Albums of All Time". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on February 22, 2018. Retrieved February 9, 2015.
  12. ^ a b Phillips, Chuck (August 15, 1990). "Curtis Mayfield Injured in Stage Accident". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved November 1, 2019.
  13. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Thurber, Jon (December 27, 1999). "Curtis Mayfield; R&B; Songwriter, Singer, Guitarist With Gospel Roots". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved November 1, 2019.
  14. ^ a b Leigh, Spencer (December 28, 1999). "Obituary: Curtis Mayfield". The Independent. Retrieved November 1, 2019.
  15. ^ The Guardian - March 11, 1995
  16. ^ Sawyers, June Skinner (March 31, 2012). Chicago Portraits. Northwestern University Press. p. 208. ISBN 9780810126497.
  17. ^ Werner, Craig (December 18, 2007). Higher Ground. Random House. p. 30. ISBN 9780307420879.
  18. ^ "When everything Was a Song". The Canberra Times. March 6, 1994. Retrieved October 31, 2019.
  19. ^ https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/jazz-folk-singer-terry-callier-dead-at-67-179534/
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  21. ^ a b Scaggs, Boz (December 3, 2010). "100 Greatest Artists: 98 Curtis Mayfield". Rolling Stone.
  22. ^ Ogbar, Jeffrey O. G. (2005). Black Power: Radical Politics and African American Identity. JHU Press. p. 114. ISBN 9780801882753.
  23. ^ "Impressions' Tune, 'We're A Winner' Stirs Racial Fuss". Jet. Vol. 33, no. 19. February 15, 1968. pp. 58–59.
  24. ^ Curtis Mayfield biography, Internet Movie Database (IMDb). "...1968 hit 'We're A Winner,' became a civil rights anthem". Accessed November 28, 2006.
  25. ^ Phillipsn, Richard (January 24, 2000), Curtis Mayfield dies: A modest man of great musical talent and sensitivity, World Socialist Web Site (International Committee of the Fourth International). Retrieved November 28, 2006.
  26. ^ "Major Lance | Billboard". Billboard. Archived from the original on June 11, 2019. Retrieved April 16, 2020.
  27. ^ Curtis (Media notes). Sequel Records. 1998. NEM CD 965.
  28. ^ Donat, Bob (November 9, 1972). "Super Fly". Rolling Stone. Retrieved November 1, 2019.
  29. ^ "Curtis Mayfield injected his own cultural commentary into Super Fly". Wax Poetics. Retrieved October 22, 2015.
  30. ^ Murrells, Joseph (1978). The Book of Golden Discs (2nd ed.). Barrie and Jenkins Ltd. p. 316. ISBN 0-214-20512-6.
  31. ^ Robertson, Regina R. (April 22, 2010). "Flashback Fridays: 'Claudine'". Essence. Retrieved November 1, 2019.
  32. ^ Reeves, Mosi (August 20, 2018). "Aretha's Greatest Albums: 'Sparkle' (1976)". Rolling Stone. Retrieved November 1, 2019.
  33. ^ "Curtis Mayfield Page". Soulwalking.co.uk. Retrieved October 7, 2019.
  34. ^ Butler, Jerry (2004). Only the Strong Survive: Memoirs of a Soul Survivor. Indiana University Press. p. 94. ISBN 0253217040. Retrieved November 27, 2011.
  35. ^ Romig, Rollo (July 22, 2013). ""Dancing in the Street": Detroit's Radical Anthem". New Yorker. Retrieved October 7, 2019.
  36. ^ a b "Curtis Mayfield :: Civil Rights | Curtis Mayfield". www.curtismayfield.com. Retrieved October 22, 2015.
  37. ^ a b Freeland, Gregory (2009). "'We're a Winner': Popular Music and the Black Power Movement". Social Movement Studies. 8 (3): 261–288. doi:10.1080/14742830903024358. S2CID 144486183.
  38. ^ Chick, Stevie (August 5, 2015). "Curtis Mayfield – 10 of the best". The Guardian. Retrieved October 27, 2015.
  39. ^ Scruggs, Afi-Odelia (February 22, 2018). "In 1968, Curtis Mayfield was the voice of victory for civil rights". USA Today.
  40. ^ Friedman, Roger (March 25, 2015). "Superfly Widow, Family in Legal, Financial Mess". Fox News. Retrieved November 1, 2019.
  41. ^ Tobler, John (1992). NME Rock 'N' Roll Years (1st ed.). Reed International Books Ltd. p. 473. CN 5585.
  42. ^ "Read Excerpt From Curtis Mayfield Bio Detailing Tragic Accident". Rolling Stone. October 3, 2016. Retrieved June 23, 2021.
  43. ^ Applebome, Peter (February 27, 1994). "POP MUSIC; . . . But Curtis Mayfield Won't Be Forgotten, Either". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved April 7, 2023.
  44. ^ a b c "Music World Mourns Death of Curtis Mayfield". Jet. Vol. 97, no. 6. January 17, 2000. pp. 55–59. Retrieved November 27, 2011.
  45. ^ Weil, Martin (December 27, 1999). "Singer, Songwriter Curtis Mayfield Dies". The Washington Post.
  46. ^ Hill, Ian (March 25, 2013). "Curtis Mayfield (1942–1999)". New Georgia Encyclopedia.
  47. ^ Carpenter, Bill. Uncloudy Days: The Gospel Music Encyclopedia, p. 273. CMP Media, 2005. ISBN 0879308419. Accessed November 20, 2008.
  48. ^ a b "100 Greatest Singers No 40 Curtis Mayfield". Rolling Stone.
  49. ^ Gulla, Bob (2007). Icons of R & B and Soul. ABC-CLIO. p. 247. ISBN 9780313340444.
  50. ^ "Sinead O'Connor: Nothing compares to Curtis Mayfield's Fool For You". The Guardian. June 7, 2007. Retrieved December 19, 2014.
  51. ^ Kreps, Daniel (October 11, 2017). "Lionel Richie to Produce Curtis Mayfield Biopic". Rolling Stone. Retrieved November 1, 2019.
  52. ^ Andrews, Travis M. (March 20, 2019). "Jay-Z, a speech by Sen. Robert F. Kennedy and 'Schoolhouse Rock!' among recordings deemed classics by Library of Congress". The Washington Post. Retrieved March 25, 2019.
  53. ^ "100 Greatest Guitarists: Curtis Mayfield". Rolling Stone. Retrieved April 19, 2014.
  54. ^ "The 200 Greatest Singers of All Time". Rolling Stone. January 2023.
  55. ^ Stone, Rolling (October 13, 2023). "The 250 Greatest Guitarists of All Time". Rolling Stone.
  56. ^ "100 Greatest Songwriters of All Time". Rolling Stone. Retrieved October 27, 2017.
  57. ^ "The Immortals: The First Fifty". Rolling Stone. No. 946. December 3, 2010.
  58. ^ "Special French Award to Satchmo" (PDF). Billboard. April 8, 1972. p. 49.
  59. ^ "Curtis Mayfield Biography". The Songwriters Hall of Fame. 2002–2013. Archived from the original on February 21, 2014. Retrieved April 8, 2013.
  60. ^ "Curtis Mayfield". Recording Academy Grammy Awards.
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