Curtis Mayfield (June 3, 1942 – December 26, 1999) was an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer, and one of the most influential musicians behind soul and politically conscious African-American music. He first achieved success and recognition with The Impressions during the Civil Rights Movement of the late 1950s and 1960s, and later worked as a solo artist. In 1965, he wrote “People Get Ready” for The Impressions, which displayed his more politically charged songwriting. After leaving The Impressions in 1970 in the pursuit of a solo career, Mayfield released several albums, including the soundtrack for the blaxploitation film Super Fly in 1972. Mayfield won a Grammy Legend Award in 1994 and a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1995. He was also a two-time Grammy Hall of Fame inductee. (More from Wikipedia)
One of the early songs that I remember with a Christian theme is “People Get Ready”, which was a #14 hit for the Impressions in 1965. The theme is likely the tumultuous changes that were roiling the nation in the mid-1960’s, like the Civil Rights Movement; but the “train” that is mentioned frequently in this song is basically the same one in the Peter, Paul and Mary song, “This Train” mentioned earlier, whose lyrics include: “This train is bound for Glory, this train”. The songwriter, Curtis Mayfield is quoted in Wikipedia as saying of “People Get Ready”: “That was taken from my church or from the upbringing of messages from the church. Like there’s no hiding place and get on board, and images of that sort. I must have been in a very deep mood of that type of religious inspiration when I wrote that song.”
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The highest profile time for Mikki Farrow in the music business was probably on several recordings that she worked on with Jerry Butler. Butler was in the same Chicago church choir with Curtis Mayfield; the two joined three members of another band, brothers Arthur Brooks and Richard Brooks plus Sam Gooden. They modified the other band’s name slightly and called themselves the Roosters.
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Though not nearly so well known as his older brother Jerry Butler, Billy Butler was also a professional musician who was mainly active in the 1960’s and 1970’s. Curtis Mayfield supervised his first session at Okeh Records, and that label released his first album, Right Track (1966). He later formed a vocal group called Infinity, which released a 1973 album called Hung Up on You.
In 2007, Kent Records put together a CD called The Right Tracks, covering 29 of the recordings that Billy Butler made at Okeh Records. Writing for Allmusic, Richie Unterberger gives the CD 4½ stars and says: “First and foremost, [Billy] Butler, though far less celebrated than his older brother Jerry Butler, was a fine singer and songwriter in his own right, producing consistently good pop-soul discs that were rather reminiscent of the Impressions (and, at times, Major Lance, another Chicago soul artist with strong connections to Curtis Mayfield). In addition, if you are a fan of Mayfield’s mid-’60s work with the Impressions and as a songwriter/producer, this has some of his best overlooked work in the latter capacity.”
(July 2014)
