Beyond Memphis and Motown: Chicago Soul (continued)
In 1959, Vee-Jay issued "For Your Precious Love" by the Impressions. While Jerry Butler sang the lead vocal, the record was also notable for sixteen-year-old guitarist, singer, and writer Curtis Mayfield. He was the first important R & B artist to be born in the urban North. In the early 1960s, he developed an utterly original approach to writing and recording soul music that fused gospel harmonies and a distinctive guitar style with innovative vocal and instrumental arrangements. His recordings with The Impressions commonly featured multiple lead vocals. In addition, each group member sang lead on different lyric lines, signifying a sense of community where everyone contributes to the common good, but individuality is still valued.
Listen to an excellent example of these features in the 1965 song "People Get Ready" by Curtis Mayfield and The Impressions.
Curtis Mayfield & The Impressions - People Get Ready (1965) [ 00:00-00:00 ]
Mayfield's distinctive sound also featured: extensive use of falsetto; a clipped rhythm guitar timbre juxtaposed with a bright lead guitar timbre; strings used percussively (often played pizzicato); metallic keyboards (xylophone, glockenspiel, vibraphone); brass (as opposed to the saxophone so ubiquitous in Southern soul); and short instrumental vamps instead of solos. The instrumental arrangements were crafted in large part by producer Johnny Pate. In stark contrast to the majority of soul recordings cut elsewhere, Mayfield's work eschewed frenetic exhortation. Instead, it exhibited a sense of calm and confidence that reflected a belief that in the wake of the victories achieved by the civil rights movement in the first half of the 1960s, a new day of equality and equal opportunity was on the horizon.
Curtis Mayfield
The Impressions Its All Right [ 00:00-00:00 ]
The song "It's Alright" (1963) by The Impressions, as seen in this 1965 video on Hollywood A Go Go-a popular dance show-represents perhaps a glimpse of equality on the new horizon.
Mayfield wrote, sang lead, played guitar on, and produced over three dozen hits for The Impressions, many of which, such as the often-covered "People Get Ready" and "We're a Winner" , he referred to as "songs of faith and inspiration." In addition to his work with his group, Mayfield wrote and produced hits for many other Chicago artists, including Major Lance and the Staple Singers. As a solo artist, he scored the influential soundtrack to Superfly (1972) and owned three record labels specializing in soul, Windy C, Mayfield, and Curtom. As a result, the sound of Mayfield's work with The Impressions became the "sound of Chicago soul."
A Change is Gonna Come
I was born by the river
In a little tent
Oh, and just like the river, I've been runnin'
Ever since
It's been a long
A long time comin', but I know
A change gon' come
Oh, yes it will
Long Walk to D.C.
It's a long walk to DC but I've got my walking shoes on
I can't take a plane, passer train, because my money ain't that long
America we believe, oh that you love us still
So people I'm gonna be under to wipe away my tears