Freddie's Dead, and the title track spent four weeks at the top of the charts.Īs a producer, Mayfield shepherded the hit soundtracks to the films, Claudine, 1974 with Gladys Knight & The Pips, and Let' Do It Again, 1975, with the Staple Singers.

Mayfield found success in the 1970s with the soundtrack to 'blaxploitation' film Superfly, 1972. 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. 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.ĪBC Paramount Records gave The Impressions a recording contract the next year and the group had a Top 20 hit with Gypsy Woman, the beginning hit in a decade of success. In 1958, The Roosters were renamed The Impressions and recorded For Your Precious Love, which was No. They worked the clubs and recorded with Bandera and Vee-Jay Records. In 1956, he joined church choir member Jerry Butler, brothers Arthur and Richard Brooks, and Sam Gooden in a new group, The Roosters. In 1996, Mayfield's New World Order was nominated for three Grammy Awards with the duet, We People Who Are Darker Than Blue, orginally recorded in 1970 for Mayfield's first solo album, was reprised with Aretha Franklin and Mavis Staples.īorn in Chicago on June 3, 1942, Mayfield's distinctive tenor voice was developed with his pre-teen band, The Alphatones. 'He wanted people to think about themselves and the world around them, making this a better place for everyone to live.'Ī 1990 onstage accident left Mayfield fully paralyzed but his career was far from decline. 'Curtis hopes that his music inspired people and he wanted his songs to be uplifting,' Heiman said.

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