Favorite Musical Artists: The Impressions

Bruce Springsteen wrote in his must-read autobiography Born To Run (near the end of Chapter 25), “In the 1960s the first version of my country that struck me as truthful and unfiltered was the one I heard in songs by artists like Bob Dylan, the Kingsmen, James Brown and Curtis Mayfield.” The Impressions’ classic “People Get Ready” would later serve as one of the inspirations for Springsteen’s “Land Of Hope And Dreams”. Yet Mayfield certainly wasn’t limited to writing songs of social consciousness; like James Hunter, he was unbelievably prolific in producing classic songs about the ups and downs of more intimate human relationships, seemingly without breaking a sweat. It wasn’t just the songs, of course, as the vocal harmonies (usually led by Mayfield’s unmistakable falsetto) and arrangements are top-notch as well.

 

From my earlier notes on “I Loved And I Lost”:

 

I’ve always felt that Chicago soul music never got the credit it deserves. … Curtis Mayfield, of course, was the driving force behind much of this success. In addition to writing nearly all of the Impressions’ material, he wrote hits for fellow Chicagoans Jerry Butler, Gene Chandler, and Major Lance, as well as for Aretha Franklin and the Staple Singers. He also was a producer, started his own successful record label (Curtom), and had a notable solo career in the 1970s. … Most of the album cuts that Mayfield wrote for the Impressions are just as strong as the tracks that got released as singles, in sharp contrast to the filler that mars so many 1960 albums.

 

And I did get to see them live a couple years ago, with Jeremy Purifory doing an amazingly good job of taking Mayfield’s vocal parts.

 

Favorite songs:

I Loved And I Lost

People Get Ready

Gypsy Woman

It's All Right

I've Been Trying
 

Grow Closer Together

It's Hard To Believe

I'm So Proud

Talking About My Baby

Just Another Dance
 

Amen

We're A Winner

Sad Sad Girl And Boy

Minstrel & Queen

You've Been Cheatin'
 

Keep On Pushing

Long, Long Winter

See The Real Me

Never Let Me Go

Can't Satisfy

 

And I should also mention “For Your Precious Love”, the initial hit from the early version of the group featuring Jerry Butler.