Curtis Mayfield (June 3, 1942 – December 26, 1999) was an American soul, fu… Read Full Bio ↴Curtis Mayfield (June 3, 1942 – December 26, 1999) was an American soul, funk and rhythm and blues, singer-songwriter and guitarist from Chicago, Illinois.

Mayfield is probably best known for his anthemic music with The Impressions and for the soundtrack to the blaxploitation film Superfly.

Perhaps because he didn't cross over to the pop audience as heavily as Motown's stars, it may be that the scope of Curtis Mayfield's talents and contributions have yet to be fully recognized. Judged merely by his records alone, the man's legacy is enormous. As the leader of the Impressions, he recorded some of the finest soul vocal group music of the 1960s. As a solo artist in the 1970s, he helped pioneer funk and helped introduce hard-hitting urban commentary into soul music. "Gypsy Woman," "It's All Right," "People Get Ready," "Freddie's Dead," and "Superfly" are merely the most famous of his many hit records.

But Curtis Mayfield wasn't just a singer. Born in in Chicago, IL, he wrote most of his material at a time when that was not the norm for soul performers. He was among the first -- if not the very first -- to speak openly about African-American pride and community struggle in his compositions. As a songwriter and a producer, he was a key architect of Chicago Soul, penning material and working on sessions by notable Windy City soulsters like Gene Chandler, Jerry Butler, Major Lance, and Billy Butler. In this sense, he can be compared to Smokey Robinson, who also managed to find time to write and produce many classics for other soul stars. Mayfield was also an excellent guitarist, and his rolling, Latin-influenced lines were highlights of the Impressions' recordings in the '60s. During the next decade, he would toughen up his guitar work and production, incorporating some of the best features of psychedelic rock and funk.

Mayfield began his career as an associate of Jerry Butler, with whom he formed the Impressions in the late '50s. After the Impressions had a big hit in 1958 with "For Your Precious Love," Butler, who had sung lead on the record, split to start a solo career. Mayfield, while keeping the Impressions together, continued to write for and tour with Butler before the Impressions got their first Top 20 hit in 1961, "Gypsy Woman."

Mayfield was heavily steeped in gospel music before he entered the pop arena, and gospel, as well as doo wop, influences would figure prominently in most of his '60s work. Mayfield wasn't a staunch traditionalist, however. He and the Impressions may have often worked the call-and-response gospel style, but his songs (romantic and otherwise) were often veiled or unveiled messages of black pride, reflecting the increased confidence and self-determination of the African-American community. Musically he was an innovator as well, using arrangements that employed the punchy, blaring horns and Latin-influenced rhythms that came to be trademark flourishes of Chicago soul. As the staff producer for the OKeh label, Mayfield was also instrumental in lending his talents to the work of other Chi-town soul singers who went on to national success. With Mayfield singing lead and playing guitar, the Impressions had 14 Top 40 hits in the 1960s (five made the Top 20 in 1964 alone), and released some above-average albums during that period as well.

Given Mayfield's prodigious talents, it was perhaps inevitable that he would eventually leave the Impressions to begin a solo career, as he did in 1970. His first few singles boasted a harder, more funk-driven sound; singles like "(Don't Worry) If There's a Hell Below, We're All Gonna Go" found him confronting ghetto life with a realism that had rarely been heard on record. He really didn't hit his artistic or commercial stride as a solo artist, though, until Superfly, his soundtrack to a 1972 blaxploitation film. Drug deals, ghetto shootings, the death of young black men before their time: all were described in penetrating detail. Yet Mayfield's irrepressible falsetto vocals, uplifting melodies, and fabulous funk pop arrangements gave the oft-moralizing material a graceful strength that few others could have achieved. For all the glory of his past work, Superfly stands as his crowning achievement, not to mention a much-needed counterpoint to the sensationalistic portrayals of the film itself.

At this point Mayfield, along with Stevie Wonder and Marvin Gaye, was the foremost exponent of a new level of compelling auteurism in soul. His failure to maintain the standards of Superfly qualifies as one of the great disappointments in the history of black popular music. Perhaps he'd simply reached his peak after a long climb, but the rest of his '70s work didn't match the musical brilliance and lyrical subtleties of Superfly, although he had a few large R&B hits in a much more conventional vein, such as "Kung Fu," "So in Love," and "Only You Babe."

Mayfield had a couple of hits in the early '80s, but the decade generally found his commercial fortunes in a steady downward spiral, despite some intermittent albums.
On August 14, 1990, he became paralyzed from the neck down when a lighting rig fell on top of him at a concert in Brooklyn, NY. In 1993, three years after the accident which caused Mayfield's paralysis, Shanachie records released the album People Get Ready: A Tribute to Curtis Mayfield featuring a.o. Jerry Butler, Don Covay and Steve Cropper.

Mayfield received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1995.

Curtis Mayfield died December 26, 1999 at the North Fulton Regional Hospital in Roswell, Georgia.

A Prayer
Curtis Mayfield Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

A prayer, just what would I say?
Speak of those who?re around
Who pray for you everyday

Everybody know we are just people
In the people's hands
Bless the soul of our man
That we might understand

All of my life
I've longed to be close
Nearer to someone
I thought would need me the most

Have no fear, your God is near
Just say a little prayer

Nothin' beats a failure but I try
With this one life to die for
I wanna satisfy with love

Just what would I do?
Allow your mind to improve
And keep yourself very, very clear
All can be forgiven

Now there's still hope for the living
Say a little prayer

Nothin' beats a failure but I try
With this one life to die for
I wanna satisfy

A prayer, just what would I say?
Speak of those who need your love
And who pray for you everyday

Everybody knows we are just people
In the people's hands
So keep a little prayer

Everybody knows we are just people
In the people's hands
So say a little prayer

(Our Father)
Say a little prayer
(Who art in Heaven)
Say a little prayer
(Hallowed be Thy name, in kingdom come)

Yeah, yeah
(Thy will be done, amen)

Overall Meaning

Curtis Mayfield's "A Prayer" is a song that calls for hope, forgiveness, and understanding towards fellow human beings. In the first verse, Mayfield contemplates what one might say in a prayer and suggests speaking on behalf of those who pray every day. He then emphasizes how we are all just people in the hands of others, and blesses the soul of the man who could help us all understand each other better. The following verse reflects on how Mayfield spent his entire life wishing to be close to someone who needed him the most. He then affirms that our God is near, and all can be forgiven if one keeps a clear mind and improves themselves. In the final verse, Mayfield states that everybody knows we are just people and asks us to say a little prayer to keep the hope for the living.

Line by Line Meaning

A prayer, just what would I say?
What should I express in a prayer?

Speak of those who?re around
Mention the people nearby.

Who pray for you everyday
Those who pray for your well-being each day.

Everybody know we are just people
It's widely known that we are all just human beings.

In the people's hands
We are under the control of other people.

Bless the soul of our man
May our spirit be empowered.

That we might understand
So we can comprehend.

All of my life
In the entirety of my existence.

I've longed to be close
I've yearned to be near.

Nearer to someone
Closer to another person.

I thought would need me the most
I believed required me the most.