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.
Get A Little Bit
Curtis Mayfield Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Uh, huh, oh, shake it
Shake it
Don't you be so mean, let me say it right
You've got a walk, if could talk, would say dynamite
I must have been livin' good and true
'Cause I've been blessed with all of you
Give it to me, give it to me, give it to me, baby
I wanna be in your arms again, where I feel secure
Make the kind of love I know we like for sure
Blowin' all in my ear, sayin' things I like to hear
Give it up, give it up, give it up, give it up, baby
Shake it, oh, shake it
This has always been, you see, a sweet relation
Some of the nice things I give to my temptation
With you I wanna be so nasty, all you have to do is ask me
Give it to you, give it to you, give it to you, baby
Shake it
It's a sizzlin' romance when I kiss your finger
With every little rock and roll, the feel will linger
From my heart on to my feet are temperature and heat
Shake it, move it on, baby, shake it
Shake it, oh, shake it
I wanna be in your arms, I wanna be, I wanna be
I wanna be in your arms again, I wanna be, I wanna be
I wanna be in your arms again, I wanna be, I wanna be
I wanna be in your arms again, I wanna be, I wanna be
I wanna be in your arms again, where I feel secure
Make the kind of love I know we like for sure
Blowin' all in my ear, sayin' things I like to hear
Give it to me, give it to me, give it to me, give it to me, baby
Shake it, shake it, oh
I wanna be in your arms, I wanna be, I wanna be
I wanna be in your arms again, I wanna be, I wanna be
I wanna be in your arms again, I wanna be, I wanna be
I wanna be in your arms again, I wanna be, I wanna be
I wanna be in your arms again, where I feel secure
It's a sizzlin' romance when I kiss your finger
With every little rock and roll, the feel will linger
From my heart on to my feet are temperature and heat
Shake it, move it on, baby, shake it
The lyrics to Curtis Mayfield's "Get a Little Bit" are about wanting to be close to someone you love, to feel secure in their arms, and to make love to them. Mayfield's words invite the listener to shake it, to be playful and dance, and to let loose. The song is about enjoying lovemaking with someone you care for and being open to being surprised by the pleasures of intimacy.
Mayfield's lyrics are full of positive energy and joy. He sings of having been blessed with someone special and wanting to be close to them. His words suggest that he has found a connection with the person he is singing to, and he is grateful for it. He uses language that suggests a deep emotional connection and physical attraction, such as "blowin' all in my ear, sayin' things I like to hear." He also sings of wanting to be "nasty," which suggests a playful and uninhibited approach to lovemaking.
Overall, Mayfield's "Get a Little Bit" is an upbeat and energetic song about the pleasures of physical intimacy with someone you care for. His words suggest that he has found a deep emotional and physical connection with the person he is singing to, and he is grateful for the joy it brings him.
Line by Line Meaning
Oh, shake it
Encouraging someone to dance and move their body
Don't you be so mean, let me say it right
Asking the listener to be patient and listen to what the singer has to say
You've got a walk, if could talk, would say dynamite
Complimenting the listener's attractive and confident walk
I must have been livin' good and true / 'Cause I've been blessed with all of you
Expressing gratitude for the love and companionship of the listener
Give it to me, give it to me, give it to me, baby / Shake it
Asking the listener to dance and move their body while also expressing desire for intimacy
I wanna be in your arms again, where I feel secure / Make the kind of love I know we like for sure / Blowin' all in my ear, sayin' things I like to hear / Give it up, give it up, give it up, give it up, baby
Expressing desire for physical and emotional intimacy with the listener
This has always been, you see, a sweet relation / Some of the nice things I give to my temptation / With you I wanna be so nasty, all you have to do is ask me / Give it to you, give it to you, give it to you, baby
Referencing the ongoing positive relationship with the listener and expressing openness to exploring more intimate desires
It's a sizzlin' romance when I kiss your finger / With every little rock and roll, the feel will linger / From my heart on to my feet are temperature and heat / Shake it, move it on, baby, shake it
Describing the intense passion and excitement between the singer and the listener, inviting the listener to dance and move their body to the music
I wanna be in your arms, I wanna be, I wanna be / I wanna be in your arms again, I wanna be, I wanna be / I wanna be in your arms again, I wanna be, I wanna be / I wanna be in your arms again, I wanna be, I wanna be / I wanna be in your arms again, where I feel secure
Repeatedly expressing desire for physical and emotional intimacy with the listener and feeling safe and secure in their embrace
Shake it, shake it, oh
Encouraging the listener to keep dancing and moving their body
Writer(s): Curtis Mayfield Copyright: Todd Mayfield Publishing, Mayfield Music, Warner-tamerlane Publishing Corp.
Contributed by Leah S. Suggest a correction in the comments below.