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.
If There's A Hel
Curtis Mayfield Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Blacks and the crackers
Police and their backers
They're all political actors
Hurry
People running from their worries
While the judge and the juries
Cat calling, love balling, fussing and cussing
Top billing now is killing
For peace no-one is willing
Kind of make you get that feeling
Everybody smoke, smoke, smoke, smoke, smoke
Use the pill and the dope, dope, dope, dope, dope
Educated fools
From uneducated schools
Pimping people is the rule
Polluted water in the pool
And Nixon talking about don't worry, worry, worry, worry
He says don't worry, worry, worry, worry
He says don't worry, worry, worry, worry
He says don't worry, worry, worry, worry
But they don't know
There can be no show
And if there's a hell below
We're all gonna go, go, go, go, go
Everybody's praying
And everybody's saying
But when come time to do
Everybody's laying
Just talking about don't worry, worry, worry, worry
They say don't worry, worry, worry, worry
They say don't worry, worry, worry, worry
They say don't worry, worry, worry, worry
The lyrics of Curtis Mayfield's "If There's a Hell Below" touch on a range of societal issues - from race, politics, and drugs to environmental problems and corruption. The lines "Sisters, brothers and the whities, Blacks and the crackers, Police and their backers, They're all political actors" suggest that people from all walks of life are involved in political machinations, whether they realize it or not. The song also addresses the ways in which people distract themselves from their worries, using drugs and pills as a means of escape.
Mayfield's lyrics also allude to widespread corruption and pollution. The line "Polluted water in the pool" speaks to the larger issues of environmental degradation and industrial waste that were becoming more apparent during the 1970s. The refrain "And Nixon talking about don't worry, worry, worry, worry," suggests that even the highest levels of government were aware of these problems but unwilling or unable to act.
The final lines of the song, "Everybody's praying, And everybody's saying, But when come time to do, Everybody's laying," suggest that despite awareness of problems, people are often apathetic and unwilling to take action. The repeated refrain "They say don't worry, worry, worry, worry" emphasizes this feeling of helplessness and resignation.
Line by Line Meaning
Sisters, brothers and the whities
People of all races and ethnicities
Blacks and the crackers
Specifically referring to white people who hold racist beliefs
Police and their backers
Law enforcement and those who support them
They're all political actors
Everyone involved in society is engaged in politics whether they realize it or not
Hurry
Urgency and chaos permeate the world
People running from their worries
Individuals are seeking escape or distraction from their problems
While the judge and the juries
The legal system, including judges and juries, is imposing its power on people
Dictate the law that's partly flaw
The laws are flawed and unjust
Cat calling, love balling, fussing and cussing
People are expressing themselves through verbal and sexual behavior
Top billing now is killing
Violence is glorified and prioritized in society
For peace no-one is willing
Few are willing to work for peace and harmony in society
Kind of make you get that feeling
All of this is unsettling
Everybody smoke, smoke, smoke, smoke, smoke
People are using tobacco products frequently
Use the pill and the dope, dope, dope, dope, dope
Drug use is also rampant in society
Educated fools
People with higher education who are still ignorant or misguided
From uneducated schools
Even those who received a formal education are not getting the knowledge they need
Pimping people is the rule
Exploitation of people is common and accepted in society
Polluted water in the pool
Environmental degradation is happening everywhere
And Nixon talking about don't worry, worry, worry, worry
Even political leaders are downplaying or ignoring these issues
But they don't know
These leaders are out of touch with reality
There can be no show
The world and its society cannot continue on this path without consequences
And if there's a hell below
If a judgment day or punishment is to come, everyone will be affected
We're all gonna go, go, go, go, go
Everyone will be affected by the consequences of their actions
Everybody's praying
In times of trouble or uncertainty, people turn to religion
And everybody's saying
But only words are being exchanged, not action
But when come time to do
In the face of action, people hesitate or become passive
Everybody's laying
People are inactive in the face of societal problems
They say don't worry, worry, worry, worry
Even when people reassure, the problems still exist
Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: CURTIS MAYFIELD
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@erehistruth2356
Don't let the groove distract you from the message. Nothing but truth from a legend.
@tgnomechaser
Man, you can NOT get more SOUL BROTHER than this right here. Curtis was a monster genius. What an intro. FIRE!!!
@itamarverta8077
Amen
@ButterflyQueene07
I love the intro.
@paisleyprincess7996
Curtis Mayfield was the man..his own man. He owned his music, didn't let people tell him what to do, and didn't care what people took from his message. A man who truly spoke for many
@MusicLoverPearson
+Misty Aoudia He sure was he was one of three men who owned their own masters back in the 60's and up and they were James Brown and Ray Charles those men were smart enough to have power over their music during that era.
@obve4324
+MusicLover Pearson Thank you for the knowledge, so many of our people got ripped off it's nice to know that. Ase'..
@MusicLoverPearson
Ob Ve
You are very welcome they sure did they made they knew what they wanted before they signed their recording contracts.
@jackie5046
+Misty Aoudia and everything he did is still competely relevant.
@sexyred9746
Right on the dime and his music was during the Revolution and he got his point across to all races, either you accepted it or not....