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.
It's Alright
Curtis Mayfield Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Say it's alright
It's alright, have a good time
Cause it's alright, whoa it's alright
Now we gonna move it slow
When the lights are low
When you move it slow
Whoa it's alright
Now listen to the beat
Kinda tap your feet
You got soul
Everybody knows that it's alright
Whoa it's alright
When you wake up early in the morning
Feeling sad like so many of us do
Hold a little soul
And make life your goal
And surely something's gotta come to you
And you gotta say it's alright
Say it's alright
It's alright, have a good time
Cause it's alright
Whoa it's alright
Someday I'll find me a woman
Who will love me and treat me real nice
Where my road has got to go (?)My love she will know from morning, noon
Until the night
And she's gotta say that it's alright
Say it's alright
It's alright, have a good time
Cause it's alright
Whoa it's alright
Now listen to the beat
Kinda tap your feet
You got soul
Everybody knows that it's alright
Whoa it's alright
You got soul
Everybodu knows that it's alright
Whoa it's alright
Curtis Mayfield's "It's Alright" is a feel-good song that encourages listeners to let loose and have a good time, despite any struggles or difficulties they may face. The repeated mantra of "It's alright" throughout the song feels like an assurance to listeners that things will work out, and that they should focus on enjoying the moment. The song opens by reassuring listeners that it's okay to let go and enjoy themselves, that they should "have a good time" because "it's alright." The song then encourages listeners to slow down and enjoy the moment, saying that moving slow during intimate moments "feels like more." The beat of the song itself plays into the theme of the lyrics, as listeners are encouraged to listen to the beat, tap their feet, and embrace the feeling of the music. Mayfield emphasizes that everyone has soul, and that they should be proud of it and embrace it. Finally, the song concludes with an optimistic message that, despite life's challenges, love and happiness are possible, and that things will work out in the end.
Line by Line Meaning
They say it's alright
Everyone is saying that everything is okay
Say it's alright
Confirm that everything is okay
It's alright, have a good time
Everything is okay, so enjoy yourself
Cause it's alright, whoa it's alright
Because everything is okay, it's all good
Now we gonna move it slow
Now we will dance slowly
When the lights are low
In dim lighting
When you move it slow
When you dance slowly
It feels like more (?)
It feels more enjoyable
Now listen to the beat
Pay attention to the rhythm
Kinda tap your feet
Move your feet in rhythm
You got soul
You have a good feeling
Everybody knows that it's alright
Everyone feels that everything is okay
When you wake up early in the morning
When you wake up early
Feeling sad like so many of us do
Feeling down, like many people often do
Hold a little soul
Hold on to the good feeling inside of you
And make life your goal
Make living life well your objective
And surely something's gotta come to you
Something good will come to you
And you gotta say it's alright
You have to acknowledge that everything is okay
Someday I'll find me a woman
One day I will find a loving partner
Who will love me and treat me real nice
Who will love and care for me
Where my road has got to go (?)
Wherever my path may lead
My love she will know from morning, noon
She will know I love her all day long
Until the night
Until it's dark outside
And she's gotta say that it's alright
She has to agree that everything is okay
Now listen to the beat
Pay attention to the rhythm
Kinda tap your feet
Move your feet in rhythm
You got soul
You have a good feeling
Everybody knows that it's alright
Everyone feels that everything is okay
Whoa it's alright
Everything is okay
Contributed by Maria F. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@okic7b4i81
I'm not impressed with the Beatles' approval of anything. I don't wait, with baited breath, to learn what some tone deaf people think of any style of music, any more than I would of Stevie Wonder offering his opinion of his favorite car style.
They approached a microphone. They sang their songs, complete with a quartet of high girlish falsetto shrills and DIDN'T have the decency to throw their instruments on the floor, walk off the stage and go home, so I have no respect for their judgment.
All I know is, 59 million girls were entranced by four ugly foreigners, with an old fashioned white style, of timing, who were different and brand new, so Motown was almost obliterated by the musically indigent, who didn't give a damn about quality that they couldn't even hear and didn't deserve.
Human girls are genetically programmed to be attracted to boys who are different, so they won't breed within their own families, but that trait almost cost us everything real inspired quality could produce.
It reminds me of someone dropping a turd on a lobster dinner and no one noticed the smell. The tone deaf were numb to everything, so they didn’t notice people wincing, in pain, when they were hammered with YEARS of abuse that just wouldn’t stop.
The Beatles followed and proclaimed the righteousness, and broadcast the power, of the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, who was an Indian huckster, so I considered their claim normal for the gullible. After they caught him hustling money, they claimed to be the evangelists of satan and they haven't caught him yet, so I believe that.
@l.angellove4621
THIS BASS STILL SOUNDS AS GOOD AS THE DAY IT WAS RELEASED, W/ 3 AMAZING
GENTLEMEN YES CURTIS MAYFIELD AND THE IMPRESSIONS COMES CORRECT
TO BRING IT TO THE SPOTLIGHT
WITH "IT'S ALRIGHT"
AS THEY SING AND BLOW SOME
SERIOUS HARMONY WITH GREAT
MUSIC
@bigefresh2
Disney's Soul brought me here!
@tonylusietto2397
Right, right. Angels in the Outfield too!! 🤘✌️🤙
@dgarzaart2000
Play this song whenever you can! Truer words were never sung! Peace and blessings to everyone everywhere!
@Robert-cr4fq
❤
@AGirlHasNoName829
My sister asked me to play this at her funeral.
That's the kind of special woman she was.....
Such a loss for humanity....RIP Sissy
I love you ❤
@nsoul8469
Bless xx
@esthermyers130
@@nsoul8469a😅😅q
@raymondsoto3078
Its alright to hav a good time 👍👍👌🌷
@leverndixon1843
This bruh ranks among the top all time male vocalists r.i.p my brother
@ethanthompson3198
"You've got soul." Is that not the most flattering thing you've ever heard?