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Mayfield, Curtis


Subject: Curtis Mayfield R.I.P.
From: Peter Stone Brown 
Date: Sun, 26 Dec 1999 22:17:29 -0500

One of the all-time greats of R&B and rock and roll, Curtis
Mayfield died today. Mayfield had been seriously ill for the past
nine years after being paralyzed in an on-stage accident when a
lighting rig fell on him while performing in Brooklyn.

Mayfield wrote many classic hits for the Impressions, Jerry
Butler and other artists such as Major Lance, including such
songs as "For Your Precious Love" and "People Get Ready."

Among his foremost accomplishments was bringing topical songs
into R&B, championing the civil rights movement of the '60s which
such tunes as "Keep On Pushing," "We're A Winner" and "Choice of
Colors."

Why mention it here?  Well, Dylan recorded "People Get Ready" a
couple of times, and it is obvious he was influenced by Mayfield
(the Impressions' "Keep On Pushing" album is on the "Bringing It
All Back Home" cover) and I suspect Mayfield was influenced by
Dylan as well.

Mayfield was also a great and distinctive guitarist, and the
Mayfield influence can be found in Dylan's own guitar playing
every now and then as well as some arrangements of his songs,
especially during the last decade, from the recent performances
of "Ring Them Bells" to the '95 Electric Factory rendition of
"Every Grain of Sand" which had a guitar interlude that was pure
Mayfield.

Even though he could no longer perform, Mayfield continued to
sing, write and record.

This is another major loss.

--
"Where the angels' voices whisper to the souls of previous times."
--Bob Dylan
Peter Stone Brown
e-mail: peterb@erols.com
http://store.yahoo.com/tangible-music/petstonbrowi.html


Subject: Re: Curtis Mayfield R.I.P. From: Lloyd Fonvielle Date: Sun, 26 Dec 1999 23:47:51 -0800 ... I've also read that Robertson was listening to Mayfield a lot around the time of the Basement Tapes. You can hear Mayfield in Robertson's guitar style, and I think Robertson himself once credited Mayfield as an inspiration for the sound he was going for on the early Band albums -- an anti-wall-of-sound feel, where all the musical elements were distinctive and tasty in their own right.

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