The message too became darker and less optimistic, as Mayfield now told tales from AmericaвЂ™s drugged-out seventies ghettos. His вЂ™70s output utilised stronger beats, brawny strings and plenty of wah-wah guitars. MayfieldвЂ™s solo career, though, took a sharp turn away from the toffee R&B and bright messages of the Impressions. By that time, he had hit somewhat of a creative ceiling in the band, even rehashing the melody to вЂњPeople Get ReadyвЂќ a couple of times on later songs. The end of the вЂ™60s neatly bookended MayfieldвЂ™s time in the Impressions. Musically too, he was an innovator, utilizing his gospel roots and effectively blending them with Latin-influenced rhythms, wicked horns and melodic guitars. At a time when the soul and R&B world rarely strayed away from the common love song, MayfieldвЂ™s music channelled the spirit of change that was gathering steam, writing a soundtrack that would underscore the black pride movement. Among their most lasting works were вЂњKeep on PushingвЂќ, вЂњWeвЂ™re a WinnerвЂќ and, most famously, вЂњPeople Get ReadyвЂќ. 11 hit with вЂњFor Your Precious LoveвЂќ, released on Vee Jay Records.Д«utler would move on and achieved significant success in his solo career, but it was under MayfieldвЂ™s guidance that the Impressions became one of the most successful R&B groups of the вЂ™60s. Two years later, after renaming themselves the Impressions, the group scored a No. Butler convinced the 14-year-old Mayfield to join his soul band, The Roosters. But gospel became his first calling and he performed in many choirs before meeting Jerry Butler in a church group. He began his musical career at age seven, learning to sing and teaching himself guitar. How sad that a man who spent his career fighting injustice would face a different plight in his final years.Д¬urtis Mayfield was born Jin Chicago and become one of the pioneers of the cityвЂ™s unique brand of gospel-tinged melodic soul. An adept pop songwriter, he sacrificed the fame and fortune enjoyed by his peers on the Motown label to make music about racial consciousness and social inequality, penning many songs that would become anthems of the civil rights movement. He might well have pondered on a career spanning 40 years, releasing almost as many albums and an influence that cannot be gauged by simple numbers. Hearing Mayfield sing in such good voice on New World Order, one wonders where his mind wandered between vocal takes as he lay flat on the floor, detached from the team of producers he had hired to do the physical work of which he was no longer capable. вЂњThrough the rain and through the snowвЂ¦ LetвЂ™s get on back to living again, right on.вЂќ

вЂњSummer, winter or just cold,вЂќ he sang before being forced to pause for the air to re-enter his body. Paralysed from the neck down, for the recording of his final album New World Order he purposefully positioned his broken body on its back to help fill his lungs with the necessary oxygen to sing, which he painstakingly did one line at a time - all the gentle genius could muster.

Tornadoes, high winds and torrential rain beat down on the home of Curtis Mayfield as he lay flat on the floor of his built-in recording studio.

The weather wasnвЂ™t kind to Atlanta, Georgia during the winter of 1995.

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