“They seemed to know only one phrase”: Ibid.
“It was a twelve-string”: “Soul of an R&B Genius,” Guitar Player.
“When I first started playing guitar”: Valentine, “Curtis Mayfield in the Talk-In.”
“It was my other self”: Gonzales, “Curtis Mayfield.”
“My education didn’t give me any background”: Alexander, “The Impressions.”
“When we were little she told us”: Carolyn Mayfield, interview by Atria and Mayfield.
“Brown v. Board was what the grown-ups talked about”: Butler, interview by Atria and Mayfield.
“We felt we were up in Pill Hill”: Carolyn Mayfield, interview by Atria and Mayfield, 2013.
“It was really high-class living”: Page, “Does Curtis Mayfield Sincerely Want to Be Rich?”
“We used to harmonize and sing Frankie Lymon”: Aletti, “Jerry Butler.”
“We were all trying to sing”: Werner, Higher Ground, 68.
crowds of eager young kids lined up: Ibid., 69.
“We thought that this would all be over”: Garrow, Bearing the Cross, 26.
“We’d tell him to get away from us”: Werner, Higher Ground, 68.
“Once they’d gone to bed, I’d slip out”: Bowman, booklet for Movin’ On Up.
“Arthur was stockily built”: Butler with Smith, Only the Strong Survive, 38.
“If you join us, man, with the way you play”: Ibid.
“We woodshedded for a good year”: Werner, Higher Ground, 69.
“The Medallionaires thought they were hot stuff”: Thomas, interview by Atria and Mayfield.
“Their harmony was mind blowing”: Ibid.
“We couldn’t get through a song”: Ibid.
“I can’t see it on a marquee”: Ibid.
“What’s the new name then?”: Goins, “Soulful Conversation.”
4. The Original Impressions
“I had never heard of [Eddie Howard]”: Butler with Smith, Only the Strong Survive, 40.
“She talked very fast”: Ibid.
“Vee-Jay had an employee lounge”: Davis, Man Behind the Music, 44.
“We thought they were ridiculous”: Butler with Smith, Only the Strong Survive, 40.
“Gee, I really want to record you guys”: Ibid., 42.
“That’s it! That’s it!”: Werner, Higher Ground, 74.
“Here comes the rip off”: Butler with Smith, Only the Strong Survive, 43.
“We were very happy and very grateful”: Ibid.
“I ain’t gonna lie”: Ibid., 44.
“a huge room with the control room way up in the air”: Callahan, “Vee Jay Album Discography.”
“Four or five takes later”: Butler with Smith, Only the Strong Survive, 44.
“When we heard that song coming across”: Butler, interview by Atria and Mayfield.
“I knew that Curtis, Sam, Arthur and Richard didn’t like it”: Butler with Smith, Only the Strong Survive, 50.
“By the time he got through talking”: Ibid.
“The rift over the phrase”: Ibid.
“You can understand all these fellows”: Werner, Higher Ground, 76.
the market featured “cigar-chomping hawkers”: Butler with Smith, Only the Strong Survive, 53.
“We were treated like a bunch of kids”: Ibid., 52.
“Don’t worry”: Ibid.
“dressed like some fairytale prince”: Ibid., 53.
Larry started his rap: “Ladies and gentlemen”: Ibid.
“I got the same feeling that night”: Ibid., 54.
“didn’t even buy us a hamburger”: Ibid.
“Curtis was so broke in those days”: Gonzales, “Gangster Boogie.”
“Mrs. Washington was a very hip old lady”: Butler with Smith, Only the Strong Survive, 66.
“She sure did bless the hell out of us”: Ibid.
“Wait a minute!”: Ibid., 56.
“We used to play tricks on one another”: Ibid., 174.
“I felt like a stranger”: Ibid., 66.
“Jocko was number one”: Ibid., 58.
“Since we were going to New York”: Butler, interview by Atria and Mayfield.
“Y’all take that white shit someplace”: Butler with Smith, Only the Strong Survive, 59.
“I’ll tell you what to do”: Ibid.
“Plenty of junkies and rats”: Ibid.
“Every junkie and booster in Harlem”: Ibid., 61.
“We had sold only so many records”: Ibid., 63.
“Turn on American Bandstand”: Ibid., 110.
“Nixon has a genius for convincing one”: Garrow, Bearing the Cross, 119.
“This is the creative moment”: Ibid., 124.
“We were making more money”: Butler with Smith, Only the Strong Survive, 68.
“We never had decent-looking furniture”: Carolyn Mayfield, interview by Atria and Mayfield.
“All of a sudden, the smells we used to ignore”: Butler with Smith, Only the Strong Survive, 68.
“Helen used to come over the house”: Carolyn Mayfield, interview by Atria and Mayfield.
“We let Richard go ahead”: Thomas, interview by Atria and Mayfield.
“Young girls, seeing the spectacle”: Butler with Smith, Only the Strong Survive, 67.
“They all interviewed us”: Ibid., 68.
“Okay, baby,” Abner said: Ibid., 70
“Arthur pitched a bitch”: Ibid., 71.
“[Mom] bought this great big freezer”: Carolyn Mayfield, interview by Atria and Mayfield.
“I found out later”: Thomas, interview by Atria and Mayfield.
“Hey, this a great record”: Lewis, “The Impressions.”
“We scuffled some”: Werner, Higher Ground, 79.
For a few months, they scraped by: Ibid.
“There were so many fights”: Gonzales, “Gangster Boogie.”
“He was always coming round and looking through my bag”: Williams, “Everything Was a Song.”
“We were still living in Cabrini-Green”: Kenny Mayfield, interview by Atria and Mayfield.
“I beat her up, and the next thing I heard”: Carolyn Mayfield, interview by Atria and Mayfield.
“I don’t think that relationship”: Thomas, interview by Atria and Mayfield.
“Man, I don’t know anybody’s songs”: Butler, interview by Atria and Mayfield.
“When Jerry called, I had nothing”: Werner, Higher Ground, 81.
“I was his chauffer—or flunky”: Thomas, interview by Atria and Mayfield.
“We were living together”: Ibid.
“I was making history”: Ibid.
“I can assure you that we did it very poorly”: Butler, interview by Atria and Mayfield.
“He always had an instrument”: Ibid.
He introduced it to Eddie: Thomas, interview by Atria and Mayfield.
“I was there with my tin cup”: Ibid.
“I used to take him out to dinner”: Ibid.
“This is me, man”: Ibid.
“Eddie was such a hustler”: Werner, Higher Ground, 83.
Harris said, “No, I can’t see this group”: Thomas, interview by Atria and Mayfield.
“He was black, and I’m black”: Ibid.
“Being with Jerry Butler, I know a lot of DJs”: Werner, Higher Ground, 83.
“Man, we’re going to have to roll our sleeves up”: Thomas, interview by Atria and Mayfield.
“I could see it coming, but I didn’t know”: Butler with Smith, Only the Strong Survive, 92.
“Everybody who was part of the Impressions”: Ibid.
5. Keep On Pushing
“Brill was a building where songwriters would go up”: Dwyer, “In a World of Songwriting.”
“If a songwriter was doing a demo session”: Ibid.
“I believed very early in life”: Light, “Lasting Impression.”
“Publishers were hitting the lottery”: Gonzales, “Gangster Boogie.”
“My frie
nds were being intimidated”: Butler with Smith, Only the Strong Survive, 108.
“Once they saw that, they released it”: Thomas, interview by Atria and Mayfield.
“I was scared to death”: Lewis, “The Impressions.”
“Girls were there by the fortress”: The History Makers.
“Man, you think the people are gonna like me?”: Farberman, “Q&A: The Impressions’ Fred Cash.”
“The country was our neighborhood”: Werner, Higher Ground, 85.
“We went downtown to pay the ticket”: Ibid.
“Oh Lord, it was rough”: Atria, “The Message.”
“A lot of auditoriums that we played”: Ibid.
“You had your room”: Ibid.
“When the fellows would go out to have fun”: Werner, Higher Ground, 86.
“During those times of my life”: Werner, “Curtis Mayfield.”
“Our style was so different”: Pruter, Chicago Soul, 139.
“They were wanting to do stuff like Little Richard”: Lewis, “The Impressions.”
“Sam, Curtis, and I had become really tight”: Bowman, booklet for Movin’ On Up.
“I wanted Curtis more for his guitar”: Page, “Does Curtis Mayfield Sincerely Want to Be Rich?”
“Because I play with my fingers”: “Soul of an R&B Genius,” Guitar Player.
“My voicings are different”: Ibid.
“I chose to use Johnny in particular”: Pruter, Chicago Soul, 74.
“I used to go out to Curtis’ house”: Ibid., 73.
In the furtive early days of their relationship: Diane Mayfield, interview by Atria and Mayfield, 2013.
“They were taking me out of my range”: Peck, Galloway, and Gulotta, Movin’ On Up.
“We were trying to establish something”: Bowman, booklet for Movin’ On Up.
“In gospel, you knew how to sing lead”: Werner, Higher Ground, 120–122.
Dad “got to talking and running off at the mouth”: Werner, “Curtis Mayfield.”
“I drove most of the time”: Atria, “The Message.”
“He knew that I liked coffee”: Davis, Man Behind the Music, 55.
“Which one do you like?”: Ibid., 56.
“A lot of [Curtis’s] entertainment friends”: Kenny Mayfield, interview by Atria and Mayfield.
“That was my first introduction to arranging”: Werner, Higher Ground, 120.
“My group’s the Impressions”: Peck, Galloway, and Gulotta, Movin’ On Up.
“He started putting brass”: Ibid.
“I never tried to cover what Curtis was doing”: Ibid.
“We didn’t record anything else”: Carmichael, “Curtis Mayfield.”
“When we recorded that song, I discovered”: Peck, Galloway, and Gulotta, Movin’ On Up.
“That song bought Sam’s home”: Atria, “The Message.”
“The hatred was strong, strong”: Thomas, interview by Atria and Mayfield.
“The Negro is shedding himself of his fear”: Garrow, Bearing the Cross, 273.
“I started out reading the speech”: Ibid., 283.
“You know, this dream of King’s”: Marable, Malcolm X, 257.
“We aren’t going to stop”: “Race Relations in Crisis,” The Open Mind.
“If the NAACP can tell me”: Malcolm X, interview at UC Berkeley.
“[Curtis] would never share”: Davis, Man Behind the Music, 58.
“If you made a dollar”: Gonzales, “Gangster Boogie.”
“The record company called and said”: Carmichael, “Curtis Mayfield.”
“We were fascinated by”: Steffens, “Soul Survivor.”
“Hey man, come and listen to this”: Lewis, “The Impressions.”
“I wrote something that maybe can help”: Bowman, booklet for Movin’ On Up.
“I’m living”: Courter, “R&B Trio, with Two Chattanooga Members.”
“All I needed to do was change”: Werner, Higher Ground, 118–119.
“It wasn’t like they were starstruck”: Tracy Mayfield, interview by Atria and Mayfield, 2014.
“Man, you look like Curtis Mayfield”: Kenny Mayfield, interview by Atria and Mayfield.
“On the end of ‘I’ve Been Trying’”: Peck, Galloway, and Gulotta, Movin’ On Up.
“Dear Mother”: Author’s collection.
“On his part, I didn’t feel any iota”: Tracy Mayfield, interview by Atria and Mayfield, 2014.
“He had poor table manners”: Diane Mayfield, interview by Atria and Mayfield, 2014.
“The building basically was white people”: Ibid.
“They called us names”: Ibid.
6. People Get Ready
“The fragile unity that had made possible”: Marable, Malcolm X, 297.
In what he called “a deep mood”: Werner, Higher Ground, 125.
“Curtis would usually bring me the material”: Peck, Galloway, and Gulotta, Movin’ On Up.
“The Temptations went out and did”: Carmichael, “Curtis Mayfield.”
My father said, “Well, we got ‘People Get Ready’”: Bowman, booklet for Movin’ On Up.
“The song touched me quite a bit”: Peck, Galloway, and Gulotta, Movin’ On Up.
“Lyrically you could tell”: Bowman, booklet for Movin’ On Up.
“There’s no room for the hopeless sinner”: Williams, “Everything Was a Song.”
“I was observing things”: Werner, “Curtis Mayfield.”
“‘People Get Ready’ was one that we used”: Peck, Galloway, and Gulotta, Movin’ On Up.
Some churches changed the final couplet: Bowman, booklet for Movin’ On Up.
“It was so different”: Ibid.
“I’m not totally about being just”: Salewicz, “Keep On Pushing.”
“When we came out, it was like”: Bowman, booklet for Movin’ On Up.
“We did a lot of shows with James Brown”: Peck, Galloway, and Gulotta, Movin’ On Up.
“We were doing a show with him at the Regal”: Ibid.
“It is wrong—deadly wrong”: Garrow, Bearing the Cross, 408.
Forman wasn’t alone in advocating: Ibid., 410.
“I never will forget, I was looking”: Atria, “The Message.”
“They thought they had the cream”: Thomas, interview by Atria and Mayfield.
“We would go to friends’ houses”: Diane Mayfield, interview by Atria and Mayfield, 2013.
“He seemed like butter”: Ibid.
“He picked my friends”: Ibid.
“He was a better father”: Ibid.
“Because of who he was”: Ibid.
She yelled, “I want to work!”: Ibid.
“He was always up late writing”: Ibid.
“King had this naive faith”: Garrow, Bearing the Cross, 455.
“I have never seen”: Ibid., 544.
“You ain’t never seen”: Werner, Higher Ground, 124.
“[Curtis] just kind of lost his way there”: Atria, “The Message.”
“This fella, you could just talk to him”: Werner, “Curtis Mayfield.”
“This is the twenty-seventh time”: Churcher, “Stokely Carmichael.”
“The only way to end”: Bauerlein et al., Civil Rights Chronicle.
“I have seen many demonstrations”: James, “Martin Luther King Jr. in Chicago.”
“I don’t know what the answer to that is”: Garrow, Bearing the Cross, 497.
“We raised the hopes tremendously”: Ibid., 540.
“For years I labored with”: Ibid., 562.
One journalist pointedly predicted: Ibid., 568.
“I asked Hendrix who”: Shadwick, Jimi Hendrix: Musician, 78.
“I really like Curtis Mayfield”: Ibid., 84.
“There were dark days before”: Garrow, Bearing the Cross, 569.
“They don’t plan to just burn”: Ibid., 570.
“I have found out that all that I have been doing”: Ibid., 580.
“That song came to me in a dr
eam”: Gonzales, “Gangster Boogie.”
it was “a message to all”: Burns, People Never Give Up, 44.
“I was listening to all my preachers”: Werner, Higher Ground, 140.
“Curtis had written some real tough lyrics”: Peck, Galloway, and Gulotta, Movin’ On Up.
“They thought that we had become militant”: Ibid.
“I’ve run into frustrating obstacles”: Ibid.
“I wasn’t a quitter”: Werner, Higher Ground, 143.
“Mom would take us”: Tracy Mayfield, interview by Atria and Mayfield, 2013.
7. Curtom
Abernathy rushed over to him: Garrow, Bearing the Cross, 624.
“That’s one place that anybody could find you”: Thomas, interview by Atria and Mayfield.
“How are young people supposed to feel”: Witter, “Now More Than Ever.”
“Now that they’ve taken Dr. King off”: Kurlansky, 1968, 117.
“A truck came through here”: Whitaker, Cabrini Green, 25.
“Black people had torn it up”: Ibid., 26.
“Donny could do everything”: Goins, “Soulful Conversation.”
“One thing you knew”: Thomas, interview by Atria and Mayfield.
“With my own label”: Berry, “Curtis Mayfield’s ‘Super Fly.’”
“On to Chicago”: Swanson, Chicago Days, 212.
“I only look upon my writings”: Werbin, “Curtis Mayfield’s Biggest Score.”
“The style, the clothes, the wide pants”: Werner, Higher Ground, 142.
“It’s hard work running between the studio”: Burns, People Never Give Up, 49.
“When you get your record on the radio”: Thomas, interview by Atria and Mayfield.
“Half a million start selling”: Ibid.
“We’ve been pushed into corners”: Foner, The Black Panthers Speak, 28.
“a movement that will smash”: “Stokely Carmichael,” Biography.com.
“They aren’t a national organization”: Alexander, “The Impressions.”
“They had a thing going on back then”: Kenny Mayfield, interview by Atria and Mayfield.
“A lot of Curtis’s music reached way over there”: Ibid.
“Here I am over [in Vietnam]”: Ibid.
“I’ll never forget it, I got off the boat”: Ibid.
“Uncle Sam wants YOU”: Bauerlein et al., Civil Rights Chronicle.
“U.S. Negro armymen!”: Ibid.
“My conscience won’t let me”: “Ali: A Living Legend,” Like It Is.
“My face during those years”: Williams, “Everything Was a Song.”
Traveling Soul Page 37
