“There was one guy in charge”: Stuart, interview by Atria.
“As green as he was”: Werner, Higher Ground, 160.
“The road wears a man down”: Alexander, “The Impressions.”
“They were coming down a big double highway”: Alexander, “The Impressions.”
“They was messed up”: Ibid.
“He had the guy at the body shop to fix it”: Diane Mayfield, interview by Atria and Mayfield, 2013.
“I think they just didn’t think that Sam and I”: Atria, “The Message.”
“Now that I have money I spend”: Alexander, “The Impressions.”
“That was a heavy blow”: Werner, “Curtis Mayfield.”
“That was one of the hardest”: Atria, “The Message.”
“He didn’t read music”: “The Impressions: Part 2,” Beldon’s Blues Point.
“When we came out in 1958, Lucky and his brother”: Werner, “Curtis Mayfield.”
8. Now You’re Gone
“Baby, I’m not going to give you any money”: Alexander, “The Impressions.”
“The girls would all line up backstage”: Thomas, interview by Atria and Mayfield.
“Street clothes, no suits or ties”: Alexander, “The Impressions.”
“We don’t have a choice of colors”: Ibid.
“‘Choice of Colors’ isn’t for Whitey”: Ibid.
“People didn’t like it too much”: Bowman, booklet for Movin’ On Up.
At eleven o’clock the following morning: Alexander, “The Impressions.”
“I can’t get into anything”: Ibid.
“You try to present yourselves”: Ibid.
“You wouldn’t be-lieve that smoke”: Ibid.
“I wasn’t dropping acid”: Gonzales, “Gangster Boogie.”
“Man, we can’t stand this drummer”: Fischer, interview by Atria.
“If you see me with a younger woman”: Ibid.
While the Impressions rehearsed: Peck, Galloway, and Gulotta, Movin’ On Up.
“Sometimes we’d drive”: Fischer, interview by Atria.
“Your services were welcome”: Ibid.
“I shouldn’t even be traveling”: Alexander, “The Impressions.”
“We’d get up at eight or nine”: Ibid.
“I still play semi-pro baseball”: Ibid.
“I used to write all the time”: Ibid.
“which means responsibilities, securities”: Ibid.
“Being an entertainer, even though it’s beautiful”: Ibid.
“When Curtis Mayfield would sing”: Peck, Galloway, and Gulotta, Movin’ On Up.
That last one was a favorite: Fischer, interview by Atria.
“Curtis was not hard to work for”: Ibid.
“Everyone makin’ it [is] a singer-songwriter”: Werner, Higher Ground, 155.
“I suggested to him that he just focus”: Goins, “Soulful Conversation Thomas.”
“[Curtis] is writing the songs”: Alexander, “The Impressions.”
9. Move On Up
“Over there you could get the purest stuff”: Kenny Mayfield, interview by Atria and Mayfield.
A Time magazine poll in 1970: Foner, The Black Panthers Speak, xxiv.
“Every one who gets in office promises”: Ibid., 64.
“That was a tune that I didn’t”: Carmichael, “Curtis Mayfield.”
“Of course, the Impressions were just the perfect bunch”: Peck, Galloway, and Gulotta, Movin’ On Up.
“Not being with the Impressions”: Galloway, liner notes for Roots.
“I’ve been on the road for twelve”: Abbey, “Curtis Mayfield: No Longer an Impression.”
“Fred, I’m going to try to go”: Peck, Galloway, and Gulotta, Movin’ On Up.
“Leaving the Impressions was a lot like”: Burns, People Never Give Up, 62.
“I felt bad for a simple reason”: Atria, “The Message.”
“You saw a good and evil”: Tracy Mayfield, interview by Atria and Mayfield, 2014.
“The Impressions are still the Impressions”: “Impressions Lose Curtis Mayfield,” Rolling Stone.
Eddie recalled dozing off : The History Makers.
“There were movements sometimes”: Werner, Higher Ground, 159.
“He used to sit down with Lucky”: “The Impressions: Part 2,” Beldon’s Blues Point.
As Andrew Young said, “It’s ‘jigger’”: Peck, Galloway, and Gulotta, Movin’ On Up.
“Songs like ‘We People Who Are Darker Than Blue’”: Galloway, liner notes for Roots.
“It was the ’70s”: Gonzales, “Curtis Mayfield.”
“I took it as a person that was very, very angry”: Peck, Galloway, and Gulotta, Movin’
On Up.
“The latter part of the ’60s”: Galloway, liner notes for Roots.
“It just wasn’t my plan”: Valentine, “Curtis Mayfield in the Talk-In.”
“My thoughts were that if we were to”: Abbey, “Curtis Mayfield: No Longer an
Impression.”
“What we did in the UK”: Abbey, interview by Atria and Mayfield.
“Him being there, in my opinion”: Ibid.
“It was misleading sometimes”: Ibid.
“He was a very genuinely kind man”: Ibid.
“[Curtis] wanted me to move into an apartment”: Diane Mayfield, interview by Atria and Mayfield, 2014.
“They were calling them the ‘Jamaican Impressions’”: “The Impressions: Part 3,” Beldon’s Blues Point.
“Me and [Marv] were driving into Chicago”: Galloway, Liner notes for Super Fly.
“Man, I don’t even know the names”: McMullen, interview by Atria, 2012.
“We were fortunate enough to find a studio”: Valentine, “Curtis Mayfield in the Talk-In.”
“Lately my lyrics have been more conscious”: Van Matre, “Mayfield’s Message.”
“[Melvin] went out and made a movie”: DVD special features for Parks, Super Fly.
“As I suffered through Sambo”: Bauerlein et al., Civil Rights Chronicle.
“When I first heard What’s Going On”: Burns, People Never Give Up, 75.
“A year ago, I’d have been pleading”: Williams, “Putting Something on Our Minds.”
“The all-too-brief, spur-of-the-moment”: Nathan, “Curtis Mayfield.”
“Probably the most significant factor”: Ibid.
“If you’ve ever walked into a large hall”: Mayfield, Curtis Mayfield “Rapping.”
“I don’t think we should stop demanding it”: Symes, “Curtis Mayfield.”
“If ever you could gather up a bunch of kids”: Galloway, liner notes for Roots.
“Everyone knows we have a pollution problem”: Symes, “Curtis Mayfield.”
“I was never crazy about my ability”: Galloway, liner notes for Roots.
“I was in love with this particular lady”: Ibid.
“I believe my vocal is stronger”: Burns, People Never Give Up, 70.
“I think my music is aimed at a general audience”: Ibid., 72.
“Those concerns are not just black problems”: Ibid., 72.
“With me running cross country we figured”: Symes, “Curtis Mayfield.”
“It’s sort of funny”: Ibid.
“We’re working on several new things”: Ibid.
“I told Curtis, ‘If we want Marv Stuart’”: The History Makers.
“I want you to buy me out”: Thomas, interview by Atria and Mayfield.
“I heard they liked threesomes”: Diane Mayfield, interview by Atria and Mayfield, 2014.
“He didn’t want to listen to me”: Ibid.
“I had a huge bruise”: Ibid.
“Another time when I wanted to do something”: Ibid.
“We hope that you might be interested”: Peck, Galloway, and Gulotta, Movin’ On Up.
10. Super Fly
“Wow, was I so excited”: Werner, Higher Ground, 161.
“I didn’t put Priest do
wn”: Ibid.
“Reading the script, I started feeling”: Gonzales, “Gangster Boogie.”
“I remember all this legal paper”: Tracy Mayfield, interview by Atria and Mayfield, 2014.
“I started writing [‘Little Child Runnin’ Wild’]”: Berry, “Curtis Mayfield’s ‘Super Fly.’”
“Hey, we’re going to go do this movie”: McMullen, interview by Atria, 2012.
“I think we went in at night”: Ibid.
“That’s when we found out what movie making”: Ibid.
“As for those who did turn out”: St. Pierre, review of Mayfield at the Rainbow.
“My comments I guess are more for the States”: Witter, “Now More Than Ever.”
“Segregation will only end when people”: Ibid.
“My grandmother was a preacher”: Peck, Galloway, and Gulotta, Movin’ On Up.
“What does he have to talk”: Werbin, “Curtis Mayfield’s Biggest Score.”
“Reading the script didn’t tell you”: Ibid.
“I did the music and lyrics”: Light, “Lasting Impression.”
He got a call: Peck, Galloway, and Gulotta, Movin’ On Up.
“Most of [the songs had] very few chord changes”: Ibid.
“We had the chance to cut”: McMullen, interview by Atria, 2012.
“As a guitar player, I wanted to make sure”: Ibid.
“This was the only time”: Gonzales, “Gangster Boogie.”
“It’s the way a hustler really would”: Mayfield, Curtis Mayfield “Rapping.”
“I was able to put a few other jazz licks”: Peck, Galloway, and Gulotta, Movin’ On Up.
“I orchestrated and arranged the score”: Gonzales, “Gangster Boogie.”
“We aren’t denying that Johnny Pate performed”: Ibid.
“Curtis couldn’t write music down”: McMullen, interview by Atria, 2012.
“Most arrangers that I have used in the past”: DVD special features for Parks, Super Fly.
“I knew Curtis needed to stand”: Thomas, interview by Atria and Mayfield.
“I saw some changes”: Diane Mayfield, interview by Atria and Mayfield, 2013.
“Marv Hyman, that was a Jewish name”: Ibid.
“I had a good picture”: DVD special features for Parks, Super Fly.
“Sig was ideal for this”: Ibid.
“I can remember sitting in the shoe-shine parlor”: Ibid.
“We said, ‘Let’s put KC in the picture’”: Ibid.
“When you shoot a picture like this”: Ibid.
“We didn’t have anything but raw bones and guts”: Ibid.
“What the hell did you expect”: Ibid.
“We decided we would go down”: Ibid.
“In all the films at that time”: Witter, “Now More Than Ever.”
“You could find more black power” : Strick, “Congress Dances.”
“sickening and dangerous screen venture”: Jarrett, “Cocaine Cinema Exploits Blacks.”
“The blaxploitation films are a phenomenon”: Werbin, “Curtis Mayfield’s Biggest Score.”
“When hip-hop became the thing”: Peck, Galloway, and Gulotta, Movin’ On Up.
“I remember in the theater in St. Louis, Missouri”: DVD special features for Parks, Super Fly.
“The first time I saw Superfly”: Gonzales, “Gangster Boogie.”
Gonzales also credited the “neo-psychedelic”: Ibid.
“The way you clean up the film”: Werbin, “Curtis Mayfield’s Biggest Score.”
“Forget the critics”: Page, “Does Curtis Mayfield Sincerely Want to Be Rich?”
“This was another opportunity”: McMullen, interview by Atria, 2010.
“These films were positive for us”: Gonzales, “Curtis Mayfield.”
“Super Fly is about people who don’t believe”: DVD special features for Parks, Super Fly.
“Everything was done behind closed doors”: Tracy Mayfield, interview by Atria and Mayfield, 2014.
“That was a whole other voice”: Ibid.
“We lost our bullet”: Werbin, “Curtis Mayfield’s Biggest Score.”
“Curtis, wait! We’re gold, Curtis!”: Ibid.
“You have to think of Curtis Mayfield as a prophetic visionary”: Peck, Galloway, and Gulotta, Movin’ On Up.
“personal congratulations on that great score”: “Curtis Mayfield / The Main Ingredient / Hank Ballard,” Soul Train.
“I’m working 24 hours a day”: Berry, “Curtis Mayfield’s ‘Super Fly.’”
“You never want to reach the peak”: Nathan, “The Curtom Story.”
11. Back to the World
“two of the juiciest psychedelic”: Burgess, “Curtis Mayfield Keeps On Pushin’.”
“That was probably no good for me”: Werner, Higher Ground, 205.
“The name of the game is longevity”: Burgess, “Curtis Mayfield Keeps On Pushin’.”
“This is what makes me want to go higher”: Ibid.
“You’re going to be so caught up”: Stuart, interview by Atria.
“I’m glad I was in a position”: Berry, “Curtis Mayfield’s ‘Super Fly.’”
“You learn the market”: Werner, “Curtis Mayfield.”
“It didn’t work”: Stuart, interview by Atria.
“I know you dream about home”: Foner, The Black Panthers Speak, 89.
“My day runs anywhere from fourteen to fifteen hours”: Nathan, “The Curtom Story.”
“Usually, when Curtis is ready to begin”: Ibid.
“an intensely masculine falsetto”: Davis, review of Back to the World.
“He mentored me”: Tracy Mayfield, interview by Atria and Mayfield, 2014.
“He invited us to the studio”: Ibid.
“Curt’s pretty busy right now”: Burns, People Never Give Up, 78.
“I had experienced all of that”: Gonzales, “Gangster Boogie.”
one of his favorite things was “hearing someone else record”: Peck, Galloway, and Gulotta, Movin’ On Up.
“The album allowed me to say some things”: Werner, Higher Ground, 207.
“We’ve shouted the message from the roof-tops”: St. Pierre, “Curtis Mayfield.”
“Like many an overextended or depleted”: Gersten, review of Sweet Exorcist.
“I can’t come in [to Curtom] and write”: Nathan, “The Curtom Story.”
“a skeletal Hokusai sea”: Clive Anderson, liner notes for Sweet Exorcist & Got to Find a Way.
“His behavior patterns changed”: Sharon Mayfield, interview by Atria and Mayfield.
“They would be feeding him information”: Tracy Mayfield, interview by Atria and Mayfield, 2014.
“they were in the room for so long”: Sharon Mayfield, interview by Atria and Mayfield.
“I think he got a kick out of scaring us”: Tracy Mayfield, interview by Atria and Mayfield, 2014.
“He was always like the old wise man”: Ibid.
He even doted on us: Sharon and Tracy Mayfield, interviews by Atria and Mayfield, 2014.
“He did what any father would’ve done”: Sharon Mayfield, interview by Atria and Mayfield.
“I didn’t want to be identified”: Sharon and Tracy Mayfield, interviews by Atria and Mayfield, 2014.
“I have an early memory of being aware”: Sharon Mayfield, interview by Atria and Mayfield.
“Here comes Curtis Mayfield”: Ibid.
“I suppose I was somewhat arrogant”: DVD special features for Parks, Super Fly.
“Curtis Mayfield hit a stride during the ’70s”: Wynn, review of Sweet Exorcist.
he “continued his run of excellent albums”: Wynn, review of Got to Find a Way.
“I just had to work this depth out”: Witter, “Now More Than Ever.”
“America Today takes a hard look”: Burns, People Never Give Up, 103.
“It’s not meant as a racial connotation”: Abbey, “Curtis Mayfield: Love to the People.”
“When he got back in the car�
�: Sharon Mayfield, interview by Atria and Mayfield.
“I had two honorable discharges, twenty-three letters”: Kenny Mayfield, interview by Atria and Mayfield.
“I basically dealt with the secondary radio stations”: Ibid.
“I’d like to think that you could sing”: “Soul of an R&B Genius,” Guitar Player.
the song “Jesus” was “the closest I’ve come”: Abbey, “Curtis Mayfield: Love to the People.”
“It appears [Curtis] was seeking”: Christgau, review of America Today.
The opportunity appealed to him: Nathan, “The Curtom Story.”
“I could hear what was going to happen”: Ibid.
“When we went into the studio”: Vanhorn, “Best of ’99.”
“I’m not really a radio man”: Burgess, “Curtis Mayfield Keeps On Pushin’.”
“I was writing the songs not knowing”: Nathan, “The Curtom Story.”
“The next thing I knew, Curtis”: Werner, Higher Ground, 211.
“I’d never gotten into Aretha until this”: Nathan, “The Curtom Story.”
“[Curtis] likes to work fast”: Werner, Higher Ground, 212.
“They tell you, go across town”: Nathan, “The Curtom Story.”
“Curtis hasn’t been out for three years”: Ibid.
“I’m usually working on one situation”: Ibid.
“He’s thirty-four and has spent seventeen years”: Ibid.
“We got great recognition”: Werner, Higher Ground, 209.
“Curtis Mayfield, the singer and composer”: Canby, review of Short Eyes.
“I remember when Curtis called me”: Werner, Higher Ground, 209.
“I remember Dad giving her instructions”: Tracy Mayfield, interview by Atria and Mayfield, 2014.
“He would get upset”: Ibid.
12. When Seasons Change
“It didn’t have much to do with me”: Burns, People Never Give Up, 135–136.
Rolling Stone called it his “flimsiest”: Tucker, review of Do It All Night.
“To show your own value”: Werner, Higher Ground, 220.
“It wasn’t so bad”: Ibid., 221.
“Those were some strange times”: Ibid., 219.
Craig Werner wrote, it “underscores”: Ibid., 223.
Werner’s assessment of the rest: Ibid.
“I think people in general”: Valentine, “Curtis Mayfield in the Talk-In.”
“Everything’s changed and nothing’s”: Witter, “Now More Than Ever.”
“Stars are made to burn”: Werner, Higher Ground, 268.
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