Percy Mayfield !




A blues and R&B legend, Percy Mayfield is known both as a singer and as a songwriter for other artists, most notably Ray Charles. His singing career took off in the late '40s, when he tried to get Jimmy Witherspoon to record some of his material. Spoon's Supreme Records signed Mayfield as an artist instead, releasing "Two Years Of Torture" b/w "You're Still A Square," songs that were recorded years later by Brother Ray and B.B. King, respectively. Percy Mayfield had the world by the tail until a horrific 1952 auto wreck left him facially disfigured. That didn't stop the poet laureate of the blues from writing in prolific fashion, though. As Ray Charles's favorite scribe during the '60s, he handed the Genius such gems as "Hit the Road Jack" and "At the Club." Even though his touring was drastically curtailed after the accident, Mayfield hung in there as a Specialty artist through 1954, switching to Chess in 1955-56 and Imperial in 1959.
Tell everybody that you can dance to his songs & make love to his songs.

Percy Mayfield - Louisiana

Percy Mayfield - Baby You're Rich


Comments

ted cogswell said…
Hey Rev, Thanks for pointing out that the great Percy Mayfield was the composer of "Hit the Road Jack". The new Ray movie makes it look like Charles himself wrote it in the film's most rediculous scene.

Also a tiny bit of self-promotion, my new blog THE REAL THING is finally up and running, with a focus on post-war blues, R&B amd soul (plus some early rock 'n' roll and country too). I hope you'll like it.

http://realthingblog.blogspot.com
Dan Phillips said…
Gotta love that Percy - the OTHER Mayfield. Rhino put out a limited edition CD of his Tangerine sides recorded with Ray Charles and his band. Very hip stuff. He also did some funky blues LPs in the late 1960's and early 1970's, such as
Walking On A Tightrope. Check that stuff out, too.
Anonymous said…
Hi!
The early sides of Percy Mayfield are terrific, also his lilting Louisiana piece.
Now, did he sire Curtis, or not?

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