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Songs from this album are available to purchase as MP3s. Click on "Buy MP3" or
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Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
If the name Percy Mayfield elicits a blank stare today, tell 'em he wrote "Hit the Road, Jack" and three other major hits for Ray Charles. Tell 'em that the likes of B.B. King, Nancy Wilson, and other artists of stature have recorded his songs. Tell 'em that for two years--1950 to 1952--he was a dominant presence on the R&B charts while recording for Art Rupe's Specialty Records. Tell 'em that men envied his silky, seductive vocal style, and women swooned over it. Tell 'em he was a giant among the writers of his era, and fearless in his subject matter--tackling racism in "Please Send Me Someone to Love," his No. 1 single from 1950, and laying out his own despairing worldview with startling frankness in songs such as "Life Is Suicide" and the haunting "Memory Pain." Tell 'em you can dance to his songs, make love to his songs, or deconstruct them for a deeper message about the state of affairs in America at the outset of the modern civil rights era. Tell 'em he's the poet of the blues, and there's 25 tracks here that prove the point. Tell 'em he's Percy Mayfield. Case closed. --David McGee
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
One of the best early 50's balladeers,
By
This review is from: Legends of Specialty (Audio CD)
Johnny Ace wasn't the only balladeer making headlines in the R&B world of the early 50's. He had 3 cats continuosly knocking on his door at that time. One was the great Charles Brown and the other one was Percy Mayfield and the other was the great Ivory Joe Hunter.Oh there were many other R&B singers around this period but as far as ballad singers these 4 ruled in the R&B world. Percy's song "Please send me someone to love" is revered on the same level as Johnny Ace's "Pledging my love" and Charles Browns " Black Night". Please send me someone to love is a pure classic in another sense- It was the first song to hint at us all being one race-the human race-and in a subtle way protesting racism. This of course being done in 1950 long before Curtis Mayfield and Marvin Gaye would make it popular. This is classic early 50's R&B from a cat who is truly missed and will never be replaced.
5.0 out of 5 stars
beautiful!,
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This review is from: Poet of the Blues (Audio CD)
Really a terrific collection of an amazing singer and song writer, not as well known as he should be. A voice of enormous beauty and poignancy.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Percy Mayfield's poetry and blues,
By Ange Tsibo (Melbourne, Australia) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Legends of Specialty (Audio CD)
4.5 stars
Heaven please send to all mankind, Understanding and peace in mind. But if it's not asking too much Please send me someone to love, someone to love. Show all the world how to get along, Peace will enter when hate is gone. But if it's not asking too much, Please send me someone to love... Only a dyed in the wool cynic could possibly deny that Percy Mayfield's immortal words are as timely and touching now as they were 60 years ago, when his classic song 'Please Send Me Someone To Love' reached the top of the U.S. Billboard R&B charts in November, 1950. Often remembered these days for penning several hit tunes for Ray Charles in the early-60s, most notably 'Hit The Road, Jack', it is Mayfield's stint with the legendary Specialty Records label in the early-50s though which arguably produced his most ground-breaking work. The twenty five tunes collected on Poet Of The Blues, spanning the years 1950 to '54, reveal an artist who not only enjoyed significant commercial success (seven top ten R&B hits), but whose artistic influence, albeit often indirectly, is still keenly felt today. After leaving his native Louisiana in the early '40s, Mayfield spend several years in L.A. trying to launch his career before his talents were spotted by Specialty's famed producer, Art Rupe, who signed Percy to his label in 1950. As was often the case, Rupe's talent for nurturing hit-makers was swiftly rewarded with the success of 'Please Send Me Someone To Love' before the year was out. The combination of Mayfield's smooth but deeply emotive voice and heartfelt lyrics were further enhanced by Rupe's production skills. Using state-of-the-art studios, 'Pappy' (as Mayfield fondly dubbed his producer) was able to capture every nuance of Mayfield's blues and gospel drenched croon, while surrounding him with some of the most talented musicians to be found in L.A., including sax players like T. Maxwell Davis (Fletcher Henderson, T-Bone Walker), Jack McVea (Lionel Hampton, Charlie Parker) and drummer Jesse Sailes (BB King, Doris Day, Cher). From the slow-swinging blues of 'Life Is Suicide' and the bayou groove of 'Louisiana', to the jumping R&B of 'Baby, You're Rich' and the salacious humour of 'Loose Lips', Mayfield's talents as both a performer and writer would influence many blues and soul singer/songwriters over the following decades (when he also cut many excellent sessions for the Tangerine, Atlantic and RCA labels), a fact clearly borne out by the huge list of artists who have covered his tunes. So much more than simply a songwriting footnote in the careers of other more famous stars, it's about time the 'poet of the blues' received his dues.
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