There’s so much poetry in blues song lyrics, it’s really impossible to point to one artist and proclaim them THE poet of the blues. However, for today’s purposes we’ll hang that handle on singer/songwriter, Percy Mayfield who, in the early 1950s, was one of America’s most popular rhythm & blues singers.
Mayfield was born on this day in 1920 in Minden, Louisiana, just east of Shreveport. Percy Mayfield—Poet Of The Blues, is the name of a first-rate 1990 CD reissue of his greatest recordings. The three songs selected to accompany this birthday remembrance can all be found on that release.
Even if you’ve never heard Mayfield sing, it’s almost a certainty that if you listen to blues and R&B even a little bit, you’ve probably heard some of his songs. For instance, he wrote "Hit The Road, Jack" for Ray Charles. So, yeah, you’ve heard this guy’s music. Two other Mayfield compositions that have been recorded again and again by other artists are "Please Send Me Someone To Love" and "River’s Invitation."
Mayfield’s career began in earnest in Los Angeles in the mid-1940s when he signed with Specialty Records. His first recording for the label was "Please Send Me Someone To Love" which went to #1 on the R&B chart. One could argue that it was one of the first "message" songs of the nascent Civil Rights Movement. It’s essentially a prayer, with Mayfield saying, “God, please grant humanity peace and understanding…and while you’re at it, maybe slide me a life partner.”
"River’s Invitation" didn’t come along until 1963. Of course there were other lesser hits between 1950 and 1963, but nothing as good. Or as haunting. But there’s a 10-year stretch between Mayfield's first several hits and "River’s Invitation." So, what happened?
In 1950, when "Please Send Me Someone To Love" hit the charts, it seemed to indicate a stellar trajectory for Mayfield. He had it all—a sonorous, "come-hither" baritone voice, songwriting chops and physical beauty. Percy was a great-looking guy. For two years, he just got more and more popular. Then, in 1952, on his way home after a performance, his limo hit a parked truck.
For some reason, Mayfield was riding in the front seat with the driver. If he’d been in the back, maybe it wouldn’t have been so bad, but debris crushed his face and head so badly that he was initially pronounced dead at the scene. After two years of rehabilitation, Percy’s brain and voice came out intact, but he was disfigured. The changes in his physical appearance all but ended his performing career, though he continued to write and occasionally record. Basically, Percy Mayfield’s ship came in, hailed him aboard and set sail, only to be torpedoed before it reached international waters.
Following his recovery, Mayfield continued to write songs. In 1961, Ray Charles heard Mayfield’s a cappella demo recording of "Hit The Road, Jack." Not only did Charles turn the song into a Grammy-winning hit record, he hired Mayfield to work for his record label, Tangerine, primarily as a songwriter. After four or five years, that contract ended. In the early 1970s, Mayfield had a short relationship with Atlantic Records which resulted in a very minor hit record, I Don’t Want To Be President.
For the remainder of his life, Mayfield recorded now and then, performed now and then and continued to write. He died in 1984, just one day short of his 64th birthday.
Here are three songs, all ballads, from the collection mentioned earlier, 1990’s Percy Mayfield—Poet Of The Blues. If, after listening to them, you’d like to hear somewhat more contemporary versions of the songs, I've helped narrow that down:
"Please Send Me Someone To Love"
Nick's contemporary pick: Paul Butterfield’s Better Days (album) featuring a gorgeous vocal from Geoff Muldaur and an equally gorgeous guitar solo from Amos Garrett."(The) River’s Invitation"
Nick's contemporary picks: There are lots of good versions of this song. Aretha, Stanley Turrentine, California Honey Drops…but Tracy Nelson’s version is maybe my favorite. I also get a big kick out of a version released last year by Steven Bernstein’s Millennial Territory Orchestra with vocalist Catherine Russell. It’s the only version I know of that adds a large dose of New Orleans Second Line and a strong hint of Creedence Clearwater Revival’s ‘Born On The Bayou.’ Top that."Lost Love (Baby, Please)"
Nick's contemporary pick: If you’re a fan of barroom style slow blues music, definitely check out guitarist Elvin Bishop’s version of this one. It’s on Bishop’s first LP, which is simply titled Elvin Bishop Group. On the album the song is titled, inexplicably, Prisoner Of Love. There are some additional lyrics and Bishop’s tempo is even slower than that of Mayfield’s recording, but it’s definitely "Lost Love." The B-3 organ intro by Stephen Miller sucks you in and Bishop’s vocal and guitar solo (one of my favorites) nails it down. Great stuff.
