Traveling Soul (59 page)

“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 friends 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.