Percy Mayfield

A legendary though somewhat obscure singer-songwriter, Percy Mayfield racked up a long string of hits during the ‘50s. Percy was a major performer for the Specialty label delivering slow blues ballads with his smokey voice, which was reminiscent of Charles Brown. With the exception of Muddy Waters’ wordman Willie Dixon, the eloquently sad Percy Mayfield was the blues' greatest post-World War II songwriter and, unlike Dixon, he could sing. His biggest hit was the 1950 "Please Send Me Someone to Love", an R&B standard covered by many singers since then. The good looking Mayfield was nearly killed in a 1952 car accident that left his face severely scarred, which profoundly affected his career as a performer. In 1961, Ray Charles would score a major hit with Mayfield’s composition "Hit The Road, Jack". Mayfield was subsequently hired by Charles as a songwriter. This essential release contains a solid string of R&B smash hits, featuring every A and B-side Mayfield cut for Specialty Records between 1950 and 1955.

“A deep songwriter and super expressive singer, swingin' to pitiful and everything in between. He’s a constant source of inspiration”  -
DownBeat magazine
“While Charles Brown is so well known for his smooth delivery and his phrasing, it is Percy Mayfield who is the true genius of the field” -
All Music Guide

16-PAGE BOOKLET - RARE PHOTOS - VINTAGE MEMORABILIA - DETAILED LINER NOTES

PERCY MAYFIELD, vocal on all tracks, plus:

Maxwell Davis, Richard Wells, William Woodman (tenor sax),
jewell Grant (alto sax),
Charles Waller, Floyd Turnham (baritone sax)
Gerald Wiggins, Lee Jones, Willard
McDaniel (piano)
Harold Grant, Tiny Mitchell (guitar)
George “Red” Callender, Chuck Hamilton (bass)
Lee Young, Jesse Sailes, Bill Douglass (drums),
The Maytones (backing vocals), among others.
Further personnel information detailed inside booklet.

Recorded in Los Angeles (USA), between August 1950 and October 1954.

TRACKS

01 LOUISIANA 2:07
02 NIGHTLESS LOVER 2:28
03 BABY, YOU’RE RICH 2:21
04 MY BLUES 2:53
05 THE HUNT IS ON 2:15
06 LONESOME HIGHWAY 2:33
07 I DARE YOU BABY 2:18
08 PLEASE SEND ME SOMEONE TO LOVE 2:55
09 LOST MIND 2:43
10 LOOSE LIPS 1:58
11 BACHELOR BLUES 2:50
12 STRANGE THINGS HAPPENING 2:50
13 THE RIVER’S INVITATION 2:53
14 HOW DEEP IS THE WELL? 2:44
15 SUGAR MAMA – PEACHY PAPA 2:34
16 HOPELESS 3:02
17 CRY BABY 2:51
18 LIFE IS SUICIDE 2:50
19 PRAYIN’ FOR YOUR RETURN 2:57
20 LOST LOVE 2:57
21 I NEED LOVE SO BAD 2:54
22 THE VOICE WITHIN 2:32
23 THE BIG QUESTION 2:52
24 YOU WERE LYIN’ TO ME 2:59
25 MY HEART IS CRYING 3:00
26 YOU DON’T EXIST NO MORE 2:48
27 TWO HEARTS ARE GREATER THAN ONE 3:01
28 WHAT A FOOL I WAS 2:48
29 THE LONELY ONE 2:21

TOTAL TIME: 78:15