Biography of Percy Mayfield

After his number one R&B lament "Please Send Me Someone to Love" established him as a subtly moving singer in 1950, a disfiguring auto accident forced Percy Mayfield to accentuate his songwriting skills instead. It was lucky for Ray Charles that he did, since the introspective composer penned some of Brother Ray's best material (notably "Hit the Road, Jack"). Based in Los Angeles, Mayfield proved to be one of his own best musical interpreters during the early '50s when he racked up seven Top Ten R&B sellers for Specialty Records. The despairing "Strange Things Happening," "The River's Invitation," and "Please Send Me Someone to Love" tabbed Mayfield as the poet laureate of R&B, a writer whose material has grown in stature with time (Johnny Adams recently cut a whole album of Mayfield tunes for Rounder). Although his own sound was based in sax and piano, Mayfield's recordings were apparently too gentle and troubling to weather the onslaught of early rock & roll. While under contract to Charles as a writer during the '60s, Mayfield cut a couple of nice albums for the Genius's own Tangerine logo, and he remained semi-active on the West Coast until his 1984 death. ~ Bill Dahl