Poet Of The Blues

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.