Mayfield
Continued from page 20
Continued from page 26
from the African American Arts Alliance.
Although there are similarities, for the
most part, All Things Mayfield is radically
different than It's All Right.
"It's not at all like the play," says Torian.
"The play told a story – which was that of
the Impressions; their history, how they
got together and their triumphs. There are
some similarities. The songs are different
in many cases. I include the songs he did
in his movie scores like Superfly; and classic songs that the Impressions did. But,
then, there were all these artists that Curtis
their songs. I knew "People Get Ready," "
I'm So Proud", and "It's Alright."
Whatever they asked me to sing- I knew
inside and out. August 18th 1972, was my
first day with them. We've been together
on and off ever since."
"I knew he would get it," says Ludd. "I
had to let go of the fact that The
Enchanters would be together and let
Reggie find his fame. He had a similar
range, he had lots of style, and he was
humble and had a great spirit. He was just
an amazing talent like Curtis."
Adds Torian: "I had a lot of interaction
with Curtis. They chose me because of my
falsetto. Curtis had an interest but he
thought Fred Cash was supposed to be the
lead singer. They brought me in, and they
Photo:
Lynn Orman
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Reginald Torian, Sr.
had written for in Chicago. He wrote and
produced Jerry Butler, Gene Chandler, and
of course, The Impressions after he left the
group. The stuff he did for his Custom
label. So, we try to explore some of that
too."
Mayfield came to national prominence
shortly after forming The Impressions
with his choir-pal, Jerry Butler in 1958.
They hit it big with the classic "For Your
Precious Love," and went on to have hits
with songs like "Gypsy Woman" and
"Talking About My Baby" and uplifting
anthems like "Keep On Pushing." Butler
went solo and Mayfield took over as sole
leader of the group.
When the civil rights struggle of the
mid 1960s hit urban centers in America,
and Mayfield and The Impressions were
there with songs like "If You Had A Choice
of Colors," "We're A Winner," and the
anthemic "People Get Ready," which
would later go on to be a hit for Rod
Stewart, Bob Marley and slew of others.
By the time Mayfield left The
Impressions to focus on a solo career and
his own label, Custom in 1970, the group
featured Fred Cash, Sam Gooden, and
newcomer Leroy Hutson.
Mayfield
remained involved writing and producing
with The Impressions, and when Hutson
left in 1972, he was instrumental in enlisting Torian to replace his own spot in the
group.
"Leroy Hutson was in the group for 18
months, and Curtis was grooming him for
a solo career," says Torian. "Curtis wanted
to end The Impressions when Leroy went
solo – but Sam Goodman and Fred Cash
wanted to keep it going. They went to
Clarence Ludd of The High Chaparral
Club and asked who could be a replacement."
"It was Clarence who set up an audition for me. He was managing a group I
was in called The Enchanters. I never
dreamed this could happen. I knew all
let Curtis know they want to keep that
trademark sound. In the end, I came to
know Curtis very intimately."
Torian left the band during part of the
'80s and '90s to return to school, earn a
degree and eventually become an
Ordained Elder (minister) of the Seventh
Day Adventist Church practicing the
teachings and spiritual principals of
Metaphysical Theology, "New Thought."
The group carried on with other vocalists
but Torian was never far and performed
with them, as well. The group did a
reunion tour with Mayfield in 1990, but
shortly thereafter, Mayfield was critically
injured when a lighting rig came loose and
fell on him during a performance. It left
him paralyzed, and 9 years later he died as
a result of the injuries.
In 2006, Torian reunited permanently
again with The Impressions, and continues to perform around the world with
them. When the opportunity to portray
Mayfield in his post-accident life in the
stage play, It's All Right – The Curtis
Mayfield Story, Torian jumped at the
chance, receiving awards and raves for his
performance.
Torian, a highly spiritual artist, feels he
is actually channeling Mayfield with his
new All Things Mayfield review. "This is an
idea I have had after all my years of working in the Impressions. When I decided to
do something solo, I realized I was still
doing a lot of the music from Curtis. I
decided to put it all together. I have some
of my own material in there too – I want to
let people know that I have written myself
too."
"This is a revue of Curtis's legendary
music; it's about the songs," says Torian. "
I talk about what it meant to us when
these songs came out. I want people to
explore their most vivid memory of when
these songs came out."
All Things Mayfield premiers 1/31 at The
Promontory - Hyde Park, Chicago.