Artist:Percy Mayfield
Song:Please Send Me Someone to Love
Album:The Singles Collection 1947-62
After Please Send Me Someone to Love topped the R&B charts in 1950, Percy Mayfield was on his way to be one of the top R&B stars of the 50s. Sadly, a 1952 near fatal auto accident put him in the hospital for two years. Though it left Mayfield facially disfigured, he continued to write songs for others. He was born Aug. 12, 1920 in Minden, LA which is near Shreveport. He started writing poetry as a child and that led him to songwriting and singing. Mayfield began performing in Texas and then moved to Los Angeles in 1942. Though he wasn't having much luck, that changed when he took his song Two Years of Torture to Supreme Records thinking Jimmy Witherspoon might like to record it. But they liked Mayfield's performance enough to have him record it with guys like Maxwell Davis on sax, Chuck Norris on guitar and Willard McDaniel on piano. This 1949 single got the attention of Specialty Records owner Art Rupe. He signed Mayfield and Please Send Me Someone to Love topped the R&B charts in 1950. They used the same band as the previous recording. Mayfield scored several top ten R&B hits over the next couple of years. These were mostly ballads suited to Mayfield's singing style. Mayfield performed at the Cavalcade of Jazz at Wrigley Field in Los Angeles July 8, 1951. Then in 1952, Mayfield was on his way from Las Vegas to Los Angeles in a chauffer driven car when it hit a truck. Mayfield was pronounced dead at the scene but he recovered after two years of convalescing. It left him with a facial disfigurement that ended his performing career. But Mayfield recorded in the 50s for Chess and Imperial. And then he really hit the jackpot when Ray Charles topped the charts with his song Hit the Road, Jack in 1961. Charles signed Mayfield to his Tangerine label. And as part of that deal, Mayfield wrote songs exclusively for Charles who recorded several of his songs. Later on Mayfield recorded for RCA and Atlantic. You can get all of Mayfield's Specialty recordings on this comp from Acrobat. Mayfield's final recordings were with former Paul Butterfield Blues Band keyboardist Mark Naftalin in the early 80s. Mayfield died of a heart attack on Aug. 11, 1984 at age 63. Little Richard sang at his funeral. My guess is most of you have never heard of Percy Mayfield. Here's your chance to discover a lost R&B legend. Here's a video of Please Send Me Someone to Love by Percy Mayfield.
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