Percy Mayfield

Percy Mayfield demonstrated extraordinary skill as a composer when his emotionally resonant blues ballad “Please Send Me Someone to Love,” a richly textured expression of collective yearning, ascended to the top of the R&B charts in 1950. A catastrophic car crash in 1952 left the singer’s face permanently scarred and abruptly curtailed his performing prospects, yet the accident failed to halt his remarkable output as a writer. Widely regarded as the poet laureate of the blues, he served as Ray Charles’ most trusted lyricist throughout the 1960s, supplying the singer with such enduring numbers as “Hit the Road Jack” and “At the Club.”

Like numerous other postwar Los Angeles musicians, Mayfield launched his career in Texas before relocating to the West Coast during World War II. He initially offered Supreme Records a composition titled “Two Years of Torture” with the hope that Jimmy Witherspoon might record it; instead, label executives favored Mayfield’s own understated delivery and had him commit the song to tape in 1947, supported by an elite studio group that included saxophonist Maxwell Davis, guitarist Chuck Norris, and pianist Willard McDaniel.

Art Rupe’s Specialty label signed him in 1950, and over the next two years Mayfield placed a steady succession of R&B hits on the charts. The double-sided success of “Please Send Me Someone to Love” and its potent flip “Strange Things Happening” was followed by “Lost Love,” “What a Fool I Was,” “Prayin’ for Your Return,” “Cry Baby,” and “Big Question,” establishing him as one of the era’s most distinguished blues balladeers. Maxwell Davis again handled saxophone duties on most of these Specialty sides. Mayfield’s lyrics typically matched his measured tempos with clear-eyed pessimism, revealing a rare gift for articulating private anguish through vulnerability and quiet despair; “Life Is Suicide” and “The River’s Invitation” stand among the clearest illustrations.

Although the crash sharply reduced his touring schedule, he remained with Specialty through 1954, later recording for Chess in 1955–1956 and for Imperial in 1959. Ray Charles, grateful for the earlier songwriting contributions, welcomed Mayfield to his Tangerine imprint in 1962; during the next five years the singer delivered a series of refined performances, many accompanied by Brother Ray’s band, among them “My Jug and I” in 1964 and “Give Me Time to Explain” the following year. Few veteran blues artists have escaped covering at least one Mayfield composition. He continued working into the 1970s, registering modest chart entries on RCA and Atlantic while appearing onstage only sporadically until his death in 1984.