The Impressions
| The Impressions | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Chicago, IL, U.S. |
| Genre(s) | R&B, Soul |
| Years active | 1958-present |
| Label(s) | Paramount Curtom Universal |
| Website | http://www.the-impressions.com/ |
| Members | |
| Fred Cash Sam Gooden Reggie Torian | |
| Former members | |
| Jerry Butler Curtis Mayfield Arthur Brooks Richard Brooks Leroy Hutson Ralph Johnson Nate Evans | |
The Impressions were an American music group from Chicago that formed in 1958 and reached its zenith in the mid 1960s with gospel-soul hits like "Keep on Pushing," "People Get Ready," and "Gypsy Woman."
The group was founded as The Roosters by Chattanooga, Tennessee natives Sam Gooden, Richard Brooks, and Arthur Brooks. Personal changes included the addition of Jerry Butler and Curtis Mayfield with group being billed as Jerry Butler & the Impressions. By 1962, Butler and the Brookses had departed, and after switching to ABC-Paramount Records, Mayfield, Gooden, and new addition Fred Cash became a top-selling soul act. Mayfield left the group for a solo career in 1970.
Inductees into both the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Vocal Group Hall of Fame, The Impressions are best known for their 1960s string of hits, including "It's All Right," "Keep on Pushing," and "Gypsy Woman." Many of the Impressions' songs were heavily influenced by gospel music and served as inspirational anthems for the Civil Rights Movement.
History
Early years
Jerry Butler and Curtis Mayfield met while singing in the same Chicago church choir. After singing in a number of local gospel groups, the two of them joined a doo-wop group called "The Roosters" in 1957, whose members included Chattanooga, Tennessee natives Sam Gooden, Richard Brooks, and his brother Arthur. By 1958, The Roosters had a new manager in Eddie Thomas, a record deal with Vee-Jay Records, and a new name: "Jerry Butler & the Impressions."
The group's first hit single, often associated with Butler alone, was 1958's "For Your Precious Love," which hit number 11 on the U.S. pop charts and number three on the R&B charts. Soon after the release of the R&B Top 30 hit "Come Back My Love," Butler left the group to go on to a successful solo career. After briefly touring with the now-solo Butler as his guitarist, Curtis Mayfield became the group's new lead singer and songwriter, and Fred Cash, a returning original Roosters member, was appointed as the new fifth member.
The Mayfield-led years
Mayfield wrote a number of Butler's early solo hits and used the money to get the Impressions to move to Chicago, Illinois. There, they got a new deal with ABC-Paramount Records in 1961, and released their first post-Butler single. That single, "Gypsy Woman," was their biggest single, hitting number two on the R&B charts and number 20 on the pop chart. However after successive singles failed to chart well, Richard and Arthur Brooks ended up leaving the group in 1962.
Now a trio, the Impressions soon aligned themselves with producer Johnny Pate, who helped to update their act and create a more lush soul sound for the group. The result was the gospel-soul hit "It's All Right," a 1963 gold single that topped the R&B charts and made it to number four on the pop charts, becoming one of the group's signature songs. "It's All Right" and "Gypsy Woman" were the anchors of the group's first LP, 1963's The Impressions.
In 1964 the group released the first of Mayfield's Black-pride anthem compositions, "Keep on Pushing," which became a Top-10 smash on both the pop and R&B charts. It was also the title cut from the album of the same name, which likewise reached the Top 10 on both charts. Future Mayfield compositions would often feature social and political themes, including the following year's major hit and the group's best-known song, the gospel-style "People Get Ready," which hit number three on the R&B charts and number 14 on the pop charts.
In the mid-1960s, The Impressions, were compared with Motown acts such as The Temptations, The Miracles, and The Four Tops. After 1965's "Woman's Got Soul," the Impressions failed reach the R&B Top Ten for three more years, finally scoring in 1968 with the number nine "I Loved and Lost." "We're a Winner," which hit number one on the R&B charts that same year, represented a new level of social awareness in Mayfield's music.
The Impressions soon joined Mayfield's new Curtdom label, and over the next two years, several more Impressions message tracks followed, including the number one R&B hit "Choice of Colors" (1969) and the number three "Check Out Your Mind" (1970).
After Mayfield's departure
After the release of the Check Out Your Mind LP in 1970, Mayfield left the group and began a successful solo career, the highlight of which was writing and producing the Super Fly soundtrack. He continued to write and produce for The Impressions, who remained on Curtom. Leroy Hutson was the first new lead singer for the group following Mayfield's departure, but success eluded The Impressions, and Hutson left the group in 1973.
New members Ralph Johnson and Reggie Torian replaced Hutson, and The Impressions had three R&B Top 5 singles in 1974–1975: the #1 "Finally Got Myself Together (I'm a Changed Man)" (which also reached the Pop top 20 ) , and the #3 singles "Same Thing it Took" and "Sooner or Later." In 1976, The Impressions left Curtom and Mayfield behind for Cotillion Records, and had their final major hit with "Loving Power." The same year, Ralph Johnson was replaced with Nate Evans, who remained in the group for three years, during which time The Impressions switched to 20th Century Records. Singles and albums sales continued to slip, and Evans left in 1979, reducing the group to a trio. Their final album, Fan the Flames, was released in 1981, and Reggie Torian, Fred Cash, and Sam Gooden (who remained in the group throughout its entire existence) disbanded two years later.
Ralph Johnson rejoined the group in 1983 and was with them until 2000. At that time, the group consisted of Fred Cash, Sam Gooden, Vandy Hampton, and Ralph Johnson, who also recorded with Eric Clapton on his Reptile album. Since the early-1980s, The Impressions periodically rebanded in various formats, usually recreating the classic line-up of Mayfield, Gooden, and Cash, and sometimes including Jerry Butler in the line-up.
On August 14, 1990, Mayfield was severely injured when lighting equipment fell on him during an on-stage performance in Brooklyn, New York. Paralyzed from the neck down, he could no longer play and could barely sing. He eventually was able to make a brief, well-received, comeback in 1997 with his New World Order album. He died in Roswell, Georgia, on December 26, 1999, at the age of 57.
Legacy
The Impressions were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1991, and into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2003. The members who got to take part in this honor, as Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees, were Sam Gooden, Jerry Butler, Richard Brooks, Curtis Mayfield, Arthur Brooks, and Fred Cash.
The group performs today, with Fred Cash, Sam Gooden, and Reggie Torian. In 2008, Universal Music & Hip O Records released "Movin' On Up"- the first- ever video compilation of The Impressions, featuring brand new interviews with original Impressions' members Sam Gooden and Fred Cash, along with taped interviews with the late Curtis Mayfield and video performances of the group's greatest hits and several of Mayfield's solo hits.
Personnel
- Jerry Butler (1958–1960)
- Curtis Mayfield (1958–1970)
- Sam Gooden (1958–present)
- Arthur Brooks (1958–1962)
- Richard Brooks (1958–1962)
- Fred Cash (1960–present)
- Leroy Hutson (1970–1973)
- Ralph Johnson (1973–1976 returned 1983-2000)
- Nate Evans (1976–1979)
- Reggie Torian (1973–present)
Discography
Albums
- 1963: The Impressions (album)|The Impressions]]
- 1964: Keep on Pushing
- 1964: The Never Ending Impressions
- 1965: One by One (Impressions album)|One by One]]
- 1965: Big 16
- 1965: People Get Ready (Impressions album)|People Get Ready
- 1966: Ridin' High (Impressions album)|Ridin' High
- 1967: The Fabulous Impressions
- 1968: We're a Winner (album)|We're a Winner
- 1968: This Is My Country (album)|This Is My Country
- 1969: The Young Mods' Forgotten Story
- 1969: The Versatile Impressions
- 1969: Amen
- 1970: Check out Your Mind!
- 1972: Times Have Changed
- 1973: Preacher Man
- 1974: Finally Got Myself Together
- 1974: Three the Hard Way
- 1975: First Impressions
- 1975: Sooner or Later
- 1976: It's About Time
- 1976: Originals
- 1976: Loving Power
- 1979: Come to My Party
- 1981: Fan the Fire
DVD
- 2008:Movin' On Up- "The Music and Message of Curtis Mayfield and The Impressions"
ReferencesISBN links support NWE through referral fees
- Burns, Peter. Curtis Mayfield: People Never Give Up. London: Sanctuary Publishing, Ltd., 2003. ISBN 978-1860744570
- George-Warren, Holly, et al. The Rolling Stones Encyclopedia of Rock and Roll. New York: Fireside, 2001. ISBN 978-0743201209
- Mayfield, Curtis. The Impressions: Tribute to Curtis Mayfield (audio CD). Delta Music, 2004. ISBN 978-6308282232
External links
- Official website
- 'The Impressions' Vocal Group hall of Fame Page
- The Impressions at Rolling Stone
- The Impressions at All Music Guide
Credits
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