Percy Mayfield was a popular recording artist in the early 1950s when he had a No. 1 R&B hit with “Please Send Me Someone to Love,” but after a disfiguring injury in an auto accident in 1952 he performed less often and focused his attention on the talent that brought him even greater acclaim – songwriting. Always insightful, his songs could be meditative, pensive, inspirational, or psychologically probing, dealing with the complexities of the human mind and human relationships. Mayfield was one of the two songwriters variously honored as the “poet laureate of the blues” — the other was Willie Dixon, whose works had an entirely different tone from Mayfield’s. Born in Linden, Louisiana, on Aug. 12, 1920, Mayfield spent most of his career in Los Angeles. He rose to fame when he began recording for Specialty in 1950 and had occasional hits thereafter, including “River’s Invitation” in 1963 for Ray Charles’ Tangerine label. Mayfield also signed a contract to write songs for Charles, resulting in the No. 1 hit “Hit the Road Jack” and dozens of others. His songs were often recorded by other blues and R&B singers, particularly B.B. King, Junior Parker, and Johnny Adams, and the timeless quality of his work extended across stylistic borders to inspire versions by country, pop, rock, and jazz artists as well. Mayfield had started to attract some attention as a performer again when he died in Los Angeles on Aug. 11, 1984.
— Jim O’Neal
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