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 Brooks. 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 was 1958's "
For Your Precious Love", which hit No. 11 on the US pop chart and No. 3 on the R&B chart. However, 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 as the
guitarist with the now-solo Butler, Curtis Mayfield became the group's new lead singer and
songwriter, and
Fred Cash, a returning original Roosters member, was appointed the new fifth member.
ABC-Paramount Records success Mayfield wrote several of Butler's early solo hits, and used the money to get the Impressions to move to New York City. 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 to date, hitting No. 2 on the R&B chart and No. 20 on the pop chart. Successive singles failed to match "Gypsy Woman"′s success, and Richard and Arthur Brooks ended up leaving the group in 1962. The Impressions returned to Chicago as a trio, and soon aligned themselves with
producer Johnny Pate, who helped to update their sound and create a more lush
soul sound for the group. The result was "
It's All Right", a 1963 million-selling
gold single that topped the R&B chart and made it to No. 4 on the pop chart, and became one of the group's signature songs. "It's All Right" and "Gypsy Woman" were the anchors of the Impressions' first LP, 1963's
The Impressions. 1964 brought the first of Mayfield's
Black pride anthem compositions, "
Keep on Pushing", which became a top 10 smash on both the
Billboard Pop and R&B chart, peaking at No. 10 Pop. It was the title cut from the
album of the same name, which also reached the top 10 on both charts. Future Mayfield compositions featured an increasingly social and political awareness, including the following year's major hit and the group's best-known song, the gospel-influenced "People Get Ready", which hit No. 3 on the R&B chart and No. 14 on the pop chart.
Increasing social consciousness In the mid-1960s, the Impressions were compared with
Motown acts such as
the Temptations,
the Miracles, and
the Four Tops. Their 1966 single "Can't Satisfy" was deemed to share significant similarities with
"This Old Heart Of Mine (Is Weak For You)" by Motown group
the Isley Brothers; Motown sued and Curtis Mayfield had to share writing credits with songwriting-production team
Holland-Dozier-Holland and
Sylvia Moy for his song. "Can't Satisfy" was nevertheless a top 20 R&B hit for the Impressions, peaking at No. 12, and has since become a
Northern Soul classic. After 1965's "Woman's Got Soul", and the No. 7 pop hit "Amen", the Impressions failed to reach the R&B top ten for three more years, finally scoring in 1968 with the No. 9 "I Loved and Lost". "
We're a Winner", which hit No. 1 on the R&B chart that same year, represented a new level of social awareness in Mayfield's music. Mayfield created his own label, Curtom, and moved the Impressions to the label. Over the next two years, more Impressions message tracks followed, including the No. 1 R&B hit "
Choice of Colors" (1969) and the No. 3 R&B hit "Check Out Your Mind" (1970). The Impressions were a notable influence on
The Wailers and other
ska/
rocksteady groups and singers in
Jamaica: the Wailers modelled their singing/harmony style on them and in part borrowed their look, too. There are many covers of Impressions songs by the Wailers, including "Keep On Moving", "Long Long Winter" and "Just Another Dance".
Bob Marley also sampled the lyrics of the Impressions song "People, Get Ready" for his song "
One Love/People Get Ready". The Wailers had recorded it on several occasions before it was released as a single in 1984. Original recordings of the song do not credit Mayfield's song and are simply titled "One Love" (as copyright law was not enforced for Jamaican recordings at the time) but the version for their album 1977
Exodus (and 1984 single) is titled "One Love/People Get Ready" and credits Mayfield, giving co-authorship credits to both Marley and Mayfield. In addition,
Pat Kelly covered "Soulful Love" and The Heptones covered "I've Been Trying" and “Choice of Color”.
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, followed by collaborating on the soundtracks of
Claudine,
Sparkle, and
A Piece of the Action. 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. Jon French was the drummer for the touring band playing around the United States and Europe. He is also heard on the recording of "Freddie's Dead".
Later years, awards, and accolades New members Ralph Johnson and Reggie Torian replaced Hutson, This lineup recorded with
Eric Clapton on his
Reptile album. 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 became Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees were the original Roosters/Impressions lineup: Sam Gooden, Jerry Butler, Richard Brooks, Curtis Mayfield, Arthur Brooks, and Fred Cash. Mayfield was paralyzed from the neck down, after lighting equipment fell on him during a live performance at Wingate Field in
Flatbush, Brooklyn,
New York, on August 13, 1990. Despite this, he continued his career as a recording artist, releasing his final album
New World Order in 1997. Mayfield won a
Grammy Legend Award in 1994 and a
Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1995 and was a double inductee into the
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, as a member of the Impressions in 1991 and again in 1999 as a solo artist. He was also a two-time
Grammy Hall of Fame inductee. He died from complications of
type 2 diabetes in 1999 at the age of 57. Johnson left in 2001 and was replaced by Willie Kitchens. In August 2013, former Impressions member
Leroy Hutson filed a complaint against
Young Jeezy and others alleging that Young Jeezy's song "Time" inappropriately incorporated the instrumental portion of the Impressions "Getting it On", which was registered with the
United States Copyright Office in 1973. In 2015, then 30-year old Jermaine Purifory, an
American Idol contestant and former session-vocalist for the musical comedy-drama
Glee, joined the Impressions as their new lead singer. Purifory performed with the group until their retirement in 2018. In September 2018, the Impressions embarked on their first
Japan tour, which was also their farewell tour in their 60th-anniversary year. The Impressions performed six shows at the
Billboard Live venues in
Tokyo and
Osaka. ==Deaths==