The Impressions

Responsible for nurturing two of soul music's greatest talents in Curtis Mayfield and Jerry Butler, The Impressions were a Chicago R&B institution who helped pave the way for a host of classic harmony groups. Originally formed as The Roosters in Chattanooga, Tennessee, the band moved to Chicago in 1958, where they were transformed by the recruitment of Butler and scored the hits Your Precious Love and Come Back My Love. Mayfield took over as front man in 1960 as their slices of soulful pop developed with the times and started to tackle racial politics and social inequality on US Top 10 album Keep On Moving (1964). Their combination of pop and politics would later inspire Bob Marley, Public Enemy and even Bruce Springsteen, while hit singles It's All Right, Talking About My Baby, Amen, We're A Winner and their all-time classic People Get Ready marked Mayfield out as one of the most important songwriters of his generation. He left the group in 1970 and went on to enjoy solo stardom and, while the group continued to record and tour in various guises, their only major subsequent success was with the single Finally Got Myself Together, which made the US Top 20 in 1974.

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