THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD
1,347) The Impressions — “A Woman Who Loves Me”
Altrockchick has opined that “Only self-centered *ssholes would depersonalize someone of the superior gender, as in ‘That’s enough, woman!’ or ‘Gimme a beer, woman!’ I can’t think of a single instance when a pop songwriter used the dehumanizing label ‘woman’ to express love and affection”. She does, though, point to “Woman”, Peter & Gordon’s Paul McCartney-penned number, as an exception. (https://altrockchick.com/2018/08/16/the-bee-gees-bee-gees-1st-classic-music-review/?amp=1) Hey, what about John Lennon’s “Woman”?! In any event, she’d better add the Impressions’s (see #118, 285) Curtis Mayfield-penned ’64 B-side — a “great overlooked Chicago soul nugget[]”. (John Bush, https://www.allmusic.com/album/the-never-ending-impressions-mw0000839597) Love and affection abound!
Ah, the Impressions. Steve Huey puts it well:
The quintessential Chicago soul group, the Impressions’ place in R&B history would be secure if they’d done nothing but launch the careers of soul legends Jerry Butler and Curtis Mayfield. But far more than that, the Impressions recorded some of the most distinctive vocal-group R&B of the ’60s under Mayfield’s guidance. Their style was marked by airy, feather-light harmonies and Mayfield’s influentially sparse guitar work, plus, at times, understated Latin rhythms. If their sound was sweet and lilting, it remained richly soulful thanks to the group’s firm grounding in gospel tradition; they popularized the three-part vocal trade-offs common in gospel but rare in R&B at the time, and recorded their fair share of songs with spiritual themes, both subtle and overt. Furthermore, Mayfield’s interest in the Civil Rights movement led to some of the first socially conscious R&B songs ever recorded, and his messages grew more explicit as the ’60s wore on, culminating in the streak of brilliance that was his early-’70s solo work.
https://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-impressions-mn0000082013#biography
Pay to Play! The Off the Charts Spotify Playlist! + Brace for the Obscure 60s Rock Merchandise
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