Curtis Mayfield

Curtis Mayfield deserves a lot more recognition for his contribution to popular music than he already gets. Both his sweet soulful voice and velvety guitar playing greatly inspired Jimi Hendrix’s cleanest moments, he wrote the 1965 Civil Rights anthem People Get Ready with The Impressions, and recorded the ultimate funk blaxploitation album with the Superfly soundtrack. He kept on releasing albums until his death in 1999 but his legacy is still going strong.