Keep On Pushing
| Keep On Pushing | ||||
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| Studio album by The Impressions | ||||
| Released | July 1964 | |||
| Genre | Chicago soul | |||
| Label | ABC-Paramount | |||
| The Impressions chronology | ||||
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Keep On Pushing is an album by American soul music group the Impressions, released in 1964. It was the biggest album of their career, reaching the top ten on both the Billboard Pop and R&B Album charts, peaking at #8 and #4, respectively. It produced five Pop and R&B top 40 hit singles, two of which, ("Amen" and the title track), hit the Billboard pop top ten, and a third of which, "Talking About My Baby", came close, peaking at #12.
| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   [1] |
Production
"Amen" was an African-American spiritual arranged and sung by Jester Hairston for the 1963 film Lilies of the Field, starring Sidney Poitier. Curtis Mayfield had been inspired by the film, and the song "Amen" in particular: "Of course, I'd decided to do a version of it. We put it together in the studio starting off with a musical 'swing low sweet chariot', and then we fell into that particular song with somewhat of a marching rhythm."[2][3]
The album cover has a photo of the group pushing Mayfield's Jaguar E-Type.[4]
Reception
Keep On Pushing was the Impressions' most successful album, reaching the top ten on both the Billboard Pop and R&B album charts.
The album was one of those displayed on the cover of Bob Dylan's 1965 Bringing It All Back Home.[5] It was an influence on Bob Marley who included "Amen" and "I Made A Mistake" as part of the regular set list of the Wailers,[5] and recorded versions of "Amen", "I Made a Mistake", "Talking About My Baby" (as "Diamond Baby"), and "Long, Long Winter".[1] Covers of songs from the album by other artist include, "Keep On Pushing" by Ike & Tina Turner; "I've Been Trying" by Jerry Butler, The Bar-Kays, Archie Bell & The Drells, Phil Collins, Jewel, Pat Kelly, the Heptones, the Hour Glass, the Blues Brothers, and Eric Clapton; "Talking About My Baby" by Cliff Bennett, and Chuck Bernard.[1]
Track listing
All songs written by Curtis Mayfield, except where noted.
- "Keep On Pushing"
- "I've Been Trying"
- "I Ain't Supposed To"
- "Dedicate My Song to You" (Mayfield, Alice Beard)
- "Long, Long Winter"
- "Somebody Help Me"
- "Amen" (Traditional African-American spiritual; arranged by Jester Hairston, Mayfield, Johnny Pate)[2][6][3]
- "I Thank Heaven"
- "Talking About My Baby"
- "Don't Let It Hide"
- "I Love You (Yeah)"
- "I Made a Mistake"
Charts
USA - Album
| Year | Chart | Peak position |
|---|---|---|
| 1965 | Black Albums | 4 |
| 1964 | Pop Albums | 8 |
USA - Singles
| Year | Song | Chart | Peak position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1964 | Keep On Pushing | Pop Singles | 10 |
| 1964 | Talking About My Baby | Pop Singles | 12 |
| 1965 | Amen | Pop Singles | 7 |
| 1965 | Amen | Black Singles | 17 |
| 1965 | I've Been Trying | Black Singles | 35 |
| 1965 | Long, Long Winter | Black Singles | 35 |
Credits
- Curtis Mayfield - lead vocals, principal songwriter, producer
- Fred Cash - lead and backing vocals
- Sam Gooden - lead and backing vocals
- Orchestra arranged by Johnny Pate.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Keep On Pushing at AllMusic. Retrieved 2011-06-17.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Robert Pruter, Curtis Mayfield & The Impressions, The Anthology, 1961-1977, liner notes
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
