I think I'm right in saying that the music of Frankie Beverly & Maze seemed to be more popular in the UK in the 80s than US. They seemed to be 'adopted' by the UK Soul Weekender scene 'back in the day' where many of their tunes became weekender anthems.
Consequently they had 7 singles which entered the UK Chart. The track that probably comes to most people's mind is their classic Joy And Pain, which was never actually released as an A side in US!
Before I go into the band, Frankie Beverly was active before this in the 60s. Born Howard Beverly in 1946 in Philadelphia. He changed his name after his early influence from Frankie Lymon. He recorded with Philly group The Silhouettes (who had a hit with 'Get A Job' in 1957) at the age of 12. Still a teenager he formed The Blenders, I don't think that any material was recorded by them.
In 1963 he formed The Butlers. The group consisted of Frankie Beverly, Jack 'Sonny' Nicholson, Joe Collins, John Fitch, and Talmadge Conway. They recorded several 45s for a number of different labels between 1964-69, Liberty Bell - 'She Tried To Kiss Me (All I Could Do Is Run)' (a frantic NS dancer) / 'The Sun's Message' (Doo-wop ballad) and Phila - 'Butlers Theme' (NS instrumental) / 'Laugh, Laugh, Laugh' (a nice NS dancer which I have to confess not hearing before) as The Butlers and then changing their name to Frank Beverly & The Butlers for a release on Sassy for his classic Northern soul favourite 'If That's What You Wanted' and the wonderful 'Love (Your Pain Grows Deep)', although one of the issues had 'This Is Just A 'B' Side' as the flip. This is a sought after item as it was withheld from release as the record was picked up by Gamble for release, however, the producer (Billy Jackson) released them in the 70s. The Gamble 45 commands a higher price tag, perhaps because of the Sassy 45's availability in 70s. This record has been bootlegged several times on O.O.T.P. (Out Of The Past) a renowned label for bootlegs in 70s and Liberty Bell in 1973, and got an official UK release on Neil Rushton's Inferno label in 1979.
Two more release came out on Fairmount with the name changed again to Frankie Beverly & The Butlers, She Kissed Me / Don't Cry Little Sad Boy and 'Because Of My Heart' another NS favourite, along with 'I Want To Feel I'm Wanted' which is a great mid-tempo tune that ought to get plays these days, but probably won't as the crazy thing is in 2013 this record sold for £24 but the last one to sell on Discogs sold for £1,800! Because My Heart / I Want To Feel I'm Wanted was also released on Rouser (with the same cat no as Fairmount) as The Butlers With Frankie Beverly. Rouser was a Washington D.C. based label owned by Tommy Rouse with only 3 releases listed. I would 'guess' that this is a reissue. None have ever sold on Discogs so it must be pretty rare - apparently one sold on ebay in 2012 for $4,173! There is a topic on Soul Source about it, apparently it is a slightly different, edited, mix.
A final release came out as The Butlers on Gamble She's Gone (Crossover/Ballad) / Love Is Good (Northern/Crossover) in 1969.
Beverly then formed a band in Philadelphia in 1970 under the name Raw Soul (I don't think it's the same band which had a funky instrumental track played on NS scene mid 70s called 'The Gig' on DPG (a label owned by Lenis Guess) who were from Norfolk, VA and were Lenis Guess's house band who also went under the name The 35th Street Gang).
Their first single was The "Raw Soul" With Frankie Beverly - You Left Me / Open Up, Your Heart recorded on the tiny Eldorado label in Philadelphia in 1969 and released 1970, co-written by Beverly, Charles Earland and Leon Fisher and co-produced by Beverly and Earland. Only one other 45 is listed for the label by Charles Earland's Erector Set an instrumental of Stevie Wonder's My Cheri Amour c/w Yes-Suh!.
They followed this up with 3 singles as Frankie Beverly's Raw Soul on Gre-Gar, an RCA subsidiary which ran from 1967-72 and released an eclectic mix of artists of which theses are the only soul related ones I can see.
1971 - People In The Know / Understanding [71-0112]
People In The Know is a hard funk number written by Beverly and Understanding (poor quality sound clip) is another funky track, co-written by Beverly and Leon Fisher
1971 - Color Blind (Funk) / Mother Nature's Been Good To Us (Ballad) [71-0108]
Both sides co-written by Beverly and Leon Fisher
1972 - While I'm Alone / Tomorrow May Not Be Your Day [71-0115]
This is the raw original of While I'm Alone written by Beverly, the others side is a track written by Taj Mahal.
The line up was Franke Beverly, Kenny Young, Paul Lermen, McKinley 'Bug' Williams, Teddy White, Jerry Cohen, Roame Lowery, and Walter 'Sleepy' Watts.
Raw Soul moved to San Francisco and met Marvin Gaye and toured with him in 1976 as his opening act. On Gaye's advice they changed their name to Maze.
I found some live footage of Raw Soul performing an unrecorded track (at the time but it was later released on Golden Time Of Day album in 1978) at Winterland in San Francisco in Feb 1975 called 'I Need You'. The video and audio quality is excellent.
... and here's another clip of Color Blind live
.. and another 'Song For My Mother'
To date, between 1977 and 1993, they have released 8 studio albums and 2 live albums 'Live in New in Orleans' 1981 and 'Live in LA' 1986.
Album Discography
1977 - Maze Featuring Frankie Beverly
1978 - Golden Time Of Day
1979 - Inspiration
1980 - Joy And Pain
1981 - Live In New Orleans
1983 - We Are One
1985 - Can't Stop The Love
1986 - Live In Los Angeles
1989 - Silky Soul
1993 - Back To Basics
From a chart perspective their biggest hits were Back In Stride and Can't Get Over You both of which topped the US R&B chart in 1985 and 1989 respectively. Popwise in US they only had 4 entries in the Billboard Hot 100 Feel That Your Feelin' #67,Love Is The Key #80, Back In Stride c/w Joy And Pain #88, While I'm Alone #89. As stated earlier they fared better in UK with 7 entries but only one reached top 40:
#Love Is The Key #88
We Are One #86
#Back In Stride #79
Too Many Games #36
Joy And Pain #57
#Can't Get Over You #89
I'm surprised that While I'm Alone isn't in the UK list, but I guess it's because it was one of their earlier recordings before they became better known in UK and was their first entry into US R&B chart in 1977.
It may seem perverse to some, but soul aficionados in UK (and elsewhere) are more interested in the records that didn't chart, B sides and album only tracks as these often contain undiscovered gems. So let's explore some of those.
1977
Lady Of Magic - a nice mellow ballad / stepper.
Happy Feelin's - album track only 'Maze Feat. Frankie Beverly'
You - album track 'Maze Feat. Frankie Beverly' but did come out in 1981 as b side to 'We Need Love To Live'
Look At California - album track only 'Maze Feat. Frankie Beverly'
1978
I Need You - album track only 'Golden Time Of Day'
1979
Lovely Inspiration album track only 'Inspiration'
Call On Me - B side to Timin' - a lovely smooth stepper
Woman Is A Wonder - album track only 'Inspiration' - mellow ballad/stepper
1980
I Want To Thank You - B side to Southern Girl
The Look In Your Eyes - superb UK weekender anthem that failed to chart except US R&B #29
1981
Family - B side to 'Running Away'
Before I Let Go - another UK weekender anthem that failed to chart except US R&B #13. This had Joy & Pain on B side. Joy And Pain was only released as an A side in UK with Happy Feelin's taken from their first album on B side in 1981. Before I Let Go was issued in UK with Golden Time Of Day on the B Side.
Changing Times - album track only 'Joy And Pain'
Happiness - album track only 'Joy And Pain' - a soulful ballad
1983
1985
Can't Stop The Love - album only 'Can't Stop The Love '
1986
When You Love Someone - wonderful mellow ballad which highlights Frankie Beverly's silky smooth vocal abilities.
1989
Somebody Else's Arms - album only 'Silky Soul'
Love's On The Run - a change of style with a synthesised bouncy stepper
Change Our Ways - album only 'Silky Soul'
1993
Nobody Knows What You Feel Inside - album only 'Back To Basics'
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