Featured Blog Posts – January 2010 Archive (8)

California Jam...1974



California Jam, also known as Cal Jam, was a rock music festival concert held at the Ontario Motor Speedway in Ontario, California on April 6, 1974 l.It was produced by ABC entertainment, Sandy Feldman, Don E. Branker and Lenny Stogel. Pacific Presentations, a LA based concert company headed by Sepp Donahower and Gary Perkins, coordinated the event, booked all the talent, and ran the advertising. It attracted 200,000 fans that paid, which at the… Continue

Added by Shelley "SoleMann" King on January 30, 2010 at 8:09pm — 10 Comments

The Sophisticated Gents



The Sophisticated Gents is a TV miniseries that aired on three consecutive nights from September 29 to October 1, 1981 on NBC. Its ensemble cast featured a number of African American stage and film actors, many of whom were customarily seen in Blaxploitation motion pictures in the 1970s. The miniseries is based upon the novel The Junior Bachelor Society by John A. Williams. Although production of the project ended in 1979, NBC did not air the… Continue

Added by Shelley "SoleMann" King on January 23, 2010 at 5:35pm — 4 Comments

The Temptations Live In Paris...1973



if you ever witness the Temptations In Paris video, you’ll become more aware that in 1973, they must have knew that live in concert no one was better with the steps, than they were and you’ll be amazed of Damon Harris, delivering his live version of I’m Gonna Make You Love Me, it make you wonder, why they never recorded it without the Supremes, when Kendrick was a member.



Plus, Richard Street blending with the harmony of First Time… Continue

Added by Shelley "SoleMann" King on January 19, 2010 at 8:53am — 31 Comments

New Haitian Revelation



Find more videos like this on Living Legacy Journal





This post is in part an acknowledgement of an earlier post by an LLJ member.




All of us must begin to take a different and personal approach when disaster strikes our family (any of the African…
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Added by Lydell Jackson on January 15, 2010 at 8:04am — No Comments

Dorothy Dandridge



The Mystery And Real-Life Tragedy

Was her death an accident or suicide?



Did powerful men in Hollywood drive her to the edge?…
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Added by Edie Antoinette on January 11, 2010 at 8:30pm — 4 Comments

Carmen Jones (1954)

Parts 1 Through 10



One



Two…

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Added by Classical on January 11, 2010 at 2:00pm — 5 Comments

Musicology (Prince and Solemannking Collaboration) Club Radius Mix



I have always wanted to Collaborate with The Singers and Songwriters, i have always thought that this would be a unique way to do this plus it can be very creative....I hope everyone enjoys my Collaboration with The Legendary Prince Rogers Nelson...





PRINCE



Heard about the party now

Just East of Harlem

Sole's gonna be there

But I got 2 call… Continue

Added by Shelley "SoleMann" King on January 11, 2010 at 1:48pm — 4 Comments

The Harlem Cultural Festival (Black Woodstock)



The Harlem Cultural Festival (also known as "Black Woodstock") was a series of music concerts held in Harlem during the summer of 1969 to celebrate African American music and culture and to promote the continued politics of black pride. Notable participants included Nina Simone, B.B. King, Sly & the Family Stone, Jesse Jackson, Abbey Lincoln & Max Roach, The 5th Dimension, Gladys Knight and the Pips, Stevie Wonder, Mahalia Jackson, and… Continue

Added by Shelley "SoleMann" King on January 5, 2010 at 10:38am — 6 Comments

Introspection

Entr'acte

  1. play Norman Brown — Night Drive
  2. play Norman Brown — Feeling
  3. play Norman Brown — Still
  4. play Miles Davis — miles 1
  5. play miles 2
  6. play miles 3
  7. play miles 4
  8. play miles 5
  9. play Marvin Gaye — I Met A Little Girl
  10. play Santana — 01 Singing Winds, Crying Beasts
  11. play Santana — 02 Black Magic Woman-Gypsy Queen
  12. play Mongo — 02. Afro Blue



The history of the Butlers/Raw Soul is dense, but for all of us music nerds, that's normal. It is not totally clear what year the Butlers actually formed but they released their first single in 1963 on Liberty Records. That single was "She Tried To Kiss Me" and another single followed on Guyden entitled "Lovable Girl." After the Guyden single the Butlers took a break not recording another record until the single "Laugh, Laugh, Laugh" was released on the Phila label in 1966. The group also backed Charles Earland and Jean Wells on one Phila single ("I Know She Loves Me"). 


As you might be noticing, the Butlers were doing a fair amount of recording but not achieving much success. The group's recordings sold regionally but never had the promotion to make an impact on the national scene. After the single with Phila, the Butlers moved to the Fairmount label (part of the Cameo-Parkway family) and released a handful of singles, some being reissued singles of the past. The Butlers were with Fairmount for 1966-67 and then moved to Sassy Records. Sassy released the group's greatest single (in my opinion) "Love (Your Pain Goes Deep)" b/w "If That's What You Wanted." A copy of that 45 sold for just under $500 last summer on eBay. Even though that isn't that much in the world of record collecting--it's still a hefty sum. The Butlers released another single on Sassy ("She's Gone" b/w "Love Is Good") that appears to be even 
harder to come by then the "Love (Your Pain Goes Deep)" single.

 

The true history become a bit blurred here as the AMG biography states that the Butlers last record was released on C.R.S. in 1974 (". However, between 1971 and that single, Frankie Beverly formed a group called Raw Soul and released a number of singles. Some of the songs recorded by Beverly during this period are "While I'm Alone," "Open Up Your Heart," (both on the Gregor label) and "Color Blind." "Color Blind" was released by the Eldorado label and rerecorded by Maze. Beverly's big break came when Marvin Gaye asked Raw Soul to back him on a tour. Gaye helped Beverly/Raw Soul get a contract at Capitol. Beverly decided to take the group in a different direction, a name change occurred, and Maze was created. 

The above isn't the most complete history of Beverly but hopefully someone will know a way to get in touch with the man or his management because a comprehensive pre-Maze history needs to be done on Frankie Beverly (his real name is Howard, by the way). Below you'll find every Frankie Beverly (pre-Maze) song available to me right now ("Color Blind" will be up soon). 

If you have a song that is not included below, shoot it over to funkinsoulman (at) yahoo.com and it will go up in the next Frankie Beverly post (later this week--highlighting Maze). Also, if you have any more information please share your knowledge. The Butlers material has been comp-ed sporadically (usually imports) but the entire Maze catalog has been reissued and is available. 

Enjoy.  "She Kissed Me" (Fairmount, 1966 or 1967) 
 
 "I Want To Feel I'm Wanted" (not sure which label or year) "Laugh, Laugh, Laugh" (Phila, 1966) "Because Of My Heart" (Fairmount, 1966 or 1967)
   
 "Love (Your Pain Goes Deep)" (Sassy, 1967)
   
 "If That's What You Wanted" (Sassy, 1967)
 



Frankie Beverly is one of those cats that has lasting power. He started in the music business doing a tour with doo wop group the Silhouettes and then formed his own group called the Blenders. The Blenders never recorded a single, Beverly wouldn't appear on wax until forming the Butlers a few years later. Along with Beverly, the Butlers included Jack "Sonny" Nicholson, Joe Collins, John Fitch, and Talmadge Conway.

Beverly would later enjoy great success fronting Maze and Conway would become a
well-known penning Double Exposure's
"Ten Percent" and the Intruders' "Memories Are Here To Stay." 
 While Maze is a phenomenal group, Beverly's work before that group will always stand out as his best (imo).

The Butlers produced tunes that most Northern Soul fans would kill for and Raw Soul gave the funksters something to pursue. If, by chance, you know of a way to get in touch with Frankie Beverly or his management, please drop me an e-mail. It would be absolutely great to do an interview with him about his pre-Maze work. He's still playing out, most recently doing a New Year's Eve show in Atlanta.
:: Funkinsoulman ::

Power...Through Simplicity ♪♫♪

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