The Five Echoes are notable for having been the group that both Earl Lewis (Channels, Flamingos) and Johnnie Taylor both passed through at one time or another. The original Chicago-based group -- Constant "Count" Sims (baritone), Herbert Lewis (baritone), Jimmy Marshall (bass), and Tommy Hunt (second tenor) -- originally called themselves the Flames because they hung out at the Morocco Hotel, home to a famous nightspot, the Flame.

The Flames didn't really get goin' until around 1952, when they incorporated an ex-Flamingos lead singer, Earl Lewis (first tenor), into the group. Another, less "official" member was Freddie Matthews, who occasionally sang with the group and served as their chauffeur. The group changed the name to the Five Echoes after they discovered Brooklyn's Bed-Stuy group who had the same name for a short time in the early '50s (and who later became the Five Discs). The group eventually met up with musician/manager/songwriter/hustler Walter Spriggs, who helped get them their first booking on the club circuit. During the first weekend, they traveled up to Kenosha, WI, and performed at a club called the Right Spot, where they did so well, in fact, that they were asked to stay, and did, for an entire year, performing covers by the Orioles, the Dominoes, and others.

Upon their return to the Chicago area, they eventually caught the ear of Edwart Abner Jr. of Chance Records, who signed the act. Shortly thereafter, Abner was out at Chance (leaving to help run Vee Jay and instead they ended up with Art Sheridan, who was running his Sabre label on Chicago's south side. Their first record, "Lonely Mood," scored airplay in several U.S. cities, but failed to chart nationally.

Hunt soon found that he had been drafted, leaving the Five Echoes short one member. The remaining singers recruited Johnnie Taylor, a Kansas City native who was bumming around Chicago at the time, singing in a local gospel group, the Highway QC's. (This was the same Taylor who became a hit-making phenomenon of the 1960s and 1970s; at the time, Taylor was a very religious, gospel-based singer.)

By early 1954, with Taylor on board, the Five Echoes became regulars in the Chicago club circuit, eventually touring the Midwestern U.S. The Five Echoes recorded one more Sabre session. Hunt, while AWOL from the service, joined the group, but was soon lost to the group again after the FBI caught up with him and sent him to the stockade. Chance was apparently winding down at the time, because it closed its doors before the year 1954 was out. The group disbanded shortly thereafter.

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Comment by Edie Antoinette on January 9, 2008 at 7:53pm
Oooo...can't wait. You are so welcome. The pics are wonderful to me. That's what I love--then I get on a hunt for the music. Let me go see the new blog.
Comment by Shelley "SoleMann" King on January 9, 2008 at 6:53pm
ROFLMBO at Tadcones...I love this stuff and thank you for that link, while browsing through it, i realized i had 3 songs by one of the groups...Stay tune for the next blog, you gonna love this....SMILE
Comment by Edie Antoinette on January 9, 2008 at 6:41pm
You so wrong for messing with the conehead--just so wrong..roflmbo You ain't plannin on no mo kids I take it, otherwise we KNOW how they gone come out..lil tadcones...ROFLMBOOOOOOO

Great blog!!!!

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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