A little More than a Year has PASSED!


Michael Jackson left behind an incredible amount of music, a lot of it not really known by the masses. Here are some favorite unreleased MJ tunes, obscure collaborations, and other goodies!
This early version of “Mama’s Pearl” features completely different lyrics and is absolutely hilarious!
Mama’s Pearl only Different
Teenage Symphony
Michael Jackson & LL Cool J “Serious Effect”
This song, recorded for the Dangerous album features a guest verse from LL Cool J. The song was almost released as part of the deluxe edition of Dangerous in 2001.
Kenny Loggins “Who’s Right, Who’s Wrong”
Michael only sings background vocals on this song, but it’s still a great tune!
LaToya Jackson “Night Time Lover”
Michael wrote, produced, and sings background vocals on this song that from LaToya’s 1980 self-titled debut album. The song was originally written for Donna Summer.
Michael Jackson “Carousel”
The full version of this song is kinda difficult to come by… legally. A snippet was included on the 2001 remaster of Thriller (the song was intended for the album, but ultimately replaced by “Human Nature”). However, the full version was eventually released only on a special edition of the French version of his 2008 King Of Pop compilation. The King Of Pop compilation received diffeent tracklists in each country it was released in, and fans in each country voted for the tracklist. Only the French were smart enough to ask for the full version of this gem.
Michael Jackson & Freddie Mercury “State Of Shock”
Michael Jackson worked with Freddie Mercury, the lead singer of Queen, off and on from 1981 to 1983. One of the songs they recorded together was an early version of “State Of Shock.” The song was eventually reworked in 1984 for The Jacksons’ Victory album and Mercury was replaced by Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones.
Dave Mason “Save Me”
In 1980, rocker Dave Mason teamed up with Michael for this duet from his Old Crest On A New Wave album. The Jackson 5 frequently covered Mason’s composition “Feelin’ Alright” in concert.
Michael Jackson “Love Never Felt So Good”
Michael Jackson wrote this song with Paul Anka and Kathy Wakefield and recorded this sparse vocal and piano demo. The song was eventually recorded and released by Johnny Mathis on his 1984 album, A Special Part Of Me.
Michael Jackson “Starlight”
I won’t give it away, but this unreleased song went through a few lyric and rythmn changes before it became one of Michael’s most well-known songs…

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Comment by KnightD12 on September 11, 2010 at 4:52am
Ron, You sure dug out some rare Gems for this first anniversary tribute. Well done!
Comment by Ronn Nichols on August 18, 2010 at 5:46am
Thank You my Darling..........You are always so kind!! THAT'S WHY I LOVE YOU..... Sweetness!
Comment by Edie Antoinette on August 18, 2010 at 3:52am
What a PRODUCTION!!!! Ronn...you tore this UP! Bravo!!!!! *clapping*

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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