Information

Miles Dewey Davis III

Miles Davis' career spanned 50 years. He was the archetypal figure representing the jazz genre. For those that
love him, this is the place to be..

Website: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miles_Davis
Location: Universal
Members: 10
Latest Activity: Jul 11, 2010

Oh..How I Love Miles!

Fellow Jazz Aficianados! More Miles... Enjoy. According to Wiki:

Click To Play Seven Steps to Heaven is an album recorded in 1963 by Miles Davis. On the 16th and 17th of April, a quintet comprising Davis, George Coleman, Victor Feldman, Ron Carter and Frank Butler recorded all six tunes plus "Summer Night", for an album to be titled So Near, So Far. A month later, Davis re-recorded three of the tunes (tracks 2, 4 & 6) with a new quintet, replacing Feldman with Herbie Hancock and Butler with Tony Williams. The new rhythm section of Hancock, Carter and Williams would form the nucleus of Davis's working band for the next five years. This is the last of Davis's studio albums which relies substantially on standard tunes - once Wayne Shorter joined the quintet in 1964, tunes on studio recordings were almost always composed by members of the group.


By early 1963, Miles Davis was still casting for a new band and this recording accurately reflects Miles' search for his "new sound." Seven Steps to Heaven is the product of two separate sessions recorded during this transition. Davis already had bass player Ron Carter on board. After pianist Victor Feldman, who played on half the set, declined the job Davis enlisted the young Herbie Hancock to fill the seat. The even younger Tony Williams, just seventeen, joined on drums for the second round of sessions. Finally, tenor saxophonist George Coleman, though included on this entire recording, would eventually be replaced in the quintet by Wayne Shorter (after the arrival and depature of Sam Rivers in 1964), completing one of the most important quintets in jazz history. For a project borne out of transition, this is a very strong album that moves along seamlessly. More than forty years on, the title track remains intoxicatingly fresh. - David Greenberger

Discussion Forum

JAZZMASTER::MILES DAVIS

Started by Edie Antoinette. Last reply by Edie Antoinette Jan 26, 2009. 5 Replies

Comment Wall

Comment

You need to be a member of Miles Dewey Davis III to add comments!

Comment by Edie Antoinette on January 20, 2010 at 6:15pm
Bert, when you get here--don't forget the other bio I did on Miles. *see above* JAZZMASTER::MILES DAVIS Enjoy...
Comment by TJ on January 20, 2010 at 10:34am
Dianna, I love this room too. Enjoy.
Comment by Edie Antoinette on January 20, 2010 at 10:16am
Hey Suggah! I'm glad you're here. It does my heart good ♥ Welcome to the Group!
Comment by Dianna L. Whitt Neu on January 20, 2010 at 10:00am
I am going to wrap myself in this music for a few days..it soothes my soul, and quiets my mind..Thank you my lovely sister for this....
Comment by Edie Antoinette on January 20, 2010 at 9:05am
We've missed you too TJ and it's real good to see you. Welcome back!
Comment by TJ on January 19, 2010 at 10:35pm
Edie, I have sure missed this site. Been traveling on business. I hope all is well with you and the OOTP Family. ~tj
Comment by Edie Antoinette on January 25, 2009 at 3:18pm
Welcome to the group Bert!!
Comment by Edie Antoinette on January 20, 2009 at 1:30pm
Welcome Back Saint! I was just wondering how you were. Thanks for checking in too...

Hard work?? I need such slavery, shoot! LOL
Comment by Saint on January 19, 2009 at 10:57pm
Cruising is hard work...LOL...back in town. Will be catching up. I see you are still at it. Peace, Saint
Comment by Edie Antoinette on January 12, 2009 at 9:02am
Yes, that Roxio is a great thing. Hurry back!
 

Members (10)

 
 
 

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 ♪♫♪

Members

About

© 2024   Created by Edie Antoinette.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service