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. The Butlers recorded their first single in 1960 titled "Loveable Girl". Left to right John Fitch, T Conway, Frankie Beverly, Sonny Nicholson and Joe Collins.
12/6/46 - 9/10/24
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The Ink Spots - If I Didn't Care
Mills Brothers - Cielito Lindo
Miss you Grand-Daddy...Thanks for your part in making me enjoy these timeless classics from yesteryear.....SMILE
On the very last video, be sure to watch from 5:25 till the end, you will see the real Earl Manigault....
THE GOAT (R.I.P)
Real Name: Earl Manigault
Hometown: NYC, New York,
Born: September 7th 1944...Died: May 15th 1998
Height: 6"1
Position: Guard
Affiliations: Rucker Legend
Filmography: Rebound
Short Bio
The Goat held court against countless NBA pros and Hall-of-Famers. This sleek 6-1 court-acrobat ran like a gazelle and seemed to defy gravity when he took flight. The only thing that could bring The Goat down to earth were his own personal vices on the street. Earl will always be remembered as a playground legend of his day. Earl "the Goat" Manigault is perhaps the best basketball player ever to have played the game. A shade over 6 feet tall, he could dunk effortlessly with both hands. With a vertical leap of 52 inches, he had the ability to jump up and grab quarters off of the top of a basketball backboard. He played during the renaissance of New York City basketball in the 1960s, at in the famous Rucker League where the best playground players played with the pros every summer.
"One of the greatest players the Rucker has ever seen," said Joe "The Destroyer" Hammond. "The best basketball player his size in the history of New York City," said Kareem Abdul Jabbar. Called "the king of his own generation of ballplayers, and the idol for the generation that followed" by Pete Axthelm in The City Game, Earl Manigault never realized his incredible potential as a basketball player because he succumbed to the lure of drugs in the Harlem neighborhood of his youth.
Earl "The Goat" Manigault, the New York City playground basketball legend whose life was chronicled in an HBO movie two years ago, recently died of congestive heart failure at Bellevue Hospital in Manhattan. He was 53.
Tribute to Earl ''The Goat'' Manigault (By Cipsas)
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