All Blog Posts (458)

RECENT BLACK HISTORY REVEALED

See What They Never Told You........or Me!

Day of the Zulu..............................Clues and Evidence

On January 22, 1879 -- the legendary "Day of the Zulu," when more than twenty thousand Zulu warriors nearly wiped out the forces of the invading British army -- even the sun was on the side of the Zulu Nation. A partial solar eclipse during the battle obscured the view of the redcoats, making it difficult for… Continue

Added by Ronn Nichols on February 21, 2009 at 11:00am — 10 Comments

Fashions From "Out Of The Past"

Ebony Magazine, 1970 - '76…

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Added by Edie Antoinette on February 17, 2009 at 3:58pm — 20 Comments

OUR HISTORY-OUR TREASURE

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Added by Edie Antoinette on February 15, 2009 at 7:30pm — 8 Comments

James Jamerson...The World's Greatest Bass Player

James Lee Jamerson born January 29, 1936, was an American bassist. He was the uncredited bass guitarist on most of Motown Records' hits in the 1960s and early 1970s (Motown did not list credits on their releases until 1971), and he has become regarded as one of the most influential bass guitar players in modern music history. He was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2000.

James Jamerson (as is the case with the other… Continue

Added by Shelley "SoleMann" King on January 25, 2009 at 6:46pm — 11 Comments

Ready, Steady, Go...The Sounds Of Motown

Ready Steady Go - The Sound of Motown is the finest of all vintage Motown videos, all played and sung live and quite brilliantly, featuring The Miracles, Martha and the Vandellas, and more. From 1965.

To me this is probably one of the greatest videos i ever seen, i rented it on VHS several years ago, but would love to some day have it on DVD.

READY, STEADY, GO...THE SOUNDS OF MOTOWN…

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Added by Shelley "SoleMann" King on January 25, 2009 at 6:38pm — 9 Comments

Photo Essay: Chicago Then & Now

Central

The Chicago River at Michigan Avenue

A construction crane can be seen in Cushman's photo, suggestive of the massive changes to that would transform…

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Added by Edie Antoinette on January 22, 2009 at 9:30pm — 4 Comments

I REMEMBER RIVERVIEW AMUSEMENT PARK PART 1

A Short History of Riverview Park

The area around Western and Belmont Avenues in Chicago was settled…

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Added by Edie Antoinette on January 22, 2009 at 9:30pm — 4 Comments

Jerry Butler & The Impressions...For Your Precious Love

I have done a couple of blogs in the past about the Chattanooga connection of The Impressions and the fact that the group started right here in the 1950's in my Great-Grandparents neighborhood, they were known then as The Roosters or as several old cats have told me 4 Roosters and a Chick...LOL. I found out after my Grandmothers funeral, the Chicks name was Katherine...

They left Chattanooga and the Chick around 1959 and moved to… Continue

Added by Shelley "SoleMann" King on January 15, 2009 at 5:26pm — 7 Comments

My Fleeting Hip-Hop Indulgence

*I found this by accident while doing something else. My initial reaction was that it was Heavy D..and I love me some Heavy..but it isn't.... ...still, it caught my attention--so I had to snatch it! LOL What can I say...*smh*. He's jammin is all. Enjoy!

~e …

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Added by Edie Antoinette on January 8, 2009 at 10:00pm — 10 Comments

My Uncle Ricky D...The Greatest Temptation That Never Was...LOL

ROFLMBO...I have been wanting to do this type of blog for the longest...After all these years i finally got my Uncle Ricky D on video...LOL. Everybody should be blessed and have a cool Uncle like my Uncle Ricky D.

As some of you know, Ricky D is the worlds biggest Temptations Fan and Eddie Kendricks was his idol...I recorded these videos several hours after my Grandmothers funeral and it was a lot of fun sitting with my Uncle and… Continue

Added by Shelley "SoleMann" King on January 8, 2009 at 2:32pm — 9 Comments

Old School Treasures

LONNIE LISTON SMITH: Visions of a New World (Flying Dutchman BDL1-1196 - 1975) A Chance For Peace/Love Beams/Colors of the Rainbow/Devika Sunset/Visions of a New World (Phase I)/Visions of a New World (Phase II)/Summer Nights Just about the pick of Lonnie's excellent Flying Dutchman albums - Astral Traveling, Cosmic Funk, Expansions, Visions of a New World, Reflections On A Golden Dream, and Renaissance are all absolutely essential. Mainly known for his… Continue

Added by Edie Antoinette on January 6, 2009 at 6:30am — 1 Comment

Donald Byrd

Donald Byrd - Dominos

Donald Byrd

Off To The Races

Blue Note Records

2006 (1959) Detroit was producing a lot more than cars in the 1950s: the city was a breeding ground for an impressive number of hard bop giants. Two of the most dynamic instrumentalists to trek eastward from Motown to the Big Apple were trumpeter Donald Byrd and… Continue

Added by Edie Antoinette on January 6, 2009 at 6:00am — No Comments

Deek Watson And His Brown Dots

The Brown Dots were initially formed in late 1944, when second tenor Ivory "Deek" Watson (b. 18 July 1909, Mounds, Illinois - d. 4 November 1969, Washington, DC) left the Ink Spots. He immediately put together a competing Ink Spots group consisting of lead tenor Joe King, bass Jimmy Gordon, and an unknown baritone.

By late January 1945, a lawsuit brought by the Ink Spots caused Deek Watson to claim that he would form a new group based… Continue

Added by Shelley "SoleMann" King on December 30, 2008 at 10:09pm — 46 Comments

This Is My beloved Parts IV and V

Begin Scrolling Slowly When Mr. Harvey Speaks!Your Words Are Born......Not Spoken!…

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Added by Ronn Nichols on December 24, 2008 at 12:00am — 9 Comments

Eddie Kendricks Interviews

I found these videos on Youtube and was in awe of them...Happy Belated Birthday Eddie, on what would have been his 69th Birthday (12/17/1939)....May You Continue To Rest In Everlasting Peace...

P.S...Don't you just loveeeee the last video...AWESOME

EDDIE KENDRICKS...URBAN STREET INTERVIEW

EDDIE KENDRICKS…

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Added by Shelley "SoleMann" King on December 23, 2008 at 1:52pm — 9 Comments

This Is My Beloved Part III

PLEASE BEGIN SCROLLING DOWN WHEN HE STARTS TO SPEAK

YOUR EYES NEVER OPENED AFTER THE LAST KISS

WE HAD LOVED.....HARD!

ITS ALL OVER YOUR THROAT......AND HAIR IT LIES ON YOUR MOUTH.......AND HAIR LIKE A WILD DRIPPED FLOWER…

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Added by Ronn Nichols on December 8, 2008 at 2:30pm — 6 Comments

Ron and Bill (Ronnie White and Smokey Robinson)

Ron & Bill was a short-lived incarnation of Ronnie White and Smokey Robinson from the early days of the Motown organization -- the credit appeared on one record, the single "It" b/w "Don't Say Bye Bye," released on the Tamla label, which was the label's attempt at charting with a novelty tune.

Actually, the A-side is very pretty, with superb singing and exquisite choruses, and if the effort here was to imitate "The Purple People… Continue

Added by Shelley "SoleMann" King on December 2, 2008 at 6:00pm — 37 Comments

Terence Trent Darby as Jackie Wilson

Shake, Rattle and Roll: An American Love Story was a mini-series that shown on CBS in the summer of 1999. I remember when i first saw the previews and just knew i was going to enjoy this. It has been so long since i have seen this, that i have pretty much forgotten what the movie was about..

I remember K-Ci and Jo Jo from Jodeci singing in a street corner group, somebody was playing Little Richard, Elvis Presley, Fats Dominos, Neil… Continue

Added by Shelley "SoleMann" King on November 19, 2008 at 9:07pm — 4 Comments

The Snake Pit

by Robert Dennis

In the 1960's an independent record company in Detroit, Michigan began creating and marketing hit records better and in larger volume than any record company in the world. The name of this record company was Motown. The recording techniques that were developed by Motown in the mid 60's were part of the formula for the company's success. Even today, many of the recording techniques used find…

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Added by Funk Brothers on November 13, 2008 at 11:00pm — 2 Comments

Redbone

The first part of this blog is based on a song i liked when i was 7 years old titled Come and Get your Love...I called the song The Dead Hey Song (Don't asked Long Story....LOL) I had completely forgot about this song over the years until one day me and my mother was talking and she looked at me and said "You know what your Grandmother asked me? do Tadd (my nickname...LOL) still listen to The Dead Hey Song?"......LOL. Now keep in mind my… Continue

Added by Shelley "SoleMann" King on November 10, 2008 at 10:50pm — 2 Comments

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Remembering Q

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Quincy Jones is thoroughly entwined in the musical background of my young adulthood. A genius of unique quality. I have been posting blogs and music throughout the years and decided to embark on the arduous but satisfying task of gathering some of it to remember the excellent legacy that he left.

Maze Feel That You're Feelin
Maze Somebody Elses Arms
Maze Southern Girl
Cant Get Over You
Maze Golden Time Of Day

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.