Baby Huey: The Baby Huey Story...The Living Legend

Fantastic! The lost link in the Chicago soul scene of the 60s was Baby Huey -- and he was a pretty darn big link too, if you've ever seen him in pictures! Weighing in at about 300 pounds, Baby Huey was sort of a rockin' soul star who played clubs on both sides of the city, to audiences of all types -- working in a party-styled blend of funk, rock, and soul that was one of the most powerful grooves going down in the Windy City at the time! Huey sadly passed away at a very young age, leaving only this full album as his legacy -- a great batch of hard-hitting soul tracks that are among some of the funkiest work ever recorded for the legendary Curtom label! The set includes Huey's classic version of "Mighty, Mighty", a club favorite from the live shows -- plus the excellent Curtis Mayfield tune "Hard Times", famous as an oft-used sample track! Other titles include "A Change Is Going To Come", "California Dreamin", "Running", and "Mama Get Yourself Together".

Baby Huey (born James Ramey, January 1, 1944 - October 28, 1970) was an American rock and soul singer, born in Richmond, Indiana. He was the frontman for the band Baby Huey & The Babysitters, whose single LP for Curtom Records in 1971 was influential in the development of hip hop music.

Early years

A native of Richmond, Indiana, James Ramey moved to Chicago, Illinois at the age of nineteen, and worked with several local bands as a singer. Due to a glandular disorder, Ramey was a large man, weighing about 350 pounds. His size contributed to his stage presence, but also to health problems. Nevertheless, he made light of his condition, adopting the stage name "Baby Huey" after Paramount Pictures' giant duckling cartoon character of the same name. In 1963, Ramey, organist/trumpeter Melvin "Deacon" Jones, and guitarist Johnny Ross founded a band called Baby Huey & the Babysitters, which became a popular local act and released several 45 RPM singles, including "Beg Me", "Monkey Man", "Messin' with the Kid" and "Just Being Careful".

During the late-1960s, the band followed the lead of Sly & the Family Stone and became a psychedelic soul act. Huey began wearing an Afro and donned psychedelic African-inspired robes, and adding sing-song, self-referential rhymes to his live performances. According to his bandmates, Ramey's rhymes were very similar in style to those later popularized by rappers in hip-hop music. The Babysitters were a popular live act, but never took the time out to record an album.

The Baby Huey Story and passing

In 1969, the band's agent Marv Heiman secured them an audition with Curtom Records arranger Donny Hathaway. Hathaway was impressed by the act, and got Curtom Records head Curtis Mayfield to sign Baby Huey, but not the band. Although the band participated in the recording of Ramey's debut album, there were feelings of unease among them, and Ross and Jones quit the band during the recording sessions.

By 1970, Ramey had developed an addiction to heroin, and his weight had increased to over 400 pounds. He began regularly missing gigs or turning up late, and, at the insistence of his bandmates, briefly entered rehabilitation in the spring of 1970. James Ramey died of a heart attack on October 28, 1970, at the age of 26, and was found in his hotel bathroom by his manager. His funeral was held on November 1, in his native Richmond, Indiana.

Baby Huey & the Babysitters' album, The Baby Huey Story: The Living Legend, was released after the death of their lead singer. Produced by Curtis Mayfield, the album featured several Mayfield compositions, as well as a cover of Sam Cooke's "A Change Is Gonna Come" and two original compositions by Ramey. The album did not sell well upon its original release, and was largely forgotten by the mainstream. Today, the album is considered a classic of its period.

Several songs from The Baby Huey Story, including "Hard Times", "Listen to Me", and "Mighty Mighty Children", have been frequently sampled by hip hop producers since the 1980s. "Hard Times" alone has been sampled by dozens of artists, including Ice Cube ("The Birth", Death Certificate), A Tribe Called Quest ("Can I Kick It?", People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm), Ghostface Killah ("Buck 50", Supreme Clientele), and others. Many people, including the Babysitters themselves, see The Baby Huey Story as a significant and important influence on hip hop music.

After Ramey's death, The Babysitters briefly employed a young Chaka Khan as their lead singer before disbanding. The members went their separate ways to work as instrumentalists in other bands, although they regularly participate in projects involving their past work with Baby Huey & the Babysitters.

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Comment by Edie Antoinette on December 23, 2007 at 5:17am: I don't go there anymore since I read and saw Fastfood Nation...they are stone crazy!!! Soylent Green is P-E-O-P-L-E!!!!!!!!!!!! Po Po Baby...

I made a monster playlist on the main page with stuff I have on my server..gonna do more of that.

Comment by Shelley "SoleMann" King on December 23, 2007 at 5:06am: McDonalds...UGH. It seems like everytime i eat there i get sick, you think i would have learned my lesson by now....LOL

Comment by Edie Antoinette on December 23, 2007 at 5:03am: Yeah, Imeem is sooooo not what's happening. I have gotten to the point where I only go there if I'm desperate and even then I hesitate...This was a GREAT read. Thank you!!!! And what did you eat that poisoned you child???

Please be careful! Matter-of-fact, I haven't heard from your brother yesterday. He calls me everyday...Tre..I hope he's alright. Yall are so much alike.

Comment by Shelley "SoleMann" King on December 23, 2007 at 4:52am: Yeah i thought about BDCC....LOL

Comment by Shelley "SoleMann" King on December 23, 2007 at 4:47am: UGH....Forgot about Imeems infamous cutting....LOL

Comment by Shelley "SoleMann" King on December 23, 2007 at 4:44am: Lawd Po Dena....ROFLMBOOOO

Comment by Edie Antoinette on December 23, 2007 at 4:43am: He looks like a cross between Hoss and bdcc!!!! Not that that's bad. I think he's adorable!

Comment by Shelley "SoleMann" King on December 23, 2007 at 4:43am: Found 2 on Imeem....SMILE

Comment by Edie Antoinette on December 23, 2007 at 4:40am: Whoa and THEN some!!!! Superb info suggah!!! Now I want to hear some of the tracks...you got any???

I never 'will' forget the time me momma and dena went to Huck Finn's in the 60's and momma's boss (whose real name was huey) came in. Momma introduced us and he was a rather humungous man..so when me and dena went and sat down to eat our hamburgers..I commented under my breathe.."ugh, he looks like baby huey..."

Momma came and sat down and as her boss was leaving he came back to our booth to say goodbye. That's when blabber mouth Dena blurted out..."Ma susta said you look like Baby Huey!!!.." BWA HAA HA HA HA HA HA HAAA

He laughed it off but my mother was SOOOOOO embarrassed!!!! As SOON as he was out of site Momma popped dena in the mouth...BWA HAA HA HA HA HA HA HAAA

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Remembering Q

E.FM Radio Spotlight

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.

Frankie Beverly12/6/46 - 9/10/24

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