Smoke...Risen'
Album Review by Trakbuv
“Move over O’J’s, Spinners and Temps. The fire may be comin’, but ‘Smoke’ is here” boasts the sleeve notes. This heralds the male quartet’s first and only album, ‘Risin’. The ensemble consisted of Ernest and Arthur Malone, Melvin Manning and Larry Brown, all hailing from Kansas City, and all very capable of taking centre stage. If only for this reason, the opening claim holds some water. Personally, the band come across as a blend of many premium soul groups of the day, with the Ebonys and Impressions coming to mind.
The material is a nice cross-section of mid-70’s soul, all composed (with the exception of the final track) by Elmer Overton, who also co-produced the sessions with Les Matthews. I am unfamiliar with either personnel, but the arranger, one Benjamin F Wright, Jr, is renowned for his sympathetic support of many top acts, including the Chi-Lites, Dells, and the Temps. Backed by prominent Chicago session musicians (Burgess Gardner, Don Myrick, John Bishop, Vince Willis, etc), the recording has a very competent, not overly-polished sheen. Very very nice indeed.
The strength for me in the recording is the diversity of sounds on offer. There is ‘I’m so glad’ with a captivating two-step arrangement and vocal reminiscent of Leroy Hutson, the lead also giving the more bouncy ‘You will always’ a commercial edge. Then we have a glorious falsetto with incredible clarity exhibited on ‘Now you’re gone’ and ‘Don’t take your love’. And we also have a tenor with a gruff edge that the Ebonys would have enjoyed. He drains every strand of his vocal chords with his expressive charge in the sombre, organ-lead ‘I’m so lonely’, an 8 minute opus, and the similarly toned ‘Make believe’, with some mighty fine harmonies. Also special mention to ‘Have I really lost you’ as possibly the best vocal showcase for the group.
Curiously, my favourite track, the lilting ‘Rainy Night’, boasting a warm, engaging falsetto, is apparently on a Smooth Jazz CD by Donald Harrison entitled ‘3D vol.1’. Completely misplaced, it has accredited the artist to Elmer Overton, its composer and producer.
SMOKE...RISEN'
SMOKE...I'M SO LONELY
Comment
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Comment by Edie Antoinette on June 9, 2009 at 1:49pm
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LOL!!! Yep..I was so happy to see her.
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Comment by Shelley "SoleMann" King on June 9, 2009 at 1:45pm
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My Grandma Numba 7 is here.....SMILE
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Awwww, thank you Sole. You see my Mommie joined and it cracked me UP remembering the gang at The Impala. They were all a hoot! Momma lived right next door and we could look out of her sunporch window and see better stuff than any movie! You could see the back of the tavern and they would be ALWAYS having a wang dang doodle back there!!!!
Momma can tell some stories about it!!! Maybe she will in the Blues Group...LOL!!!!! One of her cronies was "Dusty Pete" and another one named Rabbitt...ROFLMBO What a cast of characters...
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This is just wonderful....SMILE
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Here's 2 albums: Smoke-Risin' and Soul Singers Of The 60's--Enjoy!
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I'm going to take the playlist off of autoplay so it won't detract from your blog.
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You're Welcome Baby. Anytime.
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WOW....Thank you Mama Edie, this is niceeeeeeeeeeeeee
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I sowwy! LOL!! To make up for my terrible error I atone with this gift. The complete album downloads! The LP sells for $267--very rare indeed! Just right-click the buttons and "save link or target as" --Enjoy!
- play Smoke — A1 - I Can Feel Your Love
- play Smoke — A2 - I'm So Glad You Came Along
- play Smoke — A3 - Rainy Night
- play Smoke — A4 - Cream Of The Crop
- play Smoke — A5 - I'm So Lonely
- play Smoke — B1 - Have I Really Love You
- play Smoke — B2 - Now You're Gone
- play Smoke — B3 - You Will Always Be A Part Of Me
- play Smoke — B4 - Don't Take Your Love
- play Smoke — B5 - Make Believe
Tracks
A1. I Can Feel Your Love 3.17
A2. I'm So Glad You Came Along 2.55
A3. Rainy Night 3.13
A4. Cream Of The Crop 2.23
A5. I'm So Lonely 8.21
B1. Have I Really Love You 2.51
B2. Now You're Gone 2.23
B3. You Will Always Be A Part Of Me 3.14
B4. Don't Take Your Love 4.23
B5. Make Believe 3.49
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Larry gonna get you....ROFLMBO
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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
Power...Through Simplicity ♪♫♪
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