SoleMannKing Presents Marvin and Nona Gaye...The National Anthem


February 1983 before the start of the NBA All-Star game, something amazing took place and that was Mr. Marvin Gaye giving us a Soulful Rendition of The Star Spangled Banner...I remember being 15 years old watching this and being awe strucked by it all.....

After he walked on the court and as he prepared to sing, all of a sudden, time got really really slow. And now, so many years after the fact, I can describe in precise detail what actually transpired. As Marvin stood at center court, a syncopated beat machine was turned on. For several minutes, all I could hear was that funky beat.

Then he started to sing… and he sang very slowly, drawing out every syllable of every word. Marvin took a full minute to sing the first line of the Anthem.

As Marvin was delivering that very first line, I felt like I was struck by lightning. I knew with certainty that I was witnessing something very special—a watershed cultural event that would be talked about many decades into the future.

Sadly as we all know, Marvin was killed by his father 14 months later...A Beautiful Voice Silenced Forever....Thank you Marvin for giving us this Excellent Version of The Star Spangled Banner.

MARVIN GAYE SINGS THE NATIONAL ANTHEM 1983




February 2004 during the All-Star weekend Festivities another watershed cultural event was witnessed although you never hear many talking about it, because it was not seen by many. Marvin's daughter Nona pulled a Nat King Cole-Natalie Cole and performed The National Anthem with her Father...

I had read in Jet a month earlier that she was planning on doing this and mistakenly thought it was going to be during the All-Star game that Sunday, so when it was time for the All Star weekend Festivities i was kinda in a bind and had to be somewhere by a certain hour, well i had all but told myself that i will be missing this, but at least Sunday i would be able to see The National Anthem and the All-Star game...

As i was getting ready to leave, i heard the announcers say Nona Gaye and was shocked to see that they were doing it right then and there before one of the events that night...I was so glad i was able to see it and it brought back all those feelings from 21 years earlier, my only regret was i could not record it because my son tore my VCR up....SMH/LOL

MARVIN AND NONA GAYE SING THE NATIONAL ANTHEM 2004




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Comment by Shelley "SoleMann" King on March 1, 2009 at 1:30am
Glad you like it....SMILE

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.
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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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