Zap Mama

Work In progress...

0 members like this

Comment

You need to be a member of E.FM Radio to add comments!

Join E.FM Radio

Comment by Edie Antoinette on June 16, 2012 at 12:34pm: What a wonderful read L. You are a man after my own heart my friend. *deep sigh*

Comment by Lydell Jackson on June 16, 2012 at 11:19am: I was driving home yesterday from the new J-O-B...(a 50min ride through the countryside). It was a beautiful day for a drive...bright soft blue skies with huge brilliant cumulus clouds soaring high...a nice comfortable breeze comin through the sunroof and the windows...cruzin down an almost empty interstate highway... It was a moment made for ZAP MAMA! I let her do her thing as I sailed home after a long week...she took me home with gracefully culturally connected vibes that made me feel like I was here and there (that is here in the US and in the motherland [AFRIKA]) all at once. It was a perfect ride home..........THANX ZAP MAMA & E MAMA!

Comment by Edie Antoinette on June 8, 2012 at 12:17pm: I love Zap Mama. I first heard her singing Poetry Man and lost my mind. I drove all around the Southside looking for it and ended up having to order the CD from Barnes & Noble. But I got it...woo hoo!

Comment by Lydell Jackson on June 8, 2012 at 6:03am: A friend of mine from Liberia turned me on to Zap Mama a few years ago!

RSS

Welcome to
E.FM Radio

Sign Up
or Sign In

Or sign in with:

The "L" Train (Radio Channels)

Main Station (E.FM Radio)
Pop Up Player

Main Station II (E.FM Radio)
Pop Up Player

Main Station III (Edie2k2.com)

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

More…

Power...Through Simplicity ♪♫♪

Members

View All

About

Edie Antoinette created this Ning Network.

Badges | Report an Issue | Terms of Service