Is that Otis Williams? This is a CLASSIC!

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Comment by Edie Antoinette on December 4, 2009 at 9:27am
True Gene..the Fabulous Funk Brothers. We have such a rich heritage. It just ain't LEGAL to be so rich and tight a heritage...LOL

I am loving these kinds of finds and still on the hunt! I left you something in your comments Gene.
Comment by KnightD12 on December 4, 2009 at 8:26am
I never knew this was a Motown group either. But now listening to the band, I can tell it`s the Funk Brothers.
Comment by Edie Antoinette on December 4, 2009 at 8:09am
LOL! Ohhhh! Remember the part when they told the receptionist of their name and she said..."You mean like the WATCH????!! LOL!!!!@ Otis and Nem!!! LOL
Comment by Shelley "SoleMann" King on December 4, 2009 at 8:04am
It was my understanding that they dropped The Elgins because this group already had The Name and Barry made them choose another name....Otis and Nem had a bunch of names....LOL
Comment by Edie Antoinette on December 4, 2009 at 8:02am
What the sam-blazin' are Google Ads doing popping up on youtube now??!!!!
Comment by Edie Antoinette on December 4, 2009 at 7:57am
Thanks for the info Sole! It really is nice. My brain was twisting over the Otis look-alike and I remembered they called themselves The Elgins in the Temptation movie. I love this song though. Had never known of this Motown group...just goes to show you. Still alot to learn.
Comment by Shelley "SoleMann" King on December 3, 2009 at 9:35pm
This is niceeeeeeeeeee
Comment by Shelley "SoleMann" King on December 3, 2009 at 9:34pm
The Elgins were an American vocal group on the Motown label, active from the late 1950s to 1967. Founding members Robert Fleming, Norbert McClean, and Johnny Dawson recorded prior to their Motown days as The Sensations, The Five Emeralds, and The Downbeats before adding Saundra Edwards (Mallett) and adopting the name "The Elgins" in 1964.

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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